Money in Hand

The Times-Picayune takes a look, in both its news and editorial departments, at the hospitals situation post-arbitration.

This note wrapped up the end of the news article:

Some New Orleans mayoral and council candidates, meanwhile, say they support giving the state site to the VA, with the state rebuilding within Charity.


The question is whether any of those candidates, if elected, would actually vote to deny financing, street closures or relevant permits for the hospitals.

Having attended a few mayoral candidate meet-and-greets, I can say that frontrunner Mitch Landrieu stated explicitly one night at Le Phare that he does not support putting LSU's hospital back in the former Charity Hospital.  I thought he was about to salivate as he literally wagged his fingers as he noted the "two BILLION dollars" the new medical facilities in Lower Mid-City would bring to the city.

Republican longshot Rob Couhig, in an appearance at Elizabeth's, stated that he was supportive of the medical complex for its economic impact, but he was not married to a specific site.

Charity Arbitration - The Numbers Are In

The State of Louisiana gets an award of $474.7 million (higher than expected) for damage to the structure during Hurricane Katrina.

This number was crucial to the nature of the fight for Lower Mid-City.  The extra funding gives LSU a leg up in its push to build a new hospital - although it's not even half of the total cost involved.

(Crossposted from LIB)

UPDATE: SaveCharity notes expertly that the numbers actually put LSU in quite the box.

UPDATE II: Another voice sounds off in CityBusiness:

The $474.8 million approved today combined with $300 million already appropriated by the Legislature nearly funds the estimated $900 million needed to renovate Charity Hospital, said Jack Davis, president of Smart Growth for Louisiana and a board member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.


“Reusing Charity Hospital would allow the project to begin right away,” Davis said. “But if the state moves forward with plans for the new $1.2 billion hospital they still have to raise $400 million. And most people agree that raising anything on the bond market right now is going to be extremely difficult and could take several more years.”