[StBernard] Parish officials consider hospital options

[Westley Annis]

Generally, when something appears too good to be true, it isn't.

My concern with Ochsner's proposal is that this small "clinic" with beds
will be only a triage stop-thru and feed to their larger facilities in the
area.  Both of my parents were hospitalized at one time or another at
Chalmette Med Ctr and received decent care.  The times they did not use that
hospital were when the doctors they were using did not choose to use CMC for
their procedures.  I think most people would prefer to be hospitalized
closer to home and loved ones if given the choice.  No one wants their
family members/friends to have to drive 20 to 30 miles to visit them in the
hospital.  If I were on the hospital district board I would want to know
from Ochsner what types of services they intended to offer in this small
setting.

On the other hand, I would also want to know, from the Our Lady of the Lakes
group, where they might have to send a patient if needed care or procedures
were beyond the scope of their proposed hospital in the parish.  Since they
are based in Baton Rouge, will they form an affiliation with a local
hospital in the metro area?  They aren't going to have many choices since
Ochsner seems to be gobbling up hospitals right and left.  It seems that the
choices would be limited to East/West Jeff, Tulane and Touro.


I agree with Dr. Verrette the 20 bed thing seems to small unless only being
used to feed patients to the other Ochsner facilities and without them
saying it, I believe that's what Ochsner has in mind.

Jim





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	Parish officials consider hospital options
	Two proposals differ in capacity and cost 
	Sunday, April 06, 2008
	By Paul Rioux
	St. Bernard bureau 
	St. Bernard Parish's protracted quest to build a hospital to replace
the one
	destroyed during Hurricane Katrina has reached a crossroads, as
parish
	officials weigh two options presented by nonprofit groups. 
	
	
	Should the parish build a 20-bed hospital that would be debt free
but might
	not be large enough to meet the parish's needs? Or will it go with a
60-bed
	hospital saddled with $60 million in loans? 
	
	The larger hospital appeared to be the front-runner when it was
proposed
	five months ago by the Franciscan Mission of Our Lady Health System,
which
	operates a medical clinic in a network of trailers in a Chalmette
parking
	lot. 
	
	But Ochsner Health System offered an alternative this week with a
revised
	proposal for a 20-bed hospital that would be financed using $17.5
million
	earmarked by the state. An unidentified donor would pick up the rest
of the
	tab, which is expected to be about $2.5 million. 
	
	Ochsner also pledged to open a temporary 24-hour emergency room with
a
	helicopter pad in Chalmette within 90 days of signing a hospital
contract
	with the parish. 
	
	It would take about two years to design and build the 20-bed
hospital,
	Ochsner's Chief Executive Officer Dr. Patrick Quinlan said Wednesday
in a
	presentation to the newly formed St. Bernard Parish Hospital Service
	District Board. 
	
	
	Money matters 
	
	The prospect of the fledgling hospital being unencumbered by debt is
"very,
	very enticing," said hospital board member James DiFatta, an Arabi
	accountant. 
	
	"I'm impressed," he said. "This is a very generous offer." 
	
	But other board members questioned whether the hospital would be big
enough
	to meet the needs of St. Bernard's growing population, which parish
	officials say is approaching half its pre-Katrina level of 67,500. 
	
	Board member Dr. Paul Verrette, who works at the Chalmette clinic,
called a
	20-bed hospital "woefully inadequate," saying it would be too small
to
	attract the specialty physicians any hospital needs to thrive. 
	
	Quinlan said the hospital would have the support of Ochsner's
network of
	physicians and would be designed so that it could be expanded by
adding
	wings. 
	
	The Franciscans, who operate the 763-bed Our Lady of the Lake
Regional
	Medical Center in Baton Rouge, have proposed building a $68 million,
60-bed
	hospital and a $10 million medical office building. 
	
	The $17.5 million in state financing would be used as a down
payment. The
	remaining $60.5 million would come from loans backed by the U.S.
Department
	of Agriculture, said Dr. Redfield Bryan, a retired urologist and
consultant
	for the Franciscans. 
	
	Board members said they are unlikely to decide whether to pursue
either of
	the proposals until a $130,000 feasibility study is completed in
about six
	weeks. 
	
	"We aren't going to be able to move forward effectively without
knowing what
	our needs are," DiFatta said. 
	
	
	Public ownership preferred 
	
	Ochsner's initial proposal in November was to build a 50-bed
hospital in
	four stages at its own expense. But Ochsner revised the proposal
after a
	consensus emerged in favor of a publicly owned hospital during a
public
	forum. 
	
	Both proposals now call for the Hospital Service District to own the
	hospital, which would be managed by one of the nonprofit
organizations. 
	
	In both cases, the hospital would be built across from the Chalmette
	Battlefield on 20 acres along St. Bernard Highway provided by the
Arlene and
	Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation. 
	
	The parish's lone hospital before Katrina -- the privately owned
Chalmette
	Medical Center -- flooded during the hurricane and has been
bulldozed. 
	
	For the past two years, the Franciscans have run a clinic in the
parking lot
	of the gutted Wal-Mart Supercenter in Chalmette. 
	
	The Catholic charitable organization worked with local legislators
to secure
	the $17.5 million in state financing. 
	
	Bryan said the money was intended as a down payment on a hospital
with at
	least 40 beds, which raises questions about whether it could be used
for a
	smaller hospital as proposed by Ochsner. 
	
	State Rep. Reed Henderson, D-Violet, said he will check with state
officials
	to determine what strings are attached to the money, which has not
yet been
	appropriated. 
	
	. . . . . . . 
	
	Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux at timespicayune.com or (504)
826-3321.