Parish's hospital battle rages on

More than a year after creating a five-member public board to plan and build St. Bernard Parish's first post-Hurricane Katrina hospital, the Parish Council will consider asking the panel to let it take over the job of building it. In a resolution, the council is "offering" to take over the construction of the hospital, noting "there is a desire both between the governing authority and the hospital service district to expedite the construction of the hospital as quickly as possible." If the council passes the measure and the hospital board agrees to relinquish the responsibility at its meeting, the Parish Council would then be responsible for deciding where to build the hospital and how to move forward with architects and contractors.