NOLA Defender Covers the Kennedy Talk

Here:

After several years of working within the confines of a plan that called for a 424-bed teaching hospital on a stretch of Lower Mid-City land that is currently a residential neighborhood, the three Republicans' alternative appeared to indicate that consensus on the project had eroded. But Kennedy said the idea that there was political backing for the single proposal all along was a facade.


"We have been allowed to discuss one plan, and one plan only," he said.

Images from the Kennedy Talk

Over 100 people showed up last evening at Grace Episcopal to hear State Treasurer John Kennedy speak on the fiscal realities of the UMC situation. And they, importantly, also got to speak as well.

A steady flow of people spoke after Kennedy's brief remarks. It was a truly diverse outpouring of emotion, facts, suggestions, questions, and a desire to do things right.  Topics ranged from healthcare to expropriation to fraud to personal connections with Charity Hospital to questions about alternatives.

The biggest consensus: nobody is opposed to the hospital, it's about opposition to the process, the site, and the lack of community input and discussion on a major community issue.

Kennedy repeatedly emphasized the fact that thus far, discussion has been limited to a single plan, the current UMC plan.  And that plan is not sustainable.

While a few proponents of the current plan showed up, the crowd was overwhelmingly in support of rebuilding in Charity Hospital and critical of the state's decision to destroy a neighborhood without a business plan and financing in place.

Kudos to Ms. Sandra Stokes for organizing such a successful event.