Bill > HB1214

This bill establishes the Office of State Health Care Facilities within the Louisiana Department of Health to oversee and administer various state-operated healthcare facilities, including psychiatric hospitals like Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System and Central Louisiana State Hospital, the Feliciana Forensic Facility, the Villa Feliciana Medical Complex, and developmental centers such as Pinecrest Supports and Services Center and Central Louisiana Supports and Services Center. The new office will be led by an executive director who reports directly to the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, and the administrators of the individual facilities will report to this executive director. The bill also clarifies the duties and functions of the Secretary and the executive office of the Secretary, and reassigns responsibilities for state developmental facilities from the "office for citizens with developmental disabilities" to the new "office of state health care facilities," while ensuring coordination between these offices for developmental disabilities services. Additionally, it allows for the transfer of funding and positions within the department to support the establishment of this new office and specifies the effective date of these changes.