[StBernard] Hospital nearly 3 years away

[Westley Annis]

Hospital nearly 3 years away
St. Bernard facility needs land, money Wednesday, August 06, 2008By Mary
Elise DeCoursey
Residents will have to wait almost three more years for a hospital in St.
Bernard Parish, officials said Tuesday. 

The parish had hoped construction on the hospital would begin later this
year, but a developer told the Parish Council that the project won't begin
until June. 

After months of meeting separately, the Parish Council and the Hospital
Service District Commission held a joint meeting Tuesday morning to "get
everyone on the same page." 

Phillip Wendling, a developer with Hammes Co., said the hospital would be
treating its first patients in May 2011. Construction is expected to begin
in June and take 22 months, he said. 

A site for the 40-bed hospital has not yet been determined, though the
front-runner is a tract of land across from Chalmette Battlefield owned by
the Meraux Foundation. Once land is secured, a six-month environmental study
must be completed. 

"I'm just afraid they'll find a buried British soldier on the site, and
everything will be delayed again," commission member Ron Chapman said. 

Lining up state and federal funding has caused the delays, commission
members said. As proposed, the hospital will cost $61 million to build.
Funding stands at $42 million, with $17 million expected from state capital
outlay funds and $25 million earmarked in federal Community Development
Block Grants. 

The $19 million shortfall could be covered by a loan from the USDA, for
which the commission, not the parish, would be liable. Earlier this year,
the council mandated the hospital be built debt-free. 

Commission members said they have been working under the assurances that the
parish would be eligible for USDA funding. But members said Tuesday the
agency's lawyers informed them last month that they would not be eligible
because Chalmette's population is "too large." Chapman said the USDA is
using census information from 2000, which lists Chalmette's population as
35,000. The commission is working with members of Congress to convince the
USDA to look at post-Katrina population figures, which are much lower, he
said. 

"It's not a race; it's a steeple chase," Chapman said. "People keep putting
more obstacles in front of us and slowing it down." 

The parish's lone hospital before Katrina -- the privately owned Chalmette
Medical Center -- flooded during the hurricane and has been bulldozed. 

Councilmen Ray Lauga and Mike Ginart urged the commission to consider
building a stand-alone emergency room until the rest of the hospital could
be completed. 

"I think it grows more and more important that we have an emergency room in
St. Bernard Parish," Ginart said. "I don't see us going to May 2011 without
that." 

Commission member Bryan Bertucci said that having an ER isn't as simple as
constructing a building. 

"You have to get doctors before you open up a hospital," he said. "You
really can't provide all the services without specialist (doctor) backup." 

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