New Orleans Hospital Replacement Opens At Full-Scale Level
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on New Orleans' Charity Hospital, a new facility opened up with hopes of preserving the former hospital's mission. Meanwhile, new outlets report on other hospital developments in North Carolina, Alabama, California, West Virginia and Arizona.
The New York Times:
New Orleans Hospital Is Replaced, With Hope Of Preserving Its Mission
After Hurricane Katrina, the shrunken medical staff of the state-owned Charity Hospital worked out of tents, an abandoned Lord & Taylor department store and eventually a cramped interim hospital with scaled-back services. As best they could, they continued Charity’s centuries-old mission of caring for poor and uninsured residents, mostly black, whom other hospitals typically turned away. Nearly a decade after the storm, the staff made one last move on Saturday, into a $1.1 billion replacement hospital with a pointedly different name, University Medical Center New Orleans. Built largely with federal disaster funds, and run by a private operator under contract with the state, the hospital is being held up as the centerpiece of a much-improved health care system for the poor here. (Goodnough, 8/1)
The Associated Press:
Charity Hospital Replacement Opens Saturday In New Orleans
Ten years after the levees and floodwalls broke during Hurricane Katrina and flooded New Orleans, the Big Easy finally has a full-scale hospital again — a new Charity hospital. At 6 a.m. Saturday, the new 2.3 million-square-foot University Medical Center New Orleans, built with $1.1 billion of federal, state and private rebuilding money, ambulances and medical staff began the transfer of 131 patients into the new hospital for its first day of operations. Orchestrating the move required closing down streets as ambulances take patients into the facility. (Burdeau, 8/1)
North Carolina Health News:
Re-Envisioning The Rural Hospital
The old model no longer worked. Since 1954, the 52-bed hospital at 500 Morven Rd., on the edge of downtown Wadesboro, county seat of Anson County, had served the community well. But the model no longer worked for a rural community with a stagnant population. For a variety of reasons, the number of people admitted to small, rural hospitals is declining. All those inpatient beds aren’t needed. The financial model was no longer viable in Anson. What was needed was something entirely new. But the solution wasn’t immediately apparent. Some reimagining was in order. (Sisk, 7/31)
The Associated Press:
Alabama Hospitals In Critical Condition
An ambulance carrying a person with stroke symptoms backs up the emergency room on summer morning at Wedowee Hospital. The tiny, red brick hospital is the closest hospital for about 45 miles in this rural stretch of east Alabama. "We have had people who would not have survived if we hadn't been here," said emergency room physician Dr. Jose Oblena. The hospital could also be the next hospital to be shuttered as rural hospitals struggle to survive. Eight rural Alabama hospitals have closed over the last 15 years, according to the Alabama Hospital Association. Nationwide, 54 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, according to the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program. (Chandler, 8/1)
Los Angeles Times:
Providence And St. Joseph Hospital Chains Are In Talks To Merge
Two major Catholic hospital systems with a big presence across the Southland — Providence Health & Services and St. Joseph Health — want to join forces amid an industrywide consolidation drive. The two health systems said Friday that they had signed a letter of intent to merge into a single organization. But they cautioned that discussions are in the "very early stages" and details about a partnership might not be finalized for several months. (Shively and Terhune, 7/31)
The Associated Press:
Antitrust Agreement In West Virginia Hospital Takeover
Mary's Medical Center in Huntington would operate as a stand-alone facility after its takeover by Cabell Huntington Hospital under an antitrust agreement announced Friday by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Morrisey said the agreement filed Friday in Cabell County Circuit Court sets conditions to ensure the acquisition complies with state and federal law. The acquisition is still under review by the Federal Trade Commission. In November, Cabell Huntington Hospital Inc. agreed to assume control of St. Mary's after the Pallottine Missionary Sisters ended their sponsorship of the hospital after 90 years. (7/31)
The Associated Press:
Arizona Border Hospital Closes After Medicare Payments Stop
Residents of two rural communities in the Southwest face limited options to obtain convenient medical care after services were completely or partially shuttered. The Cochise Regional Hospital, the only one serving the Arizona border city of Douglas, closed Friday after losing Medicare funding weeks ago. The Crownpoint Health Care Facility in northwestern New Mexico recently reopened its emergency room but has been without labor and delivery services for months. (Fonseca, 8/1)
