Physicians, Other Care Providers Rally To Protest Closing of New Orleans’ Charity Hospital

About 100 medical workers, former patients and preservationists on Saturday held a protest in front of Charity Hospital in New Orleans, a facility that Louisiana State University-Health Care Services Division officials have decided to close permanently because of flood damage from Hurricane Katrina, the AP/Boston Herald reports. Charity was the city's only Level 1 trauma center, but state officials say the 21-story hospital building cannot be reopened because of bacterial contamination and asbestos. LSU officials said a new hospital to be built in cooperation between LSU-HCSD and the Department of Veterans Affairs could open in five years. However, James Moises, a former emergency department physician at Charity who resigned in order to speak at the protest without violating a gag order, said, "This hospital is not as damaged as they say it is." He added that the hospital could possibly be reopened within weeks if state officials decided to do so (AP/Boston Herald, 3/26). Protesters said the clinics set up by LSU-HCSD and the partial reopening of the storm-damaged University Hospital -- which is expected in the fall -- will not adequately accommodate the health care needs of low-income and uninsured New Orleans residents. LSU-HCSD officials issued a statement after the protest saying that a "nationally recognized engineering firm has declared Charity unsalvageable." The statement said, "While we appreciate the concern of those who share our dedication to caring for the uninsured and to delivering medical training at our hospitals, we also must consider whether it is wise to pour millions of precious tax dollars into repairing facilities that medical accrediting agencies have long recommended be replaced" (Warner, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 3/26).