The state’s Commission on Streamlining Government voted today to recommend the first independent evaluation of the proposed LSU/VA medical centers, weighing all possible alternatives with regard to location, size and financing of rebuilding Charity Hospital in New Orleans. The commission voted for the motion 7-3 after hearing testimony from those on both sides of the controversial issue. Experts in favor of reusing the 70-year-old building testified that gutting and rebuilding the existing Charity Hospital will cut the cost of the $1.2 billion project almost in half, be completed more quickly, save hundreds of homes in New Orleans’ lower Mid City neighborhood, and revitalize a blighted area of downtown. Officials from the state and LSU, meanwhile, countered that a new facility will better provide a first-class teaching hospital for the university. They also disputed the cost estimates of reusing the old building, pointing out that it doesn’t provide for medical office buildings or parking.
The motion to study the proposal, offered by Commission Chair, State Senator Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, also requires an independent evaluation of the business model guiding LSU’s ability to repay the loans it needs to pay for the construction of the proposed Lower Mid City facility. The Commission on Streamlining Government is comprised of legislative leaders and other state officials. The governor and legislature charged it with eliminating wasteful projects and inefficient state programs.—Stephanie Riegel
This story has been changed since it was originally published.
