Let’s build a hospital now. Let’s put our veterans first.
That’s the message of a new ad running this week on New Orleans radio stations. As the State and LSU await a decision on how much money FEMA will chip in for their poorly-financed medical complex, the radio ad supports a compromise solution to the impasse over building the badly needed new hospitals in New Orleans.
It recommends building the hospital for the Department of Veterans Affairs – which has the money to build now – on the site planned for LSU’s teaching hospital.
The ad, sponsored by Smart Growth for Louisiana, is an attempt to speed construction of the first of the two hospitals needed to drive the jobs-producing development of a biomedical economy for New Orleans: Build the VA hospital now on the site that‘s available and not affected by lawsuit delays.
You can hear the audio of the radio ad here:
It has been reported here and elsewhere how the VA has been consistently slighted in this process. They were offered the worst land for their hospital – it is the lowest ground and most densely populated. LSU promised millions of dollars in savings with "shared services" that failed to materialize. The Mayor's alleged violation of the city charter in appropriating the land, as well alleged violations of NEPA have attracted strong lawsuits that will continue to plague the site.
Yet, the proposed VA hospital has received much of its financing. As LSU dawdles with securing the necessary financing for their medical complex, veterans care continues to suffer. We agree with this new radio spot: Move aside LSU. Let's start building a hospital and put our veterans first.
The full text of the radio spot is below:
“You’ve probably heard the controversy about the closing of Charity Hospital, and how LSU wants to expropriate and bulldoze 70 acres of the Mid-City neighborhood. Right now, it’s bogged down in politics, lawsuits and lack of money.
“You know what? It’s not just LSU that wants a new hospital. So does the Department of Veterans Affairs. And get this -- the proposed VA hospital is funded.
“That’s not true for LSU. LSU’s hospital is hundreds of millions of dollars short -- and, it’s in the way of the VA.
“That’s because LSU wants to locate by North Claiborne Avenue, while pushing the VA farther into Mid-City, on a site tied up in lawsuits. But if LSU would let the VA hospital go first, by North Claiborne, we could start that hospital now.
“So move over, LSU. Let’s start building a hospital, and let’s put our veterans first.
“And by the way, voters, two-to-one, want LSU to put its new hospital inside a fully renovated Charity Hospital.
“Paid for by Smart Growth for Louisiana.”
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