[StBernard] Two vital services colliding for battered St. Bernard Parish

[Westley Annis]

Two vital services colliding for battered St. Bernard Parish
by Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
Saturday January 24, 2009, 9:43 PM
Of the many vacant storefronts that dot the suburban boulevards of St.
Bernard Parish, perhaps none looms larger than the shuttered facade at 8101
W. Judge Perez Drive.


The Chalmette Wal-Mart store has been an empty shell for 3¤1/2 years, a
constant reminder of St. Bernard's post-Hurricane Katrina struggle to
attract a commercial tax base. In the store parking lot sits another
post-storm symbol: two double-wide trailers that house a temporary health
clinic for a parish that has no hospital and only a handful of private
doctors. 

But now parish officials find themselves at a crossroads: If Wal-Mart is to
make a highly anticipated return this year -- the company has not pledged to
do so, but parish officials are counting on it -- the health center trailers
must be moved at an estimated cost of more than $1 million. 

Parish government cannot afford to move the clinic. Neither can the
health-care firm that operates it. And this late in the game, it's unlikely
that FEMA will pick up the entire tab. 

So the result has been a touchy stalemate, with the parish's biggest
potential sales tax source and the immediate future of local health care
hanging in the balance. 

"It's the proverbial 'rock and a hard place,'¤" Parish Councilman George
Cavignac said. "We're in a tenuous situation. We're still suffering
health-care shortages, just like the rest of the metro area's suffering,
too. But us doubly so, since our only hospital was taken away." 

Vital medical resource 

With the opening of a new parish hospital still years away, the health
center has been the main option for medical care in the parish since early
2006. It's operated by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health
System, which operates hospitals in Baton Rouge and Lafayette and came to
St. Bernard in the months after the storm. 

The Franciscans employ four full-time physicians, a full-time pediatrician
and numerous part-time specialists who see as many as 200 patients a day
during the week and 60 each day on the weekends. More than 40 percent of the
patients who come in are uninsured or on Medicaid, said Frank Folino, the
health center administrator for the Franciscans. 

"There are a couple of other options in town, but those offices could not
handle the number of people if we were to close for any reason," Folino
said. "They couldn't handle the volume that we put through." 

Folino said the Franciscans lost $200,000 operating the clinic last fiscal
year, even after applying for grants to offset losses. The company would be
unable to pay for the move, he said. 

"If there's a strong desire to bring Wal-Mart back, I don't know why we
can't co-exist in this scenario," he said. "We're willing to work with them
if they want a fence around the trailers, if they want us to park in a
different part of the lot. I'll ride a golf cart around all day taking
people to the clinic." 

Reopening date uncertain 

Wal-Mart has not publicly committed to reopening this year, but Parish
President Craig Taffaro said discussions with Wal-Mart late last year
pointed to a possible spring or summer opening. The return of Wal-Mart has
been a topic of intrigue in St. Bernard, where since the hurricane many
residents have asked when the giant retailer would return. 

The parish government even budgeted an additional $500,000 in sales tax
revenue for the second half of this year, dependent on Wal-Mart's reopening
by midsummer. 

"I don't want this to be about health care versus retail. It shouldn't be
that way," Taffaro said. "But at some point, we need to look at the
feasibility of subsidizing the health clinic and what our role is in that,
when at this point in time we know that every day that we delay clearing
Wal-Mart's parking lot it costs us real tax dollars starting this summer." 

Wal-Mart officials have been careful to leave the decision in the parish's
hands, pointing out that the presence of the trailers prevents the company
from making any decision on a reopening because of safety and liability
concerns. The building has been gutted, but it will require a complete
overhaul before merchandise can be moved in, Wal-Mart spokesman Tice White
said. 

"As long as health care is being offered at that location, it makes it very
hard for us to evaluate and consider any reopening," said White, who has
participated in the discussions with the parish since the storm. "It may put
everyone in a tough predicament, but our position has been the same from the
beginning: that we don't want to compromise health care for retail." 

Looking for new home 

Although an agreement between the parish and Wal-Mart over use of the
parking lot ended in October, White said the trailers can remain as long as
needed. 

The parish has not sought bids for moving the health center yet, but Folino
of the Franciscans said he received several proposals from contractors that
were in excess of $1 million. Taffaro has been in discussions with FEMA,
which provided the double-wide trailers. A FEMA spokesman said the agency
will pay to deactivate the trailers, move them to a new site and hand them
over to the parish, but not to set them up at the new site. 

The parish has also discussed the possibility of relocating the health
center to the Prince of Peace church site in Chalmette, which is still owned
by the Archdiocese of New Orleans but will not reopen. A spokeswoman for the
archdiocese confirmed that Taffaro had discussed the site with church
officials earlier this month, but she said the archdiocese has not received
a written proposal. 

Taffaro said he offered the Franciscans use of the Council on Aging trailers
in front of the parish government complex, but Folino said they are too
small to accommodate all the services. 

Taffaro said he will ask the council next month to set aside money for a
temporary lease at another site. Councilman Wayne J. Landry said he will ask
the council to seek formal bids on moving the trailers. 

If the parish is to spend any money, which it has not yet identified,
Taffaro said it should be used for permanent improvements that could be used
by the parish even after a hospital is built. 

"I'm not in favor of spending a million dollars to operate a temporary
building," he said. "I think that's wasteful." 

Chris Kirkham can be reached at ckirkham at timespicayune.com or 504.826.3321.