WBRZ - Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE - Leaders of LSU's public hospital system say Gov. Bobby Jindal's budget overestimates the money the hospitals and clinic network will generate next year and they'd have to make cuts to compensate for the multimillion-dollar gap.

The university hospital officials told the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that the 10 hospitals and their outpatient facilities face an estimated $43 million in cuts in the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1.

Meanwhile, another $41 million proposed in Jindal's budget recommendations for the hospitals is tied to several assumptions, including the sale of a New Orleans mental health facility, that haven't happened yet.

Fred Cerise, LSU's vice president for health affairs, says he doesn't agree with an administration assessment that Jindal's budget would be a flat, standstill proposal for the hospitals.