[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish Hospital is a final piece of Katrina recovery

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish Hospital is a final piece of Katrina recovery

Published: Sunday, June 24, 2012, 6:21 AM

 By Alison Schroeder 

As the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina nears, St. Bernard Parish
will finally be able to celebrate the recovery of one of its greatest losses
since the storm: an infrastructure of health care in the community. In early
August, St. Bernard Parish Hospital will open its doors, boasting a
state-of-the-art, 113,000-square-foot hospital and an adjoining
60,000-square-foot medical office building.

The new St. Bernard Parish Hospital is scheduled to open in August. It is
located on Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette, across from Walmart.

The facility, which has been under planning and construction for the past
three years, is at 8000 W. Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette.

For Wayne Landry, chairman of St. Bernard Parish's Hospital Service
District, the opening of the hospital is one of the last remaining pieces in
ensuring strong economic and community recovery in St. Bernard Parish.

"Since Katrina, St. Bernard has slowly been able to build back a sense of
security and community," Landry said. "From education to police, fire, and
government, we have made strides to recover. Health care was the last
remaining piece to that puzzle, and now we have that."

Chalmette Medical Center, the parish's lone hospital, flooded in Hurricane
Katrina in 2005 and never reopened.

 "The people of St. Bernard really stepped up to make this endeavor
possible," Landry said. "Without that vote, we wouldn't be here today. We
are fortunate that the residents recognized the need for this facility."

Landry said residents should take pride in the hospital, knowing that it was
their own investment and that it is there to serve and meet the needs of St.
Bernard and surrounding parishes. "No longer will residents of St. Bernard
have to leave the parish to find quality health care," Landry said.

Every detail, Landry said, has taken into account the needs of the patient
and has been designed to maximize patient comfort and productivity of the
medical staff.

"The patient rooms were designed to have more of a hotel feel with details
like wood panel headboards, backlit mirrors, and large windows," Landry
said. "We have also set workstations and tracking capabilities for the
nurses and other medical staff."

In March 2011, the St. Bernard Parish Hospital Service District hired the
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System to provide management
oversight for the hospital.

"We are all working very hard to assure that every element of our hospital
exceeds the highest industry standards," hospital Chief Executive Officer
Tim Burke said. "This includes hiring quality employees competent in their
field of work and demonstrating exceptional customer service skills."

Jim Pittman, the hospital's business development and marketing director,
said that everything about the facility is "cutting edge."

"Everything available to the patients of St. Bernard Parish Hospital is
absolutely state of the art," Pittman said. "We have had the advantage of
designing a brand new medical center with technology and equipment that is
sought after by many other area hospitals."

To start, the hospital will house 40 beds, including eight intensive care
beds and 32 general medical/surgical beds. The hospital will have four
operating suites, endoscopy suites, a cardiac cath lab, and a 10-bed
emergency room. In addition, the hospital will provide complete medical
imaging, laboratory, in-house pharmacy and rehabilitation services.

"St. Bernard Parish Hospital is in better shape to start than the former
Chalmette Medical Center building was at its end," Landry said. "We know
that pre-Katrina, the parish was bigger, so we intend to monitor the needs
of the community and adapt to meet those needs."

St. Bernard Parish's current population is estimated at around 40,000, down
from 65,000 before the hurricane.

Landry said the hospital was designed with options for quick expansion
should there be a need.

"We can convert to about 60 beds practically overnight without adding a
fourth floor," he said. "The large layout of the standard patient rooms also
allows for potential modification to shared suites should a need arise for
more beds."

Additionally, Landry said there is flexibility to construct a fourth floor
which could expand the facility to more than 100 beds.

The construction of the new hospital also reflects lessons learned from
Hurricane Katrina. All generators, diesel fuel tanks and operating systems
were built into the second floor of the facility, 25 feet above ground. The
building has been designed with the capability to withstand extreme wind and
water conditions.

Landry said everything about the facility represents safety and security for
the patients and staff.

"I have no doubt that this is the safest building in St. Bernard," he said.

Landry also said he anticipates the hospital will have a positive economic
impact on St. Bernard Parish. To start, the hospital will employ
approximately 190 people. Currently, around 52 percent of the workforce are
St. Bernard residents.

Stephen Reuther, chief executive officer of the St. Bernard Chamber of
Commerce, said the benefits of opening St. Bernard Parish Hospital are
numerous.

"St. Bernard Parish Hospital is one of the most significant economic
development projects in St. Bernard history," Reuther said. "Aside from the
pure benefit of having a state of the art facility to provide health care to
St. Bernard and the surrounding parishes, St. Bernard Parish Hospital will
ultimately provide hundreds of professional jobs, as well as provide an
opportunity for expansion and development of just about every other sector
of the economy."

Landry also acknowledged the potential impact of support jobs that will be
generated from the positions at the hospital, estimating a total of around
500 new jobs will develop as a direct result of the facility's opening.

"This hospital has the potential to push St. Bernard to a stronger economy
while providing the best health care in the metropolitan area," Landry said.
"We know we have developed a quality product, and all we need now is the
trust of our patients. We strive to be a premier delivery model of care and
expect good outcomes and strong success."

For more information about St. Bernard Parish Hospital, visit www.sbph.net.

By Alison Schroeder, contributing writer



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