[StBernard] St. Bernard to open hospital seven years after Katrina washed it away

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard to open hospital seven years after Katrina washed it away

wwltv.com

Posted on July 30, 2012 at 10:15 PM

Updated today at 7:12 AM

WWLTV.com

Email: webteam at wwltv.com | Twitter: @WWLTV

CHALMETTE, La. -- St. Bernard is set to mark a major milestone Tuesday in
its Hurricane Katrina recovery - the opening of the new St. Bernard Parish
Hospital.

The 113,000 square foot facility will offer state-of-the-art care to
patients who've had to travel to neighboring parishes ever since Katrina.

The old parish hospital, Chalmette Medical Center, was destroyed by the
storm's floodwater. Seven years after Katrina changed the parish's
landscape, the new hospital opens as three years of construction are
completed.

The hospital is a $90 million project funded by federal and state dollars,
tax credits and property taxes approved by St. Bernard voters.

Those funds paid for a 40-bed hospital that includes an 10-bed emergency
room that will be open 24-hours a day.

There are four operating rooms, eight beds in intensive care and two centers
for endoscopy, where procedures like colonoscopies can be done.

The new hospital provides a range of other medical services, and a medical
office building will include a free clinic when completed.

It is good news for St. Bernard residents.

"It's gonna start bringing more people back into the parish, because we
really need the care. We really need the medical care," said resident Edward
Estopinal in November 2010.

Though the ribbon cutting is Tuesday morning, the hospital actually opens in
August.