[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish hospital site decision being weighed

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish hospital site decision being weighed
By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
January 03, 2010, 7:00PM

After a year of political wrangling over who would control construction of a
new St. Bernard Parish hospital, board members are facing a crucial decision
in the next month about where to build the planned 40-bed facility.

In the more than four years since Hurricane Katrina swamped the former
Chalmette Medical Center, St. Bernard residents have been without a
hospital. Over the past year the parish's hospital board has chosen a
management group to eventually run the hospital and hired an architecture
firm to draw up designs.

The plan is still to complete the hospital by the end of 2011, but the
obvious question - Where will it be built? - has not yet been answered.

Nearly a year ago, a parish nonprofit group offered to donate an 11.5-acre
tract across from the Chalmette Battlefield, and contractors completed a
required environmental assessment on the vacant land. But the board has not
officially accepted the donation from the Arlene and Joseph Meraux
Charitable Foundation, and in recent months has begun exploring an
alternative site at a now-closed church property owned by the Archdiocese of
New Orleans.

Parish Hospital Board Chairman Wayne Landry, who is also a parish
councilman, said a decision on the land must be made in the first few weeks
of January to avoid any delays in the construction timetable. 

"To me it's real simple: If that other piece of land can work out within the
next week or two, then I think it's our responsibility to look and see if
that's a better deal overall," Landry said. "It's incumbent upon us to make
sure we're spending the money in the best way possible...It's an attractive
alternative, and it will not be delaying the project at all to explore this
possibility."

The alternate site is the former Prince of Peace Catholic Church on Jean
Lafitte Parkway in Chalmette. The idea was first mentioned in the fall, and
the Archdiocese of New Orleans recently sent a letter to Landry and Parish
President Craig Taffaro about St. Bernard's use of the site.

In the letter, Archbishop Gregory Aymond had several stipulations about the
property and requested more specific information about the size and makeup
of the hospital.

Originally the archdiocese had discussed using the Prince of Peace site to
house a local office for the Arc of Greater New Orleans, a nonprofit group
for the mentally disabled. The letter states that St. Bernard officials
would need to find another location for that group, and that the archdiocese
also would need "sufficient funds in advance" to build a new adoration
chapel for the Our Lady of Prompt Succor church, also in Chalmette.

Landry pointed to several potential advantages for the Prince of Peace site,
including what he says could be savings of $2 million to $3 million in
infrastructure costs since the site already has a parking lot and utilities.
The parish also would not have to pay to fill the site, he said, since it is
on higher ground than the Meraux land.

But Hospital Board member Daniel Dysart said it is too late in the game to
search for alternatives to the Meraux Foundation land. 

"This isn't like we're negotiating the Louisiana Purchase here," Dysart
said. "It's a donation of the property, and it should have been done months
ago."

Dysart was chairman of the hospital board for a year-and-a-half until this
summer, when Landry and Parish Councilman George Cavignac were voted in as
chairman and vice chairman.Since then, the board has chosen the Franciscan
Missionaries of Our Lady Health System as the management group for the
planned hospital. The Franciscans have operated a health center in St.
Bernard since Hurricane Katrina. 

A required six-month environmental assessment has already been conducted on
the Meraux Foundation land, although there are still some wetlands
permitting issues that could pose additional delays before construction. The
six-month environmental review would have to be done on any new site, said
Kendall Magee, a grant consultant hired by the state to facilitate the
federal community development block grant money St. Bernard will use to
build the hospital.

It's also possible that the Hospital Board could be required to pay for the
additional review at Prince of Peace out of its own pockets, since the
federal money was already used to pay for the first assessment on the Meraux
Foundation land. 

Landry said the board is awaiting final blueprints this month on the
hospital design. Once a site is chosen, architects would begin more specific
site plans and layouts for the buildings.