Louisiana hospital grows

Luling, LA-based St. Charles Parish Hospital is set to unveil its $14 million addition that includes an improved cardiology center, expanded intensive care and dialysis and medical surgical units, as well as an unpdated psychiatric unit. The concept for the expansion originated four years ago and the cost was estimated at $9 million before Hurricane Katrina. It climbed sharply after the storm, however, and forced the hospital's board to ask voters for permission to borrow additional money to build it.