Mayor tells critics the UMC is the ‘new’ Superdome

20th June 2011   ·   1 Comment

By Christopher Tidmore
The Louisiana Weekly

On Thursday, June 16, 2011, Mayor Mitch Landrieu compared detractors of a new $1.2 billion University Medical Center in Mid-City to those that opposed the Superdome, short-sighted. Critics, say the Mayor overlooked the fact that the new hospital would require a $100 million state annual subsidy, and that the UMC is unnecessary. Some have called for the plan to reuse the Big Charity Hospital building to be included in any reform plans.

They are all criticisms that Landrieu rejected. As the mayor explained, “The project’s naysayers offer a familiar refrain. There was opposition to the Superdome in the 1970s, the Convention Center in the 1980s and the Arena in the 1990s. The Dome was threatened with dozens of lawsuits and was called “the world’s biggest pimple.”

“The Arena was called a “gamble.” But today those three visionary economic development projects provide this region with an annual economic impact upwards of $2.8 billion. Quite simply, if done right, the UMC has the potential to be the largest, most catalytic economic development project in this city’s history—surpassing the Superdome and Convention Center—and will place our city and state at the forefront of innovation and change in America.”

“We must move aggressively and boldly toward becoming a model in healthcare delivery, research and development and medical education. We have an obligation to see it through. Our residents deserve nothing less.”

Critics like Speaker Jim Tucker, U.S. Senator David Vitter, and Treasurer John Kennedy disagree with the comparison that adding 424-new beds in a hospital complex is the same as building an arena. Instead of the proposal to build an new hospital in Mid-City, they propose to purchase Tulane-HCA hospital for an estimated $80 million, rather than $1.2 billion. If more beds are needed, the three recommend gutting and rebuilding “Big Charity.”

To that end, preservationist Bill Borah and the “Save Charity Hospital” group made a proposal early Friday morning that the architectural plan to restore the historic hospital building be included in the financial estimates being written by the UMC’s health care consulting firm, Kaufman Hall.

As Borah explained to The Louisiana Weekly, “With all the financial uncertainties that have been exposed by the recent independent studies on the economic viability of the proposed new University Medical Center in New Orleans, it is the responsible course of action for Governor Jindal to finally allow exploration and analysis of all options. We hope to take the governor at his word that ‘the (UMC) board shouldn’t be limited by anything LSU has done. Their job is not just to kick the tires, but to be an independent body’ – and that they will fairly examine all fiscally responsible alternatives.”

“This includes having the nationally respected consulting firm of Kaufman Hall and Associates examine and analyze the $600,000 legislatively-charged feasibility study by the Foundation for Historical Louisiana and RMJM Hillier architects — a study that found that a new state-of-the- art 21st-century medical center could be placed inside the shell of Charity Hospital and that it could be done faster and cheaper than building the new facility LSU has proposed.”

FHL spokesperson Sandra Stokes added in an interview with the Weekly, “In the post-Katrina era, it is time to move from politics to planning as the basis for shaping the future. By reviewing the findings of the RMJM Hillier report, Kaufman Hall will be able to determine whether the landmark hospital can be reused to best serve the health care, medical education and economic development needs of the city as a transformative, 21st century, state-of-the-art academic medical center.”

Borah and Stokes are not alone in their request. Besides the Founda­tion for Historical Louisiana, Smart Growth for Louisiana, Louisiana Landmarks Society, Mid-City Neighborhood Associa­tion, and Lafayette Square Association have each called for a “Big Charity” option to be included in the proposal.

Mayor Landrieu countered in media interviews on Thursday that repairing Charity is unrealistic. Having already ripped up an historic neighborhood in Mid-City to construct a hospital complex, the state has a moral — as well as an economic development — motive, to finish the job.

“Nearly six years after Hurricane Katrina, we have at our fingertips one of the largest and most significant economic development projects in state history. Now is the time to go fast not slow, to think big not small, and to seize our opportunities, not blink.”

“First, their proposal [to buy Tulane-HCA] calls for scattering the hospital and research facility across three locations across the region. How can it be more efficient to have a hospital at three locations instead of one? Our centralized approach is based on successful models in Birmingham, Houston and beyond.”

“Second, they suggest moving health care services back into the old Charity Hospital. The time to debate whether or not to rebuild old Charity has come and gone. In keeping with the plans to create a biomedical corridor, the VA Hospital is already under construction on the land adjacent to the UMC site. We should all agree that a new, internationally competitive facility should be built, while also finding an adaptive reuse for the old Charity downtown.”

“Third, there seems to be some misguided concerns regarding state subsidies for the UMC. According to Kaufman Hall, this project may require approximately $100 million in annual state subsidies. But even if we do nothing, the state according to DHH will spend approximately $70 million annually subsidizing health care and education at the LSU Interim Public Hospital in New Orleans, so we’re talking about an approximate additional investment of $30 million more per year. And let’s be clear what the state is investing in: The UMC will anchor a biomedical corridor which has the potential to create 8,000 direct jobs, with an average salary of $93,000, not to mention 18,200 in indirect jobs in the community.”

“It’s also true that subsidies and tax credits are part of our economic development strategy. In recent years, the state has announced billions of investments and tax abatements for economic development projects across the state, from a poultry farm in Farmerville to the Nucor iron mill in Convent.”

“The state also subsidizes facilities like Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge to the tune of $13 million per year. The addition of an approximate $30 million in a $26 billion annual budget is a smart investment for thousands of new jobs and better health care outcomes it will create.”

As to concerns that the hospital will not gain the investors it needs, the mayor explained, “There are literally billions of dollars locked up waiting to invest in this economy…If you went to someone and explained that you would put up 80 percent of the equity, and they just had to put of 20 percent, you they go for it. Of course.” The hospital will get the private funding to be viable, in the mayor’s view.

While conceding that Kennedy, Tucker, and Vitter have a point that the UMC would be served better by a truly independent board, by publishing “a sound business plan” and “having other partners, including Tulane University, as an integral part of the project”, these critiques should not stop construction of the new hospital.

“Hopefully, we can work towards these goals together. But now is not the time to blink on the larger goal.”

The legislature might, however. Rep. Cameron Henry (R-Old Jefferson) has filed a rider that would limit construction of the hospital unless sound financing is already in place.

This article originally published in the June 20, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.