LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – Southwest Louisiana Health Services will soon have a new permanent facility to serve its patients.
After the 2020 hurricanes damaged the old building, they had to improvise.
“We had to make exam rooms out of the call center and out of the break room. We had to have staff working at a lot of the different schools. We had to lease a building over at the Imperial, where we got an OBGYN on the first floor, and on the second floor, we got behavioral medical services over there,” CEO of Southwest Louisiana Health Services William Brent said.
Brent said the new facility off of Opelousas Street is estimated to cost a little over $23 million.
“FEMA, I believe, is in the $5.5 million, and insurance is similar to about $5 million or $5.5 million. We’re going to be responsible for about $6 million, and then the rest is going to come from new market tax credits, and some other grant funds we’ve received along the way,” Brent said.
The facility will be three stories high.
On the first floor will be a drive-thru pharmacy, dental services, 13 exam rooms, behavioral health services, pediatric services, OBGYN, and on the top floor will be the administrative area.
“We requested enough space to take care of the patients. We did have a back building behind what was on the side, and therefore, that building was totally destroyed as well. We got rid of it, and the new building needed to be able to compensate for all the patients that were seen in all areas that were demolished,” Chairman of the Southwest Louisiana Health Services Board Barbara Hardy said.
Officials have been planning out the details of the new facility since earlier this year.
“Throughout the devastation of this place, this center was one of the major staging areas for the recovery of this community. I mean, they were giving out meals, food, water, charging stations, everything. It was a very resilient structure, so that’s what this is going to be. not just a healthcare facility, but it’s going to be able to withstand these kinds of storms,” Lake Charles Mayor Marshall Simien said.
Officials say the new Southwest Louisiana Health Services building is expected to be completed in 2027.
Copyright 2025 KPLC. All rights reserved.
Source link