re: Edwards, OLOL officially announce plans for new ER in north Baton Rouge

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Gary Chambers, a co-chair of the blue ribbon commission, asked the governor at his news conference why Edwards did not choose Champion and pointed out Our Lady of the Lake's past hesitancy to build in north Baton Rouge.

Edwards doubled down on the state's partnership with Our Lady of the Lake. He said it made sense to use Our Lady of the Lake, the state's built-in partner for healthcare, to build an emergency room instead of a for-profit company based in Texas.

"My commitment was to the people of Baton Rouge, not to any healthcare provider," Edwards said. "And I certainly looked at the proposal which came from Champion, which doesn't run an emergency room anywhere, doesn't have a transfer agreement in Baton Rouge, runs boutique specialty hospitals that typically do not take Medicaid, and has not been approved by CMS to deliver emergency room care."

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