The Latest: LSU hospital operator says $5.3M to be paid soon

The Latest on a deadline missed by the operator of LSU's hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe (all times local):

4 p.m.

The operator of LSU's charity hospitals in north Louisiana says it has the money and will pay the $5.3 million into an escrow account as required in its privatization deal with the state.

The Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, known as BRF, said Thursday it is working to "finalize the escrow agreement" before wiring the funds.

Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration said BRF missed a deadline this week to put the money into the escrow account.

The hospital operator is required to pay $5.3 million for billings it disputes with LSU, leaving it in escrow while an outside arbiter determines whether the university's Shreveport medical school should receive the money.

The payment was part of renegotiated terms the Edwards administration reached with the research foundation earlier this month.

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1 p.m.

The manager of LSU's hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe hasn't paid $5.3 million into an escrow account as required by its reworked contractual arrangement with the state.

Cody Wells, a spokesman for Gov. John Bel Edwards' Division of Administration, said Thursday the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana missed a deadline this week to deposit the money.

It was unclear what action, if any, the Edwards administration would take to seek payment.

The hospital operator was required to pay $5.3 million for billings it disputes with LSU, leaving it in escrow while an outside arbiter determines whether the university's Shreveport medical school should receive the money.

The payment was part of renegotiated terms the Edwards administration reached with the research foundation, known as BRF, earlier this month.