Gov. John Bel Edwards and Mayor Sharon Weston Broome joined other political leaders and officials from Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center today for the groundbreaking of OLOL’s north Baton Rouge emergency room.
The new 8,000-square-foot facility will be developed on a vacant lot adjacent to the LSU Health North Clinic and Urgent Care at 5439 Airline Hwy., near the former Earl K. Long Charity Hospital that was closed four years ago.
The state is funding some $5.5 million toward the development of the new ER, which will have eight treatment rooms with space to add more if necessary. It will not be a trauma center like the ER on OLOL’s main campus, which is able to treat the most severe cases like gunshot wounds and stroke victims.
But OLOL CEO Scott Wester says the new facility will be a needed addition to health care in north Baton Rouge.
“This ER will be staffed by ER physicians, and will have the same level of technology and capability as any other ER in our community,” he says.
Today’s groundbreaking, complete with gold shovels and hardhats, was a largely ceremonial affair. Still, the significance of the long-sought ER was not lost on those in attendance. North Baton Rouge has been without an emergency room since Baton Rouge General Hospital closed its Mid City ER in early 2015, two years after EKL was shuttered.
Broome referred to the “tapestry of diversity” the new facility represents, and Edwards said residents of north Baton Rouge, “deserve to be safe and free from fear that there is no emergency room nearby.”
For months last year, the Edwards administration and OLOL negotiated over the terms of a deal that would tie in to OLOL’s contract with the state to provide healthcare to the indigent and uninsured. While talks between the two sides were under way, a competing group spearheaded by Metro Council member Chauna Banks and The Rouge Collection publisher Gary Chambers attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate a deal with a for-profit company that was interested in developing a freestanding ER at Howell Place.
Banks and Chambers were noticeably absent from today’s groundbreaking. But Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge., who was in attendance, seemed to address some of their concerns with remarks that suggested residents of the area eventually want more than just a new ER, but better access to healthcare in general.
“Earl K. Long was taken from us and there are some who want to see everything replaced at one time,” Jordan said. “But sometimes we have to have progress in incremental steps. Everybody here wants to be made whole again but today isn’t the day for that. Let’s celebrate the victory that we have.”
Construction on the new ER is expected to take about nine months. The facility is scheduled to open in October.
—Stephanie Riegel
