Add another name to the growing list of state employees teagued by Gov. Piyush Jindal.
This time it was Dr. Fred Cerise, head of the LSU health care system who was canned by this egomaniacal little man who simply cannot tolerate any subordinate who thinks or acts for himself.
It’s not as if LSU’s statewide system of hospitals and clinics which served the dual purpose of providing of healthcare for the poor and as teaching hospitals for medical students had not already been dealt crushing blows from devastating cutbacks.
And it’s not as if Jindal hasn’t gained complete control of the LSU Board of Supervisors, appointing all but one of its members and firing President John Lombardi earlier this year.
This egocentric governor must lie awake at night thinking of new ways he can consolidate absolute power in the name of all that’s good and wholesome. He must salivate when he thinks of another employee he can fire and the higher position his latest victim holds, the more titillating it must be for Piyush.
So, of course, when Cerise criticized Piyush budget cuts which gutted the LSU medical system of hundreds of millions of dollars, he had to go.
It was not a matter of whether or not he or Lombardi, or Office of Group Benefits former director Tommy Teague or anyone else was doing a good job; it was a question of blind, unquestioning subservience to sanctimonious Pope Piyush the Perfect. Fail that test, and you’re history.
Not even members of the legislature are immune to his wrath. Two crossed him and promptly were removed from their committee assignments.
Speaking of the legislature, isn’t it about time those 144 representatives and senators grew a collective spine and stood up to this Huey Long reincarnate? Wouldn’t there be some merit to being a member of a House or Senate that could truly call itself independent as opposed to simply existing to serve the whims of a power-mad, self-righteous narcissist?
It wasn’t enough that Jindal purged his administration of yet another person capable of being something more than just another pathetic, fawning sycophant in Piyush’s inner circle (with the exception of one who this week admitted that his boss was “delusional”), but he had the unmitigated gall to play the “who me?” card when asked about the firing.
True to form, Jindal did not give an interview about the latest dismissal. He rarely holds press conferences in other than tightly controlled settings and he never takes questions, preferring instead to stick to the stock prepared statement which neither takes questions nor answers them.
In just such a prepared statement, this man of action (when there is a TV camera to record his image at an oil spill or in a hurricane command center, that is) said through his imported press secretary: “That’s a decision for the board and the LSU System President. With the changing environment in healthcare today, LSU’s health system needs a leader who can implement reforms that deliver services more efficiently.”
Please, Piyush, can’t you be a little more original—and honest—than that?
Sen. Fred Mills (R-St. Martinville), a member of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, expressed concern over the firing of Cerise, who also served a stint as Secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals under former Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
“Where else in the state do you have a gentleman that’s worked in the health care system (as a physician at Earl K. Long Hospital in Baton Rouge), been secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, and leader in the LSU Health System?” Mills asked. “Where are you going to get a resumé to replace this type of gentleman?”
Adding to the absurdity of the entire situation is the fact that Cerise’s contract runs through 2015, so he will be kept on the payroll in another capacity.
His replacement, Dr. Frank Opelka, vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, was named to replace Cerise—in the newly-created position (an increasingly familiar scenario for Jindal appointees) of executive vice president for health care and medical education redesign.
Louisiana Voice 
Dr. Cerise was/is a true public servant and a good person, based on articles written about his work in government health care, volunteerism, family life, etc. He clearly wanted to keep his current job or he would have publicly blasted the administration and/or resigned when his system came under the most recent devastating fiscal attack. He took the high ground and didn’t, but he got canned anyhow.
Since the obvious goal is eliminaton of our state hospital system (something many have wanted to do for a long time) we would have to assume Dr. Cerise’s replacement is all for it. That should certainly speed the process. But, have Jindal and his ilk become so callous that eliminating a charity hospital system is something they will brag about?
I don’t know Dr. Cerise but feel so badly for him and everyone else that has felt this jackass’s axe. TA’s mention of our legislators lacking backbone hit the nail on the head. They should go looking for that backbone that sits just above their butts (which they seem to be good at using) and just below their brain (which they are not using) and join the effort in getting rid of him. We want our State back.
I’m sure the replacement will have a salary at least twice what Dr. Cerise’s was.
It’s funny that when a photogenic public disaster occurs that can be laid at the feet of the Jindal administration — the Bayou Corne sinkhole that occurred under the DNR’s supervision — the governor is nowhere to be found.
Firing Fred Cerise is just ridiculous. It’s reached the point that being good at your job is probably a sign your job is in danger.
One would presume that good ideas stand on their own merits and that reasonable and intelligent people–like Dr. Cerise–would recognize the merits of a good idea and willing make changes in line with a good idea. However, the implementation of bad ideas frequently requires the leadership of puppets. The number of department head replacements, I believe, serves as an indicator of just how BAD Jindal’s ideas really are.
Given the lack of transparency that the public has been given on the ideas themselves, the public should be asking, “if these are such good ideas, why is Jindal having to implement them through force?” While we don’t know truly what the plan is, we as the public can certainly see what is being done to get them implemented, and what we see should be making us frightened.
Cerise leads by example that can not be said of this governor. The tragedy is the real loss of leadership and potential of the state. I served with Cerise during Katrina. Jindal was not assisting those hurting then nor is he now. Hopefully the elected legislature will stand up to him and put state ahead of party to do what is just for those requiring a safety net.
Thanks, Sen. Mills for speaking up. I wonder how long it will be before you are targetted by our governor’s wrath. Don’t worry, Fred, we won’t forget that you represent us well not only in words, but in the way you vote. Too many of our elected officials have forgotten who they represent. It is the people who vote for them, not just the people who donate big bucks to their election. They are counting on the fact that we usually have really short memories and vote along party lines. We must stop voting AGAINST our interests just because someone represents a certain party. Our governor has turned away almost 800 million dollars in federal grants for education, transportation, communication, medical, etc. for our state. What is he trying to accomplish? The republican ALEC agenda is alive and well, advancing big corporations to the detriment of the middle class and small businesses. Forget the poor. Can we afford three more years of his so called leadership and reform/deform agenda. We will be paying the price for years to come. Come on legislators…do your job!
