[StBernard] Ex-St. Bernard Parish hospital administrator says indictments could be coming

[Westley Annis]

Ex-St. Bernard Parish hospital administrator says indictments could be
coming

Published:Tuesday, September 13th 2016, 9:44 pm CDT

Written by: FOX8Live.com Staff

ST. BERNARD PARISH, LA (WVUE) - 
A former hospital administrator said he wined and dined doctors with
hospital funds, but everything was above board.

"I think we've given them every document in the hospital so far. Financial
information, policy and procedure information - just a lot of various
documents," said former administrator Wayne Landry.

Leaders of the St. Bernard Parish Hospital are at the center of a district
attorney investigation, and some of them are vacating their positions,
leaving a void in leadership.

The St. Bernard Parish Hospital Service District had to swear in a new board
member prior to a Tuesday night meeting because without him, there wouldn't
have been enough members to hold the meeting.

The uncertainty of who's leading the hospital comes just a week after the
CEO resigned amid the ongoing DA investigation.

"I think they're looking into the management of the hospital," Landry said.
"There's a complex structure between the hospital board and foundation
board."

Landry said he believes he could be indicted when the investigation is over.
During an interview with FOX 8, Landry admitted that he used hospital funds
to recruit doctors to join the public hospital's staff.

"I spent about ten or fifteen thousand of my own money taking physicians to
dinner to recruit them, and if I've spent in four years ten thousand of the
hospital's money taking doctors to recruit to a dinner or to have a
Christmas event, and that's a problem," Landry said. "Well, you see, I have
difficulty comprehending that, because obviously I wouldn't do those things
for the benefit of a meal or some kind of event gathering."

As the hospital service district's three board members met to discuss the
hospital's future, Landry, who said he is no longer employed by the
hospital, often guided the meeting and went into executive session with
board members and hospital attorneys to discuss the investigation of which
he is a part.

Landry said he's an unpaid liaison between the board and the administration.
And throughout the investigation, Landry said his best interests remain with
the hospital.

"I want this thing to succeed," he said. "I live here. That's what I want to
see. All of the who it is or what are their qualifications - all of that
doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is they take it from where it is
and keep it going in the right direction."

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