by Kevin Caruso

October 5, 2005

Two major New Orleans Hospitals, Charity and University, were damaged beyond repair from the flood caused by Hurricane Katrina and need to be replaced.

“The big Charity and University hospital buildings were issued their 'death warrant' by Katrina and the cataclysmic floods it spawned,” said Donald R. Smithburg, the chief executive of Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division. “Both facilities are dangerous, dangerous places.”

The hospitals treated more that 500,000 patients a year, but both hospitals have been unusable since the storm.

The estimated replacement cost is $340 million for Charity Hospital and $105 million for University Hospital.

“We are going to build newer, more modern facilities that will withstand the test of time. They will withstand the next storm, and the one after that,” Smithburg said.