Jefferson, Orleans at odds over canal closure

pumpingsystematLabarre RoadandAirlineDrivetodrain OldMetairieandOldJefferson intototheSuburbanCanal drainagebasinnearClearview Parkway,Alikhanisaid.<br><br> OnSept.11and12,TheShaw GroupInc.,acontractor,in- stalledtwosmallpumpsata pairofpipesthatconnectthe Hoey 9sand17thStreetcanals, Alikhanisaid.Thepumpswere designedtodrainwaterfrom theHoey 9sCanalintothe17th StreetCanalafterKatrina,asa contingencyincasetheHoey 9s Cutsluicegatecouldnotbe raisedafterthebreachwas patchedandPumpStation No.6wasbackonline. ButJeffersonParishofficials turnedonthosepumpsSept.13 or14tomove casmallvolume ofwater dbackintothe17th StreetCanalthathadseeped pastthesluicegate,hesaid. Alikhaniinsistedthepump- ingwasnotintendedtodrain waterfromfloodedJefferso n neighborhoodsbacktoOrleans Parish.<br><br> cWepumpedbecauseofseep- age, dhesaid. cWhenyouclose thatgate,itdoesn 9tgiveyou10 0 percentclosure.Wepumpedso wecouldatleastmaintainthe sameelevationatHoey 9sCanal. Wewereputtingbackthesam e amountthatwascomin g through. d Operatorsdidnotkeepthe pumpsworkingforlong. cThey pumpedforaboutanhour,and thenthecorpscameinandshu t themdown, dAlikhanisaid. cI thinktheywereworriedabout theintegrityoftheleveetha t theywererepairing. d AlikhanisaidJeffersonhas notpumpedwaterthroughthe pipesintothe17thStreetCana l sincethecorpsmandate. ÏÏÏÏÏÏÏ MichelleKrupacanbereachedat mkrupa@timespicayune.comor (504)826-3785.MarkSchleifsteincanbe reachedat mschleifstein@timespicayune.comor (504)826-3327.<br><br> 10 M i s s i s s i p p i Ri v e r 17th Street Canal Hoey 9s Canal (Underground) EA RHA RT BLV D. Gate, temporary pumps may have threatened levee repairs VETERANS MEM. BLVD.<br><br> WEST ESPLANADE AVE. CAUSEWAY BLVD. BUCKTOWN METAIRIE JEFFERSON JEFFERSON HWY.<br><br> \x4 61 AIRLINE DR. Orleans Parish Jefferson Parish 1 mile STAFF MAP 10 Sewerage & Water Board Pump Station No. 6 NEW ORLEANS STAFFPHOTOBYJOHNMcCUSKER EngineerKazemAlikhani,directoroftheJeffersonParishdrainagedepartment,explainsthework- ingsofthefloodgatethatseparatestheHoeyCanalfromthe17thStreetCanal.<br><br> Temporaryhospitalsareconsidered Ochsner,St.Charles f acilitiesarestudied ByJanMoller Capitalbureau BATONROUGE 4 Officialsare lookingattwoNewOrleans- areahospitalsastemporaryre- placementsitesforthehurri- cane-damagedCharityandUni- v ersityhospitals,theheadofthe charitysystemsaidFriday. LouisianaStateUniversityof- ficialsarenegotiatingwiththe OchsnerClinicFoundationto leaseElmwoodMedicalCenter inJeffersonParishforuseasa traumacenter.Theyalsoare consideringbuyingSt.Charles GeneralHospitalforuseasa smallinpatienthospitalwith about130beds. cWeareindeepdiscussions w iththemrightnow, dDonald Smithburg,headofLSU 9s HealthCareServicesDivision, toldtheLSUBoardofSupervi- sors.