Hospital funding identified
by MARSHA SHULER - Advocate (excerpt)

The Jindal administration has identified a source of funding to open a regional mental health emergency unit at LSU’s Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge, a prime mover in the project said Tuesday.

Capital Area Health and Human Services District executive director Jan Kasofsky said the funding — provided through the state health agency’s budget — will clear the way for an October opening of the 20-bed unit. “It’s going to happen,” Kasofsky said.

The opening of the recently completed unit had been put on hold because of a lack of funding to provide staff and other resources.