Portraits of the Stalwarts: K. Brad Ott

 















Brad Ott has been involved in the healthcare arena in Louisiana for years.  He has long known of the "centrality and cachet of Charity Hospital" in the Louisiana health system.  After Hurricane Katrina, he went around to field hospitals set up in tents and other locations in New Orleans - even as Charity was closed by the state - and ended up heading to testify in Baton Rouge.

Brad V:  As one of the leaders of the Committee to Reopen Charity, how did you get involved with the Charity Hospital fight?

Brad O:  Charity Hospital saved my life.  I was a patient at Charity.  I got involved because we needed the healthcare; people have died because Charity Hospital was closed.  It was closed even though Interim (University) was more damaged.  It was closed despite a case that I found that says legislative approval is needed before a hospital can be closed.

Brad V:  Where do things stand today, from your perspective?

Brad O:  There needs to be an investigation if all original services offered at Charity are not restored in the UMC.  It'll be ten frickin' years before we have full healthcare restored because the Charity option was dismissed.  Governor Jindal is not telling anyone, but 6-7 charity hospitals around the state will be on the chopping block - threatened with closure because of the LSU/VA project.

Magical: Debt disappears, annual state subsidies shrink, and hundreds of Medicare patients appear

+ The UMC business plan presented yesterday by Verite

+ Times-Picayune piece that notes, rather tellingly:

"When the University Medical Center governing board committed earlier this summer to hiring two consulting firms to craft a new business plan for a Charity Hospital successor, Gov. Bobby Jindal hailed the move and encouraged the board not to chain itself to the model long sought by the Louisiana State University System. UMC Board Chairman Bobby Yarborough, a Jindal appointee, said "all options" would be on the table.

When Verite Healthcare Consulting, aided by Kaufman, Hall & Associates,presents its recommendations today at a 1 p.m. meeting of the UMC board, analysts will advocate a facility of essentially the same size and scope as has been on the table for several years."

+ Not everyone bought it:

Janet Hayes of New Orleans accused the board of adopting a "damn-the-consequences attitude."
"This meeting is rigged and predetermined," said Brad Ott, of the Save Charity Hospital organization.

+ No really, not everyone bought what the UMC Board was selling:

"A business plan that has more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese and if you're willing to face the public and face the pages of history go on and approve this plan,” said Resident Jacques Morial who has questioned the project for years.

In the end the board approved the new business plan, even as opponents maintain Charity Hospital can be renovated of its Katrina damage.


...


"It's absolutely criminal. It could have been faster, cheaper,” stated Stokes.

Event at Outer Banks Bar Tomorrow (Dec. 1)

The Committee to Reopen Charity Hospital is holding an event at Outer Banks Bar tomorrow. Here are some additional details from Mr. Brad Ott, a member of the group:

The Committee to Reopen Charity Hospital will hold its regular Wednesday meeting, 6:30pm to 8pm at a new location -- The Outer Banks Bar, Palmyra and South Tonti Streets. As road access is extremely limited due to the destruction of the neighborhood, attenders are advised to enter via Palmyra from the South Dorgenois intersection. Our agenda includes updates from remaining area residents and business proprietors still facing expropriation/demolition, reports and information on the status of the S.W. Green Mansion, Dixie Brewery, the impact of the Orleans Parish Real Estate records' computer crash, the just-released Advisory Group on Forced Evictions Mission Report to New Orleans, United States (an advisory group to The United Nations-Habitat) and other items as brought forth to be considered by attending participants. Dress warmly, as the first part of the meeting could be held outside. For more information, contact Brad Ott at (504) 269-4951 or bradott@bellsouth.net.

Mr. Derrick Morrison of the Comittee provided the flyer seen at the top of the post.