Creole, LA
- Federal, state and
local leaders joined
celebrations today
during the Grand
Reopening of South
Cameron Memorial
Hospital. The 49-bed
facility is Cameron
Parish's only
full-service hospital,
providing 24-hour, 7-day
per week emergency care
and inpatient and
outpatient hospital
services.
"There are no words to
describe how important
this hospital is to the
people of Cameron
Parish," said
Louisiana Recovery
Authority (LRA)
Board Member Tom
Henning. "Rural health
care providers are an
important source of
economic growth and
stability to their local
neighborhoods. Not only
will the reopening of
this hospital provide
jobs, but it will also
allow residents to
return to this community
with a greater sense of
security."
In September 2005,
Hurricane Rita
devastated Southwest
Louisiana, completely
destroying the hospital.
The new facility
features a full
emergency room, 25
inpatient beds and a
rural health clinic,
which includes a dental
program. The hospital
also houses a retail
pharmacy and other
ancillary services.
"The re-opening of this
state-of-the-art
facility is vital to the
rebirth of Lower Cameron
Parish as a vibrant,
resilient community and
will help improve the
quality of life for the
people that have
experienced first hand
the destruction of
Hurricane Rita," said
Michael Taylor, director
of the State of
Louisiana's Disaster
Recovery Unit.
The South Cameron
Memorial Hospital was
funded through combined
commitments from the
State of Louisiana, the
Bush/Clinton Katrina
Foundation and the
Federal Emergency
Management Agency
(FEMA). The state
has paid out $23.5
million in FEMA Public
Assistance funds to
rebuild the devastated
hospital. FEMA has
obligated more than $24
million dollars to the
hospital making the
state disbursement rate
nearly 94 percent.
"This new hospital came
about through the hard
work of hospital and
parish administrators
and their willingness to
communicate and work
with federal officials
so Louisiana can fully
recover," said Acting
Associate Deputy
Administrator for FEMA's
Gulf Coast Recovery
Office Jim Stark.
"Working together
enabled us to expedite
more than $24 million in
federal funding and help
this hospital reopen in
a little more than two
years since the storm."
The state also committed
$4 million in Disaster
Recovery Community
Development Block Grant
(CDBG) funding and
$500,000 in Louisiana
CDBG funding. The state
has so far paid out more
than $1.3 million of
those funds. The CDBG
funding by the state is
dedicated to assisting
South Cameron Memorial
Hospital with
operational expenses and
other costs outside the
scope of the FEMA public
assistance program.
In accordance with the
state's hazard
mitigation and elevation
policies, the hospital
has been designed as an
elevated structure with
the finished floor
located at an elevation
of 10 feet above sea
level, which is one foot
above base flood
elevation. The
hospital's emergency
generator and sewer
treatment plant are also
designed to allow their
continued operation
during flood events. The
hospital's structure is
structural steel set
upon concrete piers and
is designed to withstand
winds of 130 miles per
hour.
During his first day in
office,
Governor Bobby Jindal
issued an Executive
Order directing the
Louisiana Recovery
Authority (LRA) and
Governor's Office of
Homeland Security and
Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP)
to be responsible for
the state's actions with
regard to FEMA's Public
Assistance program.
The Public Assistance
program works with state
and local officials to
fund recovery measures
and the rebuilding of
government and certain
private nonprofit
organizations'
buildings, as well as
roads, bridges and water
and sewer plants. In
order for the process to
be successful, federal,
state and local partners
coordinate to draw up
project plans, fund
these projects and
oversee their
completion.
Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita devastated South
Louisiana, claiming
1,464 lives, destroying
more than 200,000 homes
and 18,000 businesses.
The Louisiana Recovery
Authority (LRA) is the
planning and
coordinating body that
was created in the
aftermath of these
storms to lead one of
the most extensive
rebuilding efforts in
the world. The LRA is a
33-member body which is
coordinating across
jurisdictions,
supporting community
recovery and resurgence,
ensuring integrity and
effectiveness, and
planning for the
recovery and rebuilding
of Louisi! ana.
FEMA coordinates the
federal government's
role in preparing for,
preventing, mitigating
the effects of,
responding to and
recovering from all
domestic disasters,
whether natural or
man-made, including acts
of terror.
