[StBernard] Medical clinic opens in N.O. East

[Westley Annis]

NEW ORLEANS - It is an area long-underserved when it comes to health care:
New Orleans East has struggled to regain a hospital since Hurricane Katrina.



In the shadow of the closed Methodist Hospital, the staff at the Champion
Medical Center clinic celebrated their grand opening Saturday. 

"The best thing with being a smaller facility: you can work with the
community and that's what I'm willing to do and I'm going to do," said
Gregory Davis, who owns the clinic. 

The former boxer got into the medical field, after his young daughter had a
health emergency at the New Orleans East home, miles away from the closest
hospital. 

"It was a scary experience and I don't wish that on no one else, so that's
one of the reasons I put this together," Davis said. 

The clinic is just a few blocks away from the shuttered Methodist Hospital.
Some state lawmakers believe, this year, the legislature may finally be on
track to fund the re-opening of a hospital in the East. 

"I am hopeful that if we can get in this legislative session the money
that's needed, we have been told it could take less than 18 months," said
Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans East. "We have hospital district that has
been formed, which has its own board and that board will actually hire
someone to come in and run the hospital." 

The money needed: $30 million, which has been requested by the city. The
money would be used to re-open the hospital in phases, starting with the
emergency room. 

"We do think that it's smart to bring the hospital back in phases, the most
important piece is emergency care and perhaps a very small triage, to
overnight stabilization and then we build on that," Sen. Duplessis said. 


Representative Austin Badon said he's surprised at how much time it's taken
just to get to this point. 

"I never thought it would take this long," he said. 

However, Badon remains optimistic that even amidst a state budget shortfall
the money for the hospital can be found. 

"I think it's very possible that we could find the money. I mean, we have a
strong Orleans delegation and we have a strong delegation in the eastern
part of the city," Rep. Badon said. "And we are fighting hard to make sure
that we get this money and we are able to bring this money back to open up
this hospital." 

In the meantime, the Champion Medical Center will formally begin taking
patients on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Sen. Duplessis said she will be
meeting with members of the Governor Bobby Jindal's administration to
discuss funding for the hospital in New Orleans East.