Louisiana Lawmakers Approve Funds For 600-Job Expansion Of Lafayette Healthcare Company Headquarters

Friday Gov. Bobby Jindal announced a legislative committee’s approval of a performance-based grant from the Mega-Project Development Fund for Lafayette-based Schumacher Group. The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget signed off on an initial $5 million to partially fund the expansion of Schumacher Group’s Lafayette headquarters.
In addition to creating 600 direct jobs, Schumacher’s expansion will lead to nearly 800 more indirect jobs in the Acadiana Region over the next five years, according to Louisiana Economic Development estimates. Schumacher Group is the nation’s third-largest medical firm specializing in emergency room management and technology, and the company had planned to expand primarily in such cities as Dallas, Houston and Atlanta before the state intervened with economic development assistance, including Louisiana FastStart™ workforce training solutions.

Schumacher announced the company will expand its headquarters and create 600 new jobs over the next five years. The new jobs will pay an average of $62,500 a year, plus benefits. The company also will make a $19 million capital investment that expands its headquarters facilities and adds specialized training space.

Overall, Schumacher Group employs more than 1,200 people in 24 states, manages emergency medical services for more than 180 hospitals and uses technology to integrate those services with the hospitals’ other operations. Schumacher also contracts with more than 2,500 physicians in a business model that’s patient-driven and emphasizes higher-quality patient outcomes.

The funding approved by the legislative committee comes from the state’s Mega-Project Development Fund, which provides incentives to help secure private-sector projects that create 500 or more direct jobs and/or entail a capital investment of $500 million or more in the state.

The Schumacher Group is the third-largest emergency medicine staffing and management company in the country and was founded in 1994 by William “Kip” Schumacher, M.D. Schumacher Group serves more than 3 million patients at more than 180 hospitals in 24 states, and the company is headquartered in Lafayette, La. For more information, visit www.schumachergroup.com