Center for Open Government: SB87 brings attention to lack of commitment from UofL Health on jobs
WDRB’s Chris Otts has a story on Senate Bill 87, filed last week by Sen. Stephen Meredith:
The University of Louisville’s healthcare enterprise would face more stringent requirements to avoid repaying state government a $35 million loan made last year to support U of L Health’s takeover of KentuckyOne Health.
The Bluegrass Institute announced their support for the legislation when it was filed.
HB 99 - which authorized the taxpayer-backed forgivable loan in the 2020 session - gave the Cabinet for Economic Development (CED) broad authority to set the terms and conditions for partial loan forgiveness. From documents obtained through Kentucky’s open records statutes, the Center for Open Government pieced together the back-and-forth negotiations between UofL, UofL Health and CED.
UofL President Neeli Bendapudi committed to retaining jobs when lobbying for the taxpayer’s help in acquiring Jewish Hospital. In front of a Senate committee, Bendapudi said, “the requirement on us is to retain 100% of the Kentucky-based jobs.” However, in the negotiations with CED, UofL was successful in essentially negating any job retention or job creation requirements as part of the loan package.
The WDRB story reports Sen. Meredith “wants to hold UofL Health to verbal commitments around jobs and healthcare access” made when the $35 million loan was moving through the legislature. When contacted by WDRB for comment, a UofL Health spokesman said they were “unaware” of Meredith’s bill (which is interesting given UofL Health, a publicly supported non-profit, retains lobbyists in Frankfort).
The legislation proposes two significant changes to the current agreement. It locks in the requirement that UofL Health retain the 5,880 jobs contained in the KEDFA agreement. Also, it requires UofL Health to increase the number of primary care physicians in medically underserved areas by 10%.
While advocating for the loan, UofL touted their commitment to providing more medical access in disadvantaged areas of Louisville. They then rejected a proposal from CED to increase the number of physicians in those areas. Instead, UofL Health drafted their own language defining the requirements for enhanced medial access. Those terms were accepted by CED.
Sen. Meredith told WDRB his legislation faces an uphill climb during the short session. He stated, “People don’t like accountability.”
Of course, he is right. The ball is in Bendapudi’s court. The question is whether she’s willing to actually commit to the promises she made to legislators last year.