Children's Hospital would be allowed to buy the former New Orleans Adolescent Hospital property without having to offer mental health services at the location under a bill filed Friday at the state Legislature. A spokesman said the hospital is close to an agreement with Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration on a price for the land, but wants the change so...
Children's Hospital would be allowed to buy the former New Orleans Adolescent Hospital property without having to offer mental health services at the location under a bill filed Friday at the state Legislature. A spokesman said the hospital is close to an agreement with Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration on a price for the land, but wants the change so they can use the property to expand the services currently offered at their Uptown campus.
Exactly what should be done with the NOAH property is a point of contention between Children's and state Rep. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, who wants the hospital to provide more mental health treatment for young people in exchange for the exclusive right to buy the land.
A law passed in 2012 gave Children's preferential status to lease the property, located adjacent to the hospital on Henry Clay Avenue. But, in exchange, the law mandated that Children's expand mental health services for adolescents and kids at NOAH.
On Friday, Rep. Helena Moreno, D-New Orleans, filed House Bill 546 to allow Children's
to buy the property without restrictions. Three other New Orleans area legislators signed onto the bill.
Abramson, in turn, filed competing House Bill 595, which would require Children's to use NOAH as a mental health facility or would alternatively give Ochsner Health System the right to an exclusive lease. If Ochsner declined to offer mental health services there, the property would be put out to bid.
Right now, Children's is not committing to expanding mental health services. Brian Landry, a Children's spokesman, said the hospital is monitoring whether there is a demand to expand the treatment services they currently provide at the former DePaul Hospital, also Uptown."The likelihood is that we will add beds," he said.
But Children's has indicated the hospital absolutely won't add them at the NOAH facility, which would need a significant amount of rehabilitation. After Hurricane Katrina, Children's purchased DePaul, spending $12 million to renovate that property. If there is an expansion, it would be there, Landry said.
Abramson said he doesn't care whether the services are actually offered at the NOAH facility or somewhere else, but wants to see a firm commitment that Children's will increase treatment for young people.
"I am looking for them to provide some kind of formal proposal as to mental health services they verbally say they can do," he said.
Landry noted that Children's parent company is currently in negotiations to run the Interim LSU Public Hospital, and said they will look to reopen adult mental health beds once they are in control of the state hospital. Children's also will run the University Medical Center when it opens in 2015 and plans to open 60 mental health inpatient beds at that time.
Moreno said she is willing to work with Abramson on language about mental health treatment requirements.
"We also want that property to stop sitting blighted and in ruins," she said.
Landry said Children's has been trying to buy the NOAH property for decades. The Jindal administration had estimated in this year's budget that it would sell for $35 million.
The two sides are still negotiating on how much Children's will pay, but are "very close," Landry said. He said the final number will likely be less than the budgeted amount, but "not terribly less."