Yet another replacement with an unqualified and overpaid yes man. Just how much will this new yes man cost us? Tom have you looked into the other replacements? AndI bet they contributed to Jindal too.
As a matter of fact, we have looked into many of his appointments to boards and commissions and have posted one story so far. There will be more because we barely scratched the surface with our first post; we simply ran out of room.
We also looked at some of the high-paying jobs and the accompanying campaign contributions and discovered some interesting facts.
Tim Barfield, Jindal’s one-time executive counsel, former executive with the Shaw Group and more recently employed by Amedisys Home and Hospice Care, contributed $5000 to Piyush in 2010 and Amedisys has kicked in an additional $11,000 since 2006.
Former legislators also got in on the act in exchange for six-figure jobs. Lane Carson, Piyush’s Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs, has contributed $10,000 since 2006; Secretary of Wildlife and Fishers Robert Barham gave $5000 in 2008; and Jane Smith, whom Jindal appointed to the second in command at the Department of Revenue even though Smith admitted that she knew nothing about about revenue, gave $3000.
Commissioner of AdministrationPaul Rainwater who, despite his high profile in the administration and his necessarily being tied to the governor politically and philosophically, is nevertheless considered one of the more professional and congenial members of Jindal’s cabinet, got by with a contribution of a paltry $250.
Will this latest firing finally wake up the people of our state? How many smart, dedicated people must we lose? Everyone should be saying ENOUGH is ENOUGH! Sign the recall petition!
Corruption is so prevalent in Louisiana, people really think they are liked by these so called leaders. The Top Down injustice is what makes this state an object of ridicule world-wide. Until people realize they have the power, the teague line will just get longer because we are sitting back and selling each other out.
Right is Right and it is time for wrong, selfish people to get out of the way.
You’re just seeing the high profile people who are being forced out. Countless others are giving up and leaving on their own terms. Those who have the talent, experience, and confidence are leaving in droves. There is no “bench” left and there will be a major collapse in critical state services, health care and higher ed being severely damaged.
Who’s next? Jindal’s removal of so many people has got to be waking up the people of this state.
No name please
Dr. Cerise is one of the nicest persons anyone would want to meet. He has done a great job in all areas of the State where he was assigned. It’s a shame that he has been removed as the head of the LSU Health System, because he only wants the best for the people and the system, what more could anyone want from a servant of the State. His honesty, committment and love for this State is beyond reproach and the LSU Board of Supervisors, Mr. Jenkins or the so called Governor, who can be replaced, will never find an individual as caring as Dr. Cerise. Thank you Dr. Cerise for all your service to the State, I wouldn’t blame you if you packed up your family and left Louisiana. Perhaps you want to run for Governor, you’d make an awesome one.
Dr. Fred Cerise for Governor!
Why am I surprised by this latest move? I shouldn’t be. The recurring theme/strategy seems to be chop off the heads (truly qualified, dedicated and capable leaders) and rip out the guts (demoralize the remaining talented, dedicated workforce) so the programs naturally fail. BJ and his henchmen can then call in the calvery (his handpicked outsource provider) to save the day, He will absolutely score points with the hardcore right by delivering a smaller state government,What won’t be evident for some time is that the true scope of the original program was never fully understood by the hit team and thus not documented in the scope of work. As we have seen before the selected provider will be allowed to increase the cost of the program while reducing or offering a lower quality services to those individuals dependent on the program. Folks I’m not talking about frivilous, nanny state programs. I’m talking core basic special needs support. I can already see the increase in street people that truly need to be institutionalize or under a supervised program. Their personal safety and our personal safety and well being will be continually at risk. Basic public health programs on will soon be on the chopping block., Those of us that were dumb enough to make our commitments to the state, our communities and our employees years ago are left holding the bag. We small business owners, the former state employees long with the individuals and families that actually pay the taxes that pay for the programs won’t qualify for any special DED and Mr. Moret developed incentives /tax waivers thus we will won’t be able to really compete against these new providers.Small business and Veteran preference programs won’t mean a thing. Especially if we didn’t contribute to the BJ war chest. .Folks, pack up your households and put that Realtors sign in the yard. Louisiana is for sale.The last one out please flush the toilet and turn off the lights.
Please excuse the typos. I’m tired, wet and frustrated prepping for Isaac..I truly love this state, but I’ve never been more concerned about the direction it is headed.. If Isaac delivers as promised I have serious reservations about our state officials’ ability to respond. GOHSEP may have “over engineered” after Katrina, but now it has fundimentally been dismateled. If you want insurance, you have to pay the insurance premium. ESF teams have little or no leadership/direction. If you spend money in anticipation of a need, but the need never fully develops or is deemed “out of budget” by one of the boy wonders, as a contractor you can lose.significant dollars. If you are unfortunate enough to be a state employee you probalbly lose your job. If you don’t spend the money in anticipation of the need and wait to try to deliver “just in time” there is a high probablity that the resources are no longer available.unless you’ve paid the insurance ( it has been my experience few agencies have paid the “insurance”. Those that have kept it very low profile ..Make a decision, Dont ask premission, beg forgiveness)., Didn’t a former department head lose her job by “managing the budget” for her disaster response?. When the “”green light” was given there were no longer any portable showers available to be deployed to shelter locations. She followed orders and lost her job. Seems there is always a scape goat for little Bobby’s whoopsie. Lord deliver us from evil.
Sorry, i just had to vent.