State Lawmakers Approve Funding For New Orleans Hospital

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, LA – Lawmakers approved a financing plan for the 424-bed hospital that critics say is too big for the market. But city and state leaders have been fighting for six years to replace the old Charity Hospital, which was spearheaded by Governor Huey Long in the 1930s. Republican U-S Senator David Vitter and historic preservationists favor putting a new hospital in the shell of the empty art deco structure. But others, including New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, have been battling to build a new facility a few blocks away to complement the new Veterans Affairs hospital that's under construction near downtown. Landrieu says the new state teaching hospital will have a huge impact on the city's economy as an anchor for medical research.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming.