“Rebuilding our healthcare system is a top priority in our ability to repopulate the city,” Jefferson said.  “But it has not been a top priority for recovery funding thus far and it certainly should be.  This facility will alleviate many of the healthcare pains our region has seen since Charity Hospital was devastated by serving many of the same uninsured and underserved citizens.  I am grateful to my colleagues for finally taking this huge step to fund our healthcare system’s recovery and I urge my Senate colleagues to support our request and appropriate the critically-needed funds for our healthcare system now.”

In April, Jefferson held a briefing with Dr. Michael Butler, Chief Medical Officer of the Louisiana State University Hospital System for a joint meeting between Members of the Democratic Caucus’s Healthcare and Katrina Task Forces to discuss the desperately needed healthcare facility.  Jefferson also led Don Smithburg, CEO of the LSU Hospital System around to meet with Members of the Energy and Commerce and Appropriations Committees to discuss the need for this project to be funded before Congress adjourned in October. In August, Jefferson also led Democrats on a tour of the Spirit of Charity Hospital and Democrats committed to returning to Congress with rebuilding the healthcare system at the forefront of their agenda. 

After Katrina, the Louisiana State University Health Services Division was forced to lay off 4,000 doctors, nurses and other professionals as their New Orleans facilities closed due to the extensive damage they suffered.  There simply are not enough hospital beds, medical supplies or healthcare professionals to meet the critical needs the New Orleans metro area now face.  Rebuilding the healthcare infrastructure is also an important component to the overall economic development in the region, as the reinstatement of those 4,000 jobs lost could provide a much-needed boost for the city’s tax base.