By Eileen Fleming
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-913383.mp3
New Orleans, La. – Mayor Landrieu says his administration has renegotiated a deal with owners of the Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital site for $16 and a-quarter million dollars, a savings of nearly $24 million dollars from a deal arranged by the Nagin administration.
It's set to open in the fall of 2013 to serve 80,000 residents of New Orleans East, the Ninth Ward and parts of Gentilly. Those residents have been 30 minutes away from emergency care since Hurricane Katrina.
Landrieu says renovations are estimated at $110 million dollars, and financing will be coordinated under new federal guidelines.
"We are now in Obama care. That has completely transformed the way that health care is financed. So as we walk through this we want to build a hospital that is a full-service hospital, that is 80 beds that is financially sustainable. That is our goal. That is our mission."
Landrieu says city and state funding could also be tapped. And plans could be revised as other hospital facilities come back on line in the region. An emergency room at the new hospital could be open in a year. Talks are continuing to find a not-for-profit healthcare provider to operate the hospital.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming