BATON ROUGE - LSU is moving up the date it will close Earl K. Long Medical Center in north Baton Rouge.

LSU System Executive Vice President Frank Opelka says the facility will close in mid-April instead of November as originally planned under an agreement where patient care and medical education programs are moving to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. The moves are part of privatization plans that Opelka says will shrink state costs.

Opelka made the comments Thursday after he, state Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein and LSU System President William Jenkins appeared before a state House committee to update lawmakers on negotiations involving private operation of other LSU facilities.