<br><br> Hesaidbothdealsarebeing negotiatedconcurrently,and thateachfacilitywouldhavea specificmission.WhileElm- w oodwouldtreatemergency patients,St.CharlesGeneral couldbeusedasaninpatientfa- cility,butonlyafterextensive repairsaremadetothebuilding onSt.CharlesAvenue. cThiswouldnotbeanover- nightsolution, dhesaid. Wherethemoneywouldcome topayforthoseendeavorsis verymuchindoubt.Smith- burg 9scommentstotheboard cameadayafterheannounced that2,900ofthecharitysys- tem 9s8,000workersstatewide couldbefurloughedbyNov.6 withoutaninfusionofcash.<br><br> Severalproposalsarepending onCapitolHillthatcouldpro- videfederalaidforhospitals, butSmithburgsaiditprobably wouldn 9tcomeintimetoavoid massivelayoffs.Onepossibility isforLSUtoseekauthority fromthestatetoincuradeficit, hesaid. CharityandUniversityhos- pitalswerebothswampedby HurricaneKatrina,leavingthe NewOrleansareawithoutthe facilitiesthatdeliveredabout90 percentofthehealthcarefor theregion 9suninsuredpopula- tion.Astructuralengineerhired byLSUestimatesthatre- pairingthetwohospitalswould costabout$375million.Smith- burgandtheLSUboardwould prefertoreplacebothfacilities withasinglenewhospital, whichisestimatedtocost$561 million. FederalEmergencyManage- mentAgencyrulesallowthe governmenttopayupto90per- centofthecostofreplacing publicfacilitiesthataremore than50percentdamagedbya naturaldisaster.LSUestimates thatCharitysustained65per- centdamagefromthestorm andUniversitywas67percent damaged.<br><br> ButFEMAmustfinishits ownevaluationofthedamage beforeLSUbecomeseligiblefor thatfinancing,aprocessthat couldtakeseveralyears. Evenbeforethestorm,LSU officialshadbeenplanningfora newhospitaltoreplace cBig Charity, dthe66-year-oldart decobuildingonTulaneAvenue. Katrina 9sfloodwatersdeluged theelectricalandmechanical systemsthatwerehousedinthe hospital 9sbasement,forcingitto shutdownindefinitely.<br><br> ButevenifFEMAagreesto financethereplacementcostfor anewhospital,LSUcouldfind toughsleddingintheLegis- lature,whichwouldhavetoap- proveanewhospitalandfinance atleast10percentofthecost. cIt 9stimewestepback... andthinkthrough, 8Isitbetter torebuilditinanew,freshway, orisitbettertorebuilditlikeit was? dsaidstateSen.Tom Schedler,R-Mandeville,who chairedtheSenateHealthand WelfareCommitteeunderfor- merGov.MikeFoster.<br><br> SchedlersaidLSUofficials haveworktodoinconvincing theLegislaturethatanewhos- pitalisnecessary. cThetax- payer,theLegislatureandthe governordeservesomegood factsbeforewemakethesedeci- sions, dhesaid. Inthemeantime,Charityis providingservicesfromamo- bilehealthclinicintheparking lotofUniversityHospital,which istreatingabout100patients perday. ÏÏÏÏÏÏÏ JanMollercanbereachedat jmoller@timespicayune.comor (225)342-5207.<br><br> Wearecommittedtoprovidinghelpforourpatientswhosetreatmentandcarehavebeen disruptedbyrecentevents.TheHematology&OncologySpecialistsupdatesareasfollows: ThePrytaniaOf eceofHematology&OncologySpecialists willopenTuesday,November1st.3525Prytania,Ste.302. Call504-897-8970 SalvadorCaputto,MD ToddF.Roberts,MD MiltonW.Seiler,Jr.,MD ScottA.Sonnier,MD CANCERCAREWHEREYOUARE HEMATOLOGY&ONCOLOGYSPECIALISTS,LLC: CALLTOLL-FREEFORINFORMATION,TOSCHEDULETREATMENT ORMAKEANAPPOINTMENT 866-205-9057 ANDVISITONLINEWWW. 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