[StBernard] Hospital bond resolution approved by St. Bernard Parish Council

[Westley Annis]

Hospital bond resolution approved by St. Bernard Parish Council
Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
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on August 05, 2014 at 9:25 PM, updated August 06, 2014 at 3:18 PM
 
The St. Bernard Parish Council on Tuesday evening (Aug. 5) approved a
resolution allowing the parish hospital to bond out $7.8 million. The
hospital board has stated that the bonds would have no more than an
8-percent annual interest and that they would mature no later than 10 years
from the date of their issuance.

The move comes after parish voters in April overwhelming struck down a
millage that would have brought in about $9 million to the hospital.

Jason Akers, the bond counsel for the hospital, on Tuesday told the council,
"This should, should stable the finances of the hospital."

Akers added that only "the hospital service district (not parish government)
will be liable for the bonds."

St. Bernard Parish Hospital Chief Executive Officer Wayne Landry said this
week that the bond money would help accomplish what the millage would have
-- largely to purchase and train employees on a new electronic health
records system and to hire specialists.

"So basically since we didn't get the millage money, which would have
catapulted us, the only alternative is to put the hospital in what I call
manageable debt," Landry said. "It should be a rather short-term debt. There
are a lot of variables, but within 18 months, we should be so financially
sound that we could pay it down or just leave it out there and leave
available money for cash."

He said that while the hospital currently brings as much as $600,000 more in
revenues than expenses annually that, with the bond money and the new
improvements, the hospital could generate $2 million more in revenues than
expenses annually.

While the hospital board asked voters for $1.2 million more money in its
millage proposal, Landry said that the $7.8 million would be a start and it
likely would just mean hiring less specialists to begin with and thus "not
providing the same continuum of care as quickly."

Landry said that the electronic health records software, which with training
is expected to cost $3.5 to $4 million, is needed for future insurance
mandates.

In terms of specialists, Landry said that his first priorities would be "a
urologist, an ENT, and a cardiothoracic guy, in that order."

The bond money would come from U.S. Department of Agriculture rural
development loans, and so Landry said ultimately the exact amount of the
loan rests in the USDA's hands.

"There is no guarantee that USDA will give us our complete wish list,"
Landry said.

But, he said that he anticipated going in front of the state bond commission
in August or September and then getting USDA approval a few weeks after
that.  He said he expected to have at least some of the bond money within
two months.

"This is really the last option that we have," Landry said. "I don't have
any other avenues to get that kind of money to catapult it forward."

"It's not a fatal blow if this doesn't happen, but it allows us to be
self-sustaining for the future."

He said the "worst-case scenario," wherein the hospital receives none of the
bond money, means "we would just have to do some of this at a much slower
pace.

"I can tell you that the train moves a lot slower if you don't have the
resources to push it forward," Landry said.

To read about other matters discussed at the Tuesday evening council
meeting, see the live coverage in the comment here.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/08/follow_live_updates_from_st_b
e_3.html