Not the physical building - not yet. But the entity itself - the staff, the equipment, the vehicles - they've all been relocated temporarily to a location far out in The East...miles and miles and miles away from the medical facilities that are clustered in and around the CBD. I saw the bloodmobiles next to the temporary building - a sad little affair - as I drove by on Sunday and the lonely guard in the guard tower confirmed the location when the photo above was taken on Tuesday.
Yesterday, a few last moving trucks came in with crews to finish up.
It's absurd that this useful and critical facility was forced to move...for a destructive project with no business plan and inadequate financing.
The thing that makes the least sense is that Governor Jindal, after asking the UMC Board to look at all options for the UMC, has goaded Jerry Jones on, and the contractors have just kept clearing the proposed UMC site at the state's urging. It renders Jindal's words about studying alternatives absolutely hollow because it effectively constrains the options on the table.
2 comments:
How many minutes does the New Orleans East location add to travel time between the Blood Center and each currently operating emergency medical facilty? What are those same average travel times at peak traffic hours?
A major blood bank has been forced out of an established and convenient location which would have been on the UMC hospital campus. Is this an example of synergy or stupidity?
The Blood Center only moved a few blocks away. It is now housed in a formerly vacant office building on Canal Street, next to the Rite Aid at Canal and Broad. Parking lot improvements are being done for the buildind now. The Blood Center is being compensated by the State to facilitate the move. BTW, all of the Blood Center's ground facilities on Tulane Ave were destroyed in Katrina, and were never replaced, so this is not necessarily a waste of resources. I know this because I am on the development team.
Post a Comment