[StBernard] LRA funding for St. Bernard Parish Hospital

[Westley Annis]

...restore delivery of healthcare
services to the parish and the surrounding communities of Plaquemines
Parish, New Orleans east and the Ninth Ward.

LOL!  The folks from the 9th ward will fill up those beds
before the folks from SBP get a chance!


	
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	State of Louisiana Approves $2 Million for St. Bernard Parish
Hospital
	
	 
	
	BATON ROUGE, La. - The state of Louisiana has approved the release
of $2
	million from a total of $35 million in recovery funds earmarked for
the St.
	Bernard Parish Hospital, allowing the Parish Government to access
federal
	Community Development Block Grant funds needed to return critical
health
	care services to
	 the parish.
	
	 
	
	Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the citizens of St. Bernard Parish were
served
	by a 180-bed, privately owned and operated hospital. After the
storm, the
	owner decided not to rebuild the destroyed medical institution -
leaving the
	parish without a functioning hospital.
	
	 
	
	In response, the parish created the Hospital Service District of St.
Bernard
	Parish, which will build a new hospital to restore delivery of
healthcare
	services to the parish and the surrounding communities of
Plaquemines
	Parish, New Orleans east and the Ninth Ward. In addition, the new
hospital
	will help rebuild the specialty medical services sector of this
area, thus
	encouraging the return of residents to these communities. 
	
	 
	
	The $2 million in this first approval of CDBG funds will be used to
plan for
	and design the hospital and ready it for construction. 
	
	 
	
	When complete, the St. Bernard
	 Parish Hospital will provide 32 in-patient
	beds and eight ICU beds; a surgery suite with seven operating and
procedural
	rooms; an imaging suite with nine rooms; an emergency services suite
of
	eight rooms; and a pharmacy, laboratory, dietary room and
sterilization
	room. 
	
	 
	
	The project, located on 10 acres of land between St. Bernard Highway
and
	East Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette, will cost a combined $58
million in
	state and federal funds, of which $35 million will be CDBG disaster
recovery
	funds and $17 million will be provided through the state's Capital
Outlay
	program. The hospital is designed so that additional rooms and
services can
	be added in the future as the area's population grows.
	
	 
	
	LRA Executive Director Paul Rainwater said, "The healthcare systems
in the
	parts of our state hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina are struggling
to
	recover in the face of staggering obstacles: destroyed
	 facilities, loss of
	medical personnel and insufficient capital. We can't expect to
rebuild our
	communities without replacing the infrastructure that supports our
citizens.
	Supplying ready access to medical care is a primary recovery need,
and I'm
	pleased that state and federal recovery dollars are being spent on a
new
	hospital in St. Bernard Parish."
	
	 
	
	St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. said, "This new
	full-service hospital located in the heart of the parish will
re-establish a
	healthcare delivery system that's needed to serve St. Bernard Parish
and
	adjacent communities. This is an urgent need, as residents now must
travel
	to distant health facilities in adjoining parishes to receive
medical
	care."
	
	 
	
	The funding comes from the Long Term Community Recovery Program, a
pool of
	federal CDBG money set aside by the Louisiana Recovery Authority and
Office
	of Community Development to
	 help local governments rebuild and implement
	long-term recovery plans.
	
	 
	
	The state's LTCR program supports implementation of local
governments'
	long-term recovery plans in the most heavily impacted communities in
the
	state. In 2008, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
	approved LRA's request to reallocate $500 million in CDBG dollars to
the
	program, bringing to $700 million the total amount of long-term
recovery
	funding available to the parishes. Funds are distributed among the
parishes
	through the LRA/Office of Community Development according to a
formula based
	on estimated housing and infrastructure damages inflicted by
hurricanes
	Katrina and Rita. 
	
	 
	
	In total, the LRA has allocated $91,185,319 of CDBG funding to St.
Bernard
	Parish Government for LTCR projects. 
	
	 
	
	Created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in
2005,
	the Louisiana Recovery
	 Authority (LRA) is the coordinating and planning body
	leading the most extensive rebuilding effort in American history.
The
	central point for hurricane recovery in Louisiana, the LRA works
closely
	with the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
Preparedness
	(GOHSEP) and partners with state and federal agencies to oversee
more than
	$20 billion worth of programs, speed the pace of rebuilding, remove
hurdles
	and red tape and ensure that Louisiana recovers safer and stronger
than
	before. 
	
	 
	
	For more information about the LRA and its 17-member board, visit
	lra.louisiana.gov.
	
	 
	
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