Ruston hospital ‘a ghost town’ despite last week’s halt of patient diversions to area facilities for lack of equipment

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Ruston hospital ‘a ghost town’ despite last week’s halt of patient diversions to area facilities for lack of equipment

September 17, 2026 by tomaswell

Northern Louisiana Medical Center (NLMC) may have “ended” its diversion of patients to neighboring facilities last Friday, but an insider says the Ruston hospital and its parent company, Allegiance Healthcare, are far from out of the proverbial woods.

Patients had been diverted to nearby hospitals recently because of a shortage of equipment at NLMC but that situation, while eased somewhat, is by no means alleviated. A source inside the hospital said there is scant equipment to care for more than a handful of patients at a time and should the number of patients exceed the availability of equipment, patients will again have to be diverted to other facilities.

Meanwhile, LouisianaVoice has obtained some numbers relating to the Ruston 130-bed hospital which are unofficial. A source familiar with negotiations said Allegiance Healthcare CEO Rock Bordelon recently rejected a $16 million offer from the Lincoln Parish Police Jury to purchase the hospital.

That same source said Allegiance and Bordelon paid “around $7 million for the hospital but that seems to be extremely low considering Allegiance purchased the hospital from Community Health Systems which has been selling off properties across the Southeast for considerably higher amounts:

Plateau Medical Center in Oak Hill, West Virginia: $92 million;
Lake Norman Regional Medical Center in Mooresville, N.C., and Davis Regional Medical Center in Statesville, N.C.: a combined $320 million;
Three Florida hospitals in Bravera, Crystal River and Spring Hill, to Tampa General Hospital for about $290 million
Medical Center of South Arkansas in El Dorado was also sold by CHS to a nonprofit organization for an undisclosed amount.

The same source said NLMC currently has outstanding vendor debt that “could be as much as $10 million to $20 million.” That figure was unconfirmed but Bordelon does, in fact, have IRS tax liens against him for about $14 million for having failed to submit tax withholdings from employees.

“I got a first-hand look at the inside of a broken-down facility,” the source, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “It brought tears to my eyes. I remember when the hallways would have visitors, physical therapists and nurses ambulating patients. Instead, what I found was a ghost town.”