Former Patients of Charity Hospital in New Orleans File Lawsuit To Increase Level of Health Care Services

A group of former patients at Charity Hospital in New Orleans on Thursday filed a lawsuit in a Louisiana state court that seeks to require the hospital to return to the level of health care services provided before Hurricane Katrina, the New York Times reports.

Before the hurricane, Charity Hospital provided almost all basic, specialty, emergency and mental health care services to lower-income New Orleans residents. However, after the hurricane flooded the basement of Charity Hospital, Louisiana State University, which operates the hospital, decided not to reopen the facility (Eaton, New York Times, 1/18).

The lawsuit argues that Louisiana law required LSU to obtain approval from the state Legislature to close Charity Hospital two months after the hurricane. According to the lawsuit, LSU also refused a request by state lawmakers to have independent inspectors determine whether Charity Hospital could reopen after the hurricane. The lawsuit states, "The unlawful closure of Big Charity has had a devastating impact on the greater New Orleans area," adding, "Among other things, thousands of residents lack basic health care, the chronically ill go untreated, and critical specialty care is either delayed or unavailable" (Moran, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 1/18).

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, has support from some New Orleans lawmakers, physicians and law enforcement agencies. Plaintiff attorney S. Stephen Rosenfeld said, "This is about investing money in a system that works."

LSU Response
Fred Cerise, vice president for health affairs at LSU, said that state officials made the decision to close Charity Hospital and that university officials had planned to replace the hospital with a new, modernized facility before the hurricane (New York Times, 1/18). The new Charity Hospital will not open until at least 2012 (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 1/18).

Cerise also said that efforts to reopen clinics operated by LSU have taken more time than hoped but added that the university by the end of February plans to open three neighborhood clinics, a large clinic in a department store and a mental health emergency department (New York Times, 1/18). In addition, Louisiana has provided lower-income New Orleans residents with health care services at safety net hospitals in other areas of the state and has provided funds to private hospitals in the city to treat such residents, Cerise said (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 1/18).