Given the continuing uncertainty surrounding the financing for the proposed University Medical Center (UMC) in Lower Mid-City, we ask you to call upon Mayor Landrieu and the New Orleans City Council to stop demolitions in the LSU/VA Hospitals Footprint:

Mayor Landrieu: (504) 658-4900   mayor@cityofno.com

Jackie Clarkson: (504) 658-1070   jbclarkson@cityofno.com

Arnie Fielkow: (504) 658-1060   afielkow@cityofno.com

Susan Guidry: (504) 658-1010   sgguidry@cityofno.com

Kristin Palmer: (504) 658-1030   kgpalmer@cityofno.com

Stacy Head: (504) 658 -1020   shead@cityofno.com

Cynthia Hedge-Morell: (504) 658-1040  chmorrell@cityofno.com

Jon Johnson: (504) 658-1050   jdjohnson@cityofno.com

LSU and the State of Louisiana do not have adequate financing lined up to complete their half of the project at this time - yet they are continuing with expropriation and acquisition of properties.  The state's fiscal difficulties are coming increasingly into focus.  Other state-funded health facilities around Louisiana are being shut down or funded at significantly lower rates - all at a time when it is now known that operating LSU's proposed replacement for Charity Hospital in New Orleans would require a hefty state subsidy of approximately $100 million annually.

Additionally, the UMC Corporation Board is pursuing federal HUD assurances for hundreds of millions of dollars of borrowing that is necessary to even complete the hospital proposed for the LSU Footprint.  There is no guarantee that the UMC Board will succeed; historically only 25% of applicants are successful.  If the application is rejected, the project's credibility in the bond market will be ruined.

All of this uncertainty renders the continued push to dismantle Lower Mid-City irresponsible.  Destroying a neighborhood of historic homes is unacceptable without even minimal guarantees that the project will come to fruition.

SaveCharityHospital.com reported to the Council that more than 10,000 people have signed a petition asking Mayor Mitchell Landrieu to re-open the Rev. Avery C. Alexander Charity Hospital.

Contact your public officials and tell them: no demolitions in the LSU/VA Footprint until the full legal and financial ramifications of the project are known to the citizens of New Orleans.

Additional Resources:

Panel gives Nucor priority for funding

Hospital plans defy the state's budget realities: A letter to the editor

Charity Hospital advocates hope for fresh start with seating of new board