CMMC Makes Plea for Matching Funds

              WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1972 B ONE
Renovation, Modernization—
CMMC Makes Plea
For Matching Funds
By MERRILEE LEATHERMAN
Journal Staff Writer
Confederate Memorial Medi-cal
Center Tuesday sought the
support of Northwest Louisi-ana
area legislators to secure
state matching funds for a
proposed $15 million five-year
plan of renovation and mod-ernization
for the h o s p i t a l
during the coming legislative
session.
Dr. Edgar Galloway, direc-tor
of Confederate, and Robert
Hall, assistant director, said
they knew their prospects for
money were not good. On a
recent trip to Baton Rouge to
present their financial needs,
they said, "we were told there
is no money available for
anyone."
HOWEVER, LSU Chancellor
W i l l i a m Stewart reminded
legislators the financial re-quests
are not merely a con-cern
for Shreveport but a
statewide concern since the
medical schools in New Or-leans
and Shreveport are con-nected.
He added, "the only
way a boy or girl can be
trained to be a doctor here
in Louisiana is to go to New
Orleans or Shreveport."
Dr. Edgar Hull, dean of the
LSU M e d i c a l School in
Shreveport, said Confederate
needs rehabilitation in the
areas of maintenance, physi^
cal facilities and functionality.
"The things we need are
going to cost money," Dr.
Hull said, "but the medical
school is deeply concerned
w i t h Confederate Memorial
Medical Center since this, too,
is our hospital.
"THE FORTUNES of LSU-Shreveport
and Confederate
are tied together," said Dr.
Hull," not cnly educationally,
but also for the care of the
poor people of this area."
Dr. Hull has pointed out
that the situation has become
extremely critical because
Shreveport has a m e d i c a l
school now and Confederate is
its teaching hospital, though
the facility was not designed
with that concept in mind.
The plan p r o p o s e d by
Confederate calls for federal
and state matchnig funds, but
Dr. Galloway has said before
that some work must be un-dertaken
by the state at once
and funded only from state
monies since the work is not
eligible for federal participa-tion.
Some $6,250,000 would be
needed from state funds for
the 1972-1973 fiscal year for
the five-year plan.
LEGISLATORS were taken
on a tour of the hospital
during the day to see the
facility which has not received
funds for major improvements
since its opening.
A study of the hospital has
s h o w n that it is not in
conformity with the Life Safe-ty
Code; there is a, physical
deterioration of the building
itself and of the plumbing and
heating systems; there is a
lack of air conditioning in the
hospital wards and obsolete
air conditioning in some
areas and inadequate electri-cal
power and lack of adequ-ate
emergency generators.
Among the improvements
urgently needed are a rear-rangement
and remodeling of
existing space to meet the
changing demands for medi-cal
service, new laboratory
facilities and new facilities
and space for the various
departments in the hospital.
SQUEAMISH
'Too Many Germs'
Departing Solon Says
Whoever said that politics
isn't for squeamish females
wasn't talking a b o u t Rep.
Louise Johnson.
Here for Tuesday's meeting
at Confederate M e m o r i a l
Medical Center of the board of
directors and legislators from
the Northwest LouisiaHa area,
Rep. Johnson declined to go to
certain areas during a tour of
the facilities to show legisla-tors
the financial needs of the
hospital.
One of the sites she missed
was the hospital's admitting
area. When she looked
through the glass doors and
saw the many patiemts wait-ing,
she said she couldn't go
in.
Why?
"There are just too many
germs!" she said. And left.
Shreveport Journal