District seeks ways to fund hospital repairs

Two months after winning public support for a new property tax, the hospital district that owns Ochsner St. Mary is trying to find a way to finance building repairs before the next hurricane season.
The bureaucratic timeline for turning taxation authority into money for renovations quickly is not encouraging, Hospital Service District No. 2 board members heard Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, the board balked at a commitment to the public relations company for future work even as members praised the company’s role in campaigning for the tax increase.
Voters in the district, which extends east from Calumet, approved the 9-mill property tax Dec. 7. The $3.4 million the tax is expected to raise each year is to go for repairs at Morgan City’s Ochsner St. Mary, which is operated under lease by Ochsner Health, as well as for scholarships for local people entering health-related fields.
At the top of the repair list are sealing the building against weather and installing a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system.
Water from Hurricane Francine’s 10 or more inches of rain infiltrated the building Sept. 11. The hospital was closed to in-patient admissions for the rest of that month.
The new property tax won’t begin to be collected until the fall, so the board is considering borrowing funds for the renovations by issuing bonds.
Board counsel Bill Bourgeois told members Wednesday that the process for issuing bonds would require going to the St. Mary Parish Council and then to the State Bond Commission.
If the commission approves, the hospital service district would have to pass a resolution.
And that, Bourgeois said, means the bonds wouldn’t be available to investors until June.
The nominal start of hurricane season is June 1, although the riskiest time is between late August and early October.
Another source of funds, Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement for hurricane damage at the hospital, is also in the works, although that too is taking time, Bourgeois said.
Discussions are under way about the value of the damage sustained in the hurricane – Chairman Dr. William Cefalu Jr. estimated it to be in the millions – and how much is due to both the district and to Ochsner.
TCI
Barbara Carey of The Communications Institute of Baton Rouge made a pitch for the district’s business as it explains to the public what the new tax funds are going for.
TCI handled media messaging in the run-up to the Dec. 7 election, using social media and TV and newspaper advertising to advocate for the 9-mill tax. The company specializes in such votes for hospitals.
She said the 70%-30% win is the second-biggest election margin in an election TCI was involved with in 23 years.
Carey encouraged the district to tell the public what the tax money goes for with quarterly reports to city and parish councils, annual reports to groups including the Rotary and the Kiwanis, presentations to employees and presentations of scholarships at the St. Mary Parish School Board.
But the $200 an hour price tag for TCI’s continued involvement was too much for board members Thane Aucoin and Bill McCarty, both of whom complimented TCI’s work before the election.
“I think you all did a terrific job,” McCarty said. “But it’s a little tough.”
Board member Angelena Brocato moved to accept TCI’s proposed pay scale, but the motion failed.