$1 Billion NOLA Hospital Project Begins

NEW ORLEANS — Construction of a new $1 billion, 1.7-million-square-foot U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs medical center recently started in New Orleans’ Mid-City neighborhood.

 

The facility is planned to replace a VA hospital flooded by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The current facility offers only limited clinical services and hospitalizations are contracted out to Tulane Medical Center.

 

When it opens, scheduled in 2013, the campus will house 120 inpatient beds and 60 transitional care beds for patients involved in rehabilitation, hospice and palliative care and mental illness research. Another 20 beds will support acute-psychiatric care. The facility will house 23 treatment and exam rooms and eight operating rooms. Located on a 30-acre site, the medical center is planned to serve more than 70,000 veterans and accommodate 500,000 outpatient visits annually. 

 

As part of New Orleans’ preservation efforts, the prestigious Pan-American Life Center Building, located in the city’s central business district, will be rehabilitated and integrated into the design of the new medical center.

 

Veteran’s Affairs will also conduct a structural appraisal of the Dixie Brewery façade to determine further use and possibly convert it into a research facility. The VA hospital and a nearby planned state hospital will create a $2 billion development on 25 city blocks in the district, according to reports.

 

In the event of another disaster situation, the new medical center is designed to sustain itself for seven days without re-supplying. All mission-critical services will be 20 feet above ground level, and the facility will have a heliport and boat dock for evacuations.