Independent Study of Medical Center Complex Requested by Commission on Streamlining Government
Charity's cornerstone indicates it was erected in 1938, the hospital was originally founded in 1736.
Credit: SHL
In a big step forward in the fight to save Charity Hospital and the Lower Mid-City neighborhood, the Louisiana Commission on Streamlining Government passed a motion seeking an independent study of the proposed $1.2 billion LSU medical complex and alternatives. The commission, which is spearheaded by State Treasurer John Kennedy and is tasked with eliminating wasteful projects and inefficient programs, held a hearing on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 in which a 7-3 motion passed calling for an independent study. The motion would require an evaluation of the business model guiding LSU's plan for a new hospital, and seeks a study of a new hospital, the use of Charity gutted and renovated, and other alternatives.
Although an earlier study conducted by RMJM for the Foundation for Historical Louisiana showed the benefits of reuse of Charity hospital, a new study would provide an independent analysis in the ongoing controversy over the abandonment of Charity Hospital and new plans to expropriate and demolish private property in Lower Mid-City to make way for a sprawling new medical center campus.
The vote is an enormous victory for advocates of Charity Hospital and Lower Mid-City residents and business owners whose homes and commercial buildings are slated for demolition, and is the result of years of work by the Foundation for Historical Louisiana (FHL), the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a coalition of 77 other organizations, who have sought such a study. "This study seeks to determine what is the fastest and cheapest way to get health care back to the people of New Orleans," said Sandra Stokes, executive vice president of the FHL. "It will kick-start the economy, save a neighborhood, and get the bio-sciences corridor going," she added.
Additional information is available at Save Charity Hospital.
