INFORMATION FOR FACULTY CONSIDERATION: A Brief Review of the Issues
Presented by the LSUHSC Faculty Senate and approved by Chancellor Hollier

New Orleans will not be losing services previously offered by Charity Hospital - New Orleans will be gaining a new level of medical care – for everyone.

Creates an AMC Board composed entirely of political appointees. This bill has been supported by Tulane University and others in our community. Thus, it is possible that Tulane will have greater influence on running the AMC than LSU (who proposed it). Why are they (Tulane) so vocal and energetic in their support of the bill? Passage is a part of an attempt to return to the past system in which Tulane selected patients who were able to pay (admitting them to their Hospital) while allowing LSU (us) to manage those who can’t pay in our "shared facility" (previously Charity Hospital). The blatant practice of handpicking patients according to their financial status significantly restricted the old Charity Hospital System’s income and relegated us to state monies and less than desirable maintenance of the facility (just as an example). We should be proud, as those who were central to providing the high quality care at Charity Hospital, while constantly struggling to meet fiscal demands. There are multiple contingency plans available to LSU if the Tucker bill passes (or has passed). So, while not a fatal blow to our AMC, it will keep us on a fairly bumpy road.

The AMC has intended impact on the state of healthcare in our city, for those who can afford and select our services, as well as those who cannot pay and who have little or no choice in healthcare options. There are a number of factors related to our LSU plan that are being discussed in the media and amongst interested parties.

The proposed AMC is designed to be an up-to-date facility, able to house the most recently available and emerging technologies with enough room for adequate training and growth for the future. What some have termed wasted space in the site is space for anticipated construction for future specialty clinics, centers of excellence, training facilities, and structures required for growth of the AMC.

It has been said that building the proposed AMC will destroy the homes of hundreds of people. Those who allude to this statement may not be aware of some available facts. The land area proposed includes the following: 27 vacant houses, 31 occupied homes, 17 vacant commercial sites, 27 commercial sites currently in use, 59 "green spaces", 27 demolished building sites, and – finally 88 parking lots. The total is 276 parcels of property. Further, the homes affected will be purchased – at a price that’s in favor of the current owners’ investment. And, it may be noted that this property will be occupied by a world-class Medical Center with worthwhile structures to house healthcare facilities (academic, clinical, and research - with all the permutations) and not unnecessary or frivolous enterprises.

Exactly what area comprises the site of the AMC? It is a 15 block parcel; bounded by Claiborne Avenue to the South, Tulane Avenue to the West, Canal Street to the East, and Galvez to the North. Just to the North of Galvez will be the VA Center (sharing some common resources). Also, our current Center will remain just across Tulane Avenue from the AMC and Tulane will retain their Center to the South.

Some of those concerned with the AMC have claimed that LSU hasn’t held public meetings. The claim is clearly inaccurate, in that LSU has held or participated in more than 15 public meetings (from November 29, 2007 to January 22, 2009).

A major claim by some concerned parties is that it would be much less expensive to simply rebuild the old Charity Hospital building. If the figures provided by RMJM Hillier and the Historical group were actually representative of the final costs that claim would be true. However, the figures provided by the groups just mentioned are extremely biased and misleading. They give an approximate dollar amount of $484 million for a rebuild of Charity and a cost of $1.2 billion for the new AMC. If anyone looked at the small print included with their data, and examined actual costs, they would notice that the lower cost they provide for rebuilding the Charity facility does not include anything other than the construction cost for the old building! They omit costs for anything like site preparation (demolition work – utility work, etc) or anything inside or outside of the walls. If the realistic costs for the Charity option are compared to what LSU has already provided without deception, it comes down to the following estimates – Charity Option at $824 million compared to LSU AMC at $1.185 billion (and that includes move-in costs). As far as the difference that may remain, there is an important advantage to the AMC plan, over Charity, and that would be the resulting facilities. The Charity building is simply unable to provide for our high-tech clinic, teaching, and research needs (now or down the road). The AMC has been designed with technological infrastructure capabilities and potential for growth that can carry our Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, and our State well beyond our tenure or that of our children’s (an intended understatement).

Though current events do have an impact on our lives now and in the future, we are not facing our demise. There are views and opinions running rampant – sometimes based on partial elements of fact and some are simply outright falsehoods (as just one example - our State Treasurer absolutely had our plan on his desk over a month before claiming that LSU never provided him a plan). It is also likely that some opinions have been influenced by the active campaigning evident by Tulane’s administration. What we are facing is an evolving situation that may remain controversial and frustrating for us for some time to come. If the Tucker Bill passes (passed) we have options and our administration will adapt. It is apparent that the administration’s goal is to have the LSUHSC and an Academic Medical Center located in the City of New Orleans with a facility that will provide us exciting clinical, teaching, and research facilities. In sum, we faculty of LSUHSC have a lot to look forward to, while we also work to remain focused on maintaining the level of excellence we all can be proud of.

• The LSU/VA in question has the potential impact of over 2 billion construction dollars for downtown New Orleans.
• Over 6,000 construction related jobs will be created by the new AMC.
• Projections indicate that just under 20,000 jobs will be created in our area as a result of our proposed project.
• The economic impact of the new AMC and LSUHSC to our city will be over $1.7 billion PER year.
• We train over 70% of the physicians in the State. Ninety-five percent of the students in our School of Medicine are residents of Louisiana (15% of Tulane’s students are LA residents).
• Hurricane Katrina caused incredible damage to our city and to the Charity Hospital infrastructure… destroying our flagship hospital and training facility for our students and resident physicians.

• centralize and offer the highest level of training for Nurses, Health Care Professionals, and Physicians (in the many areas of specialization available),
• attract the highest caliber students, clinicians, and researchers,
• improve our resources for achievements in research,
• and to provide us the opportunity to offer healthcare for those who choose LSU because of the high quality state-of-the-art services we provide, as well as for those who are limited in their choice due to an inability to pay.