| Advisory opinion request regarding whether the post-employment provisions in the Code of Governmental Ethics would prohibit, W. Jeff Reynolds, from being employed as the Chief Financial Officer with Ochsner Clinic Foundation upon the termination of his public employment with LSU Health Services Center-Shreveport.
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In 2018, LSU Health Services Center-Shreveport ("LSUHSC-S") and Ochsner LSU Health System of North Louisiana ("Ochsner LSU Health"), a private, nonprofit corporation, entered into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement, for Ochsner LSU Health to operate and provide for the day-to-day management of the hospitals and clinics owned by LSU in Shreveport and Monroe. As a result of the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement, Ochsner LSU Health has a Board of Directors that represents the stakeholders and manages the business affairs of the partnership. The Board of Directors is comprised of ten directors. The President of LSU appoints five directors and Ochsner LSU Health appoints five Directors.
From July 2018 through February 2021, Mr. Reynolds served as the Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance at LSUHSC-S. As Vice Chancellor, Mr. Reynolds Mr. Reynolds was the chief financial officer and chief administrative officer of LSUNSC.S. As such he supervised the budget, financial reporting, facilities management, supply chain management, auxiliary enterprises, human resources, and information technology. In his role as an employee of LSUHSC-S, Mr. Reynolds served on the Ochsner LSU Health Board of Directors from December 5, 2018, until his resignation in December 2020. Mr. Reynolds did not provide any services in connection with Medicaid reimbursement as an employee of LSUHSC-S.
In Louisiana, the La. Department of Health ("LDH") manages the day-to-day operations of the state's Medicaid program pursuant to Title 42 CFR 431.10. LDH enrolls medical providers into the program to provide qualified services to Medicaid eligible clients. As a result, LSUHSC-S physicians are enrolled in the Medicaid program to provide services to Medicaid clients; they do not manage or run the Medicaid program. Ochsner LSU Health is responsible for the submission of claims to LDH for the Medicaid services provided by LSUSHC-S physicians.
On March 15, 2021, Mr. Reynolds became an employee of Ochsner Clinic Foundation, which operates a network of thirty-one hospitals in Louisiana and is a separate entity from Ochsner LSU Health. In his employment with Ochsner Clinic Foundation, Mr. Reynolds will assist with its financing and management of Medicaid reimbursements programs, the development of supplemental payment methodology to maximize Medicaid reimbursement, as well as consulting and interfacing with public officials and other persons in creating legislation and administrative rules regarding Medicaid payments. Mr. Reynolds will also serve as the Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") for Ochsner Clinic Foundation's fifteen community health clinics. In his CFO role, Mr. Reynolds will be responsible for the tracking of revenue and expenditures and the projection of future financial activities associated with the health clinics . Mr. Reynolds will not engage any of the agencies in his former chain of command for any issues related to the Medicaid/Medicare hospital cost reports or billings of LSUHSC-S.
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La. R.S. 42:1121(A) prohibits a former agency head, for a period of two years following the termination of his (or her) public service as the head of such agency, from assisting another person, for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction, involving that agency or render any service on a contractual basis to or for such agency.
La. R.S. 42:1121(B) prohibits a former public employee, for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, from assisting, for compensation, in a transaction in which such public employee participated at any time during his public employment and involving the governmental entity by which he was formerly employed, or from rendering any service which such former public employee had rendered to the agency during the term of his public employment on a contractual basis, regardless of the parties to the contract, to, for, or on behalf of the agency with which he was formerly employed.
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Adopt draft advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Suzanne Mooney |
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