St. Bernard Hospital Nearly Open

CHALMETTE — In August the St. Bernard Parish Hospital is slated to open its doors seven years after Hurricane Katrina.

The Times-Picayune reports that the 113,000-square-foot hospital and an adjoining 60,000-square-foot medical office building are nearly ready.

For Wayne Landry, chairman of St. Bernard Parish's Hospital Service District, the opening is one of the last pieces of the parish's recovery.

"From education to police, fire, and government, we have made strides to recover," he said. "Health care was the last remaining piece to that puzzle, and now we have that."

Chalmette Medical Center, the parish's lone hospital, flooded in Katrina and never reopened.

The new $90 million facility is financed through grants, tax credits and state capital outlay dollars. Also, a 10-year millage was approved by parish residents.