WWNO News Features
(2009-07-14)
NEW ORLEANS (AP)
(wrkf) -
A group of people have asked a court to block the closure of New Orleans Adolescent Hospital.The civil lawsuit was filed Friday against Gov. Bobby Jindal, state Health Secretary Alan Levine and other officials and contends that closing the mental health facility would violate the rights of the facility's patients and employees. The plaintiffs are a patient, patient's guardian and a hospital employee, whose identities were not disclosed in court papers.
Jindal proposed shuttering NOAH in the February budget he submitted to lawmakers. But the Legislature disagreed, using a supplemental appropriations bill to direct $14.2 million to the facility and keep it open. The governor used his line-item authority to veto the action, prompting the state to begin closing the facility and moving NOAH's patients to a hospital in Mandeville.
As of Monday, Judge Nadine Ramsey had not scheduled a hearing on the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction.
The targeted NOAH closure date is Sept. 1. © Copyright 2012, wrkf
