(AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal said LSU needs a more detailed financial plan for its proposed new public hospital and teaching facility in New Orleans, which would replace Charity Hospital.
Jindal said Monday “there is a legitimate frustration” that LSU hasn’t presented enough details in its business plan for the hospital. The current plan would be too vague to attract investors on the bond market to help cover the costs of building the hospital, he said.
“They will tell you they’ve got a business plan,” Jindal said of LSU. “My point is they need more details.”
The governor said he continues to support construction of the new $1.2 billion hospital, to replace the public hospital flooded and damaged by Hurricane Katrina four years ago.
Jindal’s comments come as lawmakers debate bills that would change governance of the hospital (House Bill 830) and that would require legislative approval of a financing proposal for the hospital before the state could buy or expropriate land for it (House Bill 780).
“I think there is a legitimate frustration that there needs to be a very detailed business plan that shows where the revenues would come from, how this would be operated, how this new hospital will be self-sufficient, how this will serve both as a safety net as well as doing first-class research and teaching,” Jindal said.
The Legislature’s joint budget committee already has twice approved plans for the hospital.
Those plans describe a hospital that would be financed with $492 million in federal money, $300 million from the state and the rest from borrowing that would be repaid with hospital income.
But federal officials haven’t agreed to give the state $492 million for the Charity Hospital damage, and critics question LSU’s assertion that it would generate enough money from paid patients to repay the borrowing.—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]