Louisiana Wins Bid For Money For Hospital

Sack, Kevin. “Louisiana Win in Bid For Money For Hospital.” New York Times. January 28, 2010. A14.
Charity Hospital, in Louisiana, will finally receive $474.8 million to be replaced after the Hurricane Katrina disaster nearly five years ago. This has been one of the longest, ongoing disputes left by the storm. Hurricane Katrina has caused damage totaling “more than half the hospital’s value.” This would mean it has met the state’s standard to be replaced. Officials like Governor Bobby Jindal are excited to begin the construction of putting up the new hospital. Charity Hospital has been closed since Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana but has no estimated deadline for construction to finish.
While lawyers and others argue that the damages to Charity Hospital were caused from Hurricane Katrina, others are skeptical that a lot of the damages were initially there.
While I believe that majority of the damages were caused by Hurricane Katrina, I cannot help but ask myself how old the hospital actually was and how much damage could have been there in the first place. I would also ask why this court case has taken so long when one of Louisiana’s state hospitals was shut down for so long. I would like to know who the lawyers were as well for each side.