NEW ORLEANS - LOUISIANA Governor Bobby Jindal has signed a key agreement to replace the hurricane-battered Charity Hospital, a landmark sanctuary for the poor begun in 1736 during French colonial rule.
THE dearth of mental health services is reflected in the city's nation-leading murder rate, increased domestic violence and 'self-medicating,' he said.
State Judge David Bell, chief of Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, agreed.
Inked on the eve of Saturday's fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the pact resolves a governance dispute over a proposed US$1.2 billion (S$1.7 billion), 424-bed public teaching hospital, Charles Zewe, vice president of the Louisiana State University System (LSU), said.
Financing hurdles and court challenges however remain, he said.
The state argues the federal government owes $492 million for flood damage to Charity. The Federal Emergency Management Administration has offered $150 million. Failing a compromise, the two sides will either submit to a new arbitration process or thrash out their differences in court.
On Monday, a spirited coalition of preservationists and community activists, are planning a jazz parade protest around Charity, which they argue can be rebuilt more quickly and at a lower cost.
Meanwhile, Mr Zewe on Friday rejected widespread claims from various sources that the city's medical needs are not being met since the storm destroyed six of nine hospitals in 2005.
LSU is continuing to operate a 275-bed interim hospital and Tulane University is maintaining at least 40 psychiatric beds, he said.
'Things are going pretty well despite assertions to the contrary,' Mr Zewe said. 'People are not dying in the streets. If you are sick, you are being seen.'
Marshall Lee, a staff psychologist at Tulane University, said mental health care post-Katrina was woefully inadequate.
'It's still bad,' he said. 'Four years later, services are miniscule. A lot of mental health providers have not returned. Psychiatric beds are very limited.' -- AFP
