N.O. gets $8.3M charitable healthcare fund

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced Wednesday that an $8.3 million charitable healthcare fund will be used to support primary care for the underserved across New Orleans.

By order of a petition brought forth by a committee of attorneys and signed by Judge Eldon E. Fallon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, $1 million from this fund is set aside for construction of a primary care facility on the former Methodist Hospital campus. These funds will be disbursed directly to the Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans towards the construction cost of the facility they will build in partnership with Orleans Parish Hospital Service District A.

The remaining $7.3 million will be disbursed via a structured grant program managed by the Louisiana Public Health Institute, under the guidance of Dr. Jane Bertrand of Tulane’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Grants will be awarded to eligible primary care providers to support provision of care to underserved populations across New Orleans, including in New Orleans East and the 9th Ward.

In appreciation of their work to advocate for this charitable fund coming to New Orleans, Mayor Landrieu honored each supporting attorney with a Key to the City.

“This is a great day for New Orleans. This charitable healthcare fund brings us one step closer to building a full-service hospital in New Orleans East and will also provide health care for those who are underserved in our community,” Landrieu said. “We are incredibly grateful to Judge Fallon and all of the attorneys on the committee who recognized the need for this funding in our city. We are also grateful to the city’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, for her leadership in identifying appropriate uses for these funds that will lead to maximal and lasting impact in our community.”

“We are pleased with the establishment of this fund and look forward to the provision of substantial medical services to citizens of New Orleans, particularly to residents of New Orleans East. We are proud to have participated in the rebuilding of New Orleans Health Services, particularly in the under-serviced area of New Orleans East which was ravaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” said Russ Herman, a lead attorney on the committee.

In addition to Dr. Jane Bertrand and Dr. Karen DeSalvo, other medical professionals appeared before Judge Fallon for testimony, including Dr. Joseph Kimbrell, CEO of the Louisiana Public Health Institute.

This article was originally published in the November 7, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper