During Mardi Gras, City Business publisher Mark Singletary took time out from parading to write a factually deficient manifesto in support of the unfunded LSU/VA megahospital even though a new Charity would be a faster, cheaper, and more progressive way to restore a world-class medical facility to the metro area.
The piece is particularly horrendous because his argument is essentially that the new project is a done deal and must go forward because he says it's a done deal and must go forward. He doesn't actively refute any of the major concerns related to cost estimates, conflicts of interest, or community justice. He just says it must be so. See for yourself:
Here’s the deal. The new Louisiana State University teaching/charity/trauma/learning center in downtown New Orleans is going to be at the lower end of Mid-City between Tulane Avenue and Canal Boulevard next to the equally new Veterans Administration hospital.
Period, end of story.
That is unless we don’t get close to $500 million from FEMA.
All LSU needs is $492 million it wants from FEMA, not to complete the project, but to start it. So far FEMA’s offer is somewhere just short of $150 million. The $350 million gap is based on a FEMA assessment of the old Charity building and how much damage was sustained during Hurricane Katrina.
When finished, the entire complex will cost somewhere close to $800 million, plus or minus $100 million. The FEMA money is critical.
LSU thinks the Charity building is completely damaged and FEMA thinks not - at least for now.
If FEMA drops our ball, refuses to pay up and otherwise gets in the way of the state’s best-laid plans, there won’t be a new LSU teaching hospital. Also, end of story.
Or, if old-time Louisiana politics mess things up so much and nothing happens in New Orleans, we end up losing everything - medical center, medical school and thousands of high paying jobs.
There has also been a lot talk about using the old Charity Hospital facility on Tulane Avenue. That talk is a feint. Public hearings have been held, consultants have conspired, the Legislature has convened and decisions have been made to go forward. New hospital wins.
End of story! Done deal! New hospital wins!
Because Stone Cold Mark Singletary Said So!
I love that last paragraph especially. Public hearings have been held? Not one ever at City Council or in front of the City Planning Commission. Consultants have conspired? Um, I think that's precisely what we're saying.
But let's go back and look at the whole. Singletary says the only thing standing in the way of the destruction of Lower Mid City is the $492 million (pocket change I know, "all LSU needs") it will take to "not to complete the project, but to start it."
I don't think he meant to write a pro-Charity column but it would sort of seem like it based on the silliness of his argument. At any rate, he seems to think its a foregone conclusion that FEMA reimburses LSU to the tune of the rest of that $492 million.
That's a pretty bold assumption don't ya think?
But not just because I say so/end of story/done deal/temper tantrum...
Let's actually examine at some like, you know, evidence.
The quotes that follow come from the February 04. 2009 version of the FEMA Project Worksheet Report on Charity Hospital. The emphasis is always mine. (I'll try to get this doc online for you as soon as I can.)
In the middle of December, Governor Bobby Jindal rejected FEMA's offer to reimburse the state $150 million for Katrina-related damages. This was a new high offer from FEMA, put forth in the closing days of the Bush administration, up from $23 million.
Let's take a look at how FEMA came up with that $150 million figure.
Again, the original assessment was roughly $23 million. From there, the feds added tens of millions of dollars because "FEMA also recognizes the likelihood of additional damages that would be discovered through exploratory work, testing, and construction. It is further understood that in the months immediately following the hurricanes Katrina and Rita, certain mechanical and electrical components within the facility would have started to deteriorate to the point of disrepair."
But that wasn't all. An extra $51 million got tacked on by FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security for reasons independent from estimates of actual damage to the building:
This determination was based on (1) the magnitude of the impact of the disaster, (2) recognition that the actual cause of much post-storm damage could not conclusively be determined, and (3) the desire to accelerate the recovery of the healthcare system in New Orleans.
In other words, in response to heavy political pressure, FEMA basically tacked on a gift $51 million outside their evaluation of actual storm damage to Charity in order to help Louisiana expedite the restoration of medical care to New Orleans (which by default means the LSU/VA project).
How likely is it now that another few hundred million dollars will be forthcoming?
Well, if you look at the most recent project worksheet report, it wouldn't seem as though FEMA is particularly enchanted with the state of Louisiana's penchant for intentional neglect. More specifically, FEMA seems to think that a lot of the damage has been inflected upon the building by LSU itself due to its failure to properly secure the hospital for years after Katrina. The following selections have been lifted from FEMA's project worksheet report on Charity from early February:
Through 2008, FEMA conducted additional assessments of Charity Hospital to validate additional damages presented by the applicant. During these assessments, FEMA observed deteriorating conditions at Charity Hospital resulting in the continuation of damages. The observed damages consisted of (1) Preventable damages, such as humidity damage and mold damage, and (2) Damage due to lack of use and deferred maintenance.Here is the chronology of warnings from FEMA to the state of Louisiana regarding the protection of the Charity facility from further damages.
In an April 16, 2007 letter, Jim Start, Director of the Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office, advised the State of Louisiana that, "it is imperative that the applicants are aware of the requirements related to protecting facilities from further deterioration and the implications of neglecting to do so. Moreover, it should be noted that a significant number of these degrading facilities are state-owned. Examples of these facilities include Charity Hospital and RSD (Recovery School District). Avoidable damages linked to an applicant not taking proper measures to protect its facilities will not be eligible for reimbursement through the FEMA PA Program..."
In a follow-up May 5, 2008 letter, Jim Stark advised the State of Louisiana that "now, over a year since my first letter and nearing three years since the storm event, it is alarming that applicants continue to allow their facilities to deteriorate. A significant number of these degraded facilities are owned by the Facility, Planning, and Control Department. Charity Hospital, the Dibert Building and the L&M Building, all facilities in the LSU MCLNO Network, are examples of such facilities... Avoidable damages linked to an applicant not taking proper measures to protect its facilities will not be eligible for reimbursement through the FEMA PA Program..."
Naturally, LSU has acted with all deliberate speed to secure the property after Jim Stark warned them that they were risking reimbursement eligibility.
July 12, 2007, the architect developed a scope of work to suspend continuing damages related to Hurricane Katrina and minimize the immediate vulnerability of the facility. This scope of work has since been submitted to FEMA and was addressed in Version 2 of this project worksheet, which was obligated November 13, 2008. At the writing of this project worksheet, FEMA has observed that none of this work has been initiated.
So is Barack Obama's FEMA now going to "earmark" another 300 or so million dollars for this LSU/VA "pork" project when Charity could be rebuild faster and cheaper without destroying a residential neighborhood? Is Barack Obama's FEMA suddenly going to reward LSU for their own failure to properly secure the facility over the course of three and a half years?
Bobby Jindal is threatening to turn down tens of millions of dollars in federal aid for Louisiana's recession victims but he's simultaneously asking for hundreds of millions of dollars in gift money from FEMA to fill a funding shortfall in a sprawling hospital project that still won't see its first shovels for several more years?
Janet Napolitano, the new head of the Department of Homeland Security will be down here in New Orleans this week to take a look. Something tells me she won't find the blank check being requested by Bobby Jindal and LSU to be particularly prudent.
Mark Singletary's little 'done deal' if is actually a LARGELY UNLIKELY IF.
This story ain't even close to its conclusion, kiddos. Pay attention to the news this week.
We'd have a done deal on our hands if LSU would come around to support the Hillier compromise proposal backed by a diverse coalition of New Orleanians.
Posts
