For New Orleans locals, the name Charity Hospital can stir up powerful emotions. So many were born or had been treated at the hospital, whose history of providing care for the area’s most economically disadvantaged reaches back to 1736, more than 40 years before the signing of the U.S. Constitution.
At the time, New Orleans was only a colony, and as it grew, so did the need for Charity’s services. Five versions later, so-called “Big Charity” opened on Tulane Avenue in 1939. With 2,680 beds, it was at the time the second-largest hospital in the United States.
After Hurricane Katrina decimated the hospital in 2005, what to do with the building’s hulking shell became a subject of considerable controversy. The building is still vacant, but 10 years to the month later, on Aug. 1, 2015, a modern, $1.1 billion hospital finally took over Charity’s mission — University Medical Center (UMC).
As it celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, UMC stands as one of the largest safety-net medical facilities in the United States. Its 37-acre Downtown campus, occupying several blocks between Canal Street and Tulane Avenue, bisected by South Galvez Street, centers around the three patient towers, which collectively encompass 2.3 million square feet. There are 446 total patient beds, with occupancy typically reaching 90%.
The hospital’s focus on emergency care is evident: In addition to a rooftop helicopter pad, UMC boasts 56 emergency exam rooms, nine acute treatment rooms and five trauma rooms. Nineteen operating rooms are supported by dozens of pre- and post-operating rooms.
Unsurprisingly, its size and scope make UMC a significant economic driver. The hospital employs about 2,500 people (LCMC employs upward of 18,000 people) and its roughly $1 billion annual budget generates an estimated $600 million a year for New Orleans and the surrounding region.
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Tom Patrias, Chief Executive Officer of University Medical Center New Orleans[/caption]
Katrina Lessons
In 2015, with New Orleans still in post-Katrina recovery mode, and with both physicians and treatment centers scattered around the city, UMC had to hit the ground running.
“Health care in New Orleans was pretty awful at that point,” recalled Dr. Peter DeBlieux, who served as chief medical officer when UMC opened, “and UMC was built to remedy this. We went from underfunded to this $1.1 billion Taj Mahal.”
The lessons of Katrina heavily informed the design and construction of the new building. For instance, the layout was created in partnership with the medical personnel with the goal of maximizing efficiency and making patient access as easy as possible.
“We were able to reestablish health care in a fashion that advances it forward by decades,” said DeBlieux.
UMC was, unsurprisingly, also built to withstand hurricanes — specifically strong Category 3 hurricane winds — and has triple redundancy for its power sources. All critical patient and treatment areas are located at least 20 feet above base flood elevation.
“It’s the safest hospital in the region,” noted DeBlieux. “We’ve never had an interruption in service since it opened.”
Construction of the facility was undertaken by the state of Louisiana, which still owns the buildings. LCMC — a regional eight-hospital system — leases and operates the hospital, a public-private partnership that is unusual in the health care field but that Greg Feirn, CEO of LCMC Health Systems, noted is essential to UMC’s ability to provide its services.
“As a safety net facility, funding can be a challenge,” he said. “We’ve always had as part of our mission to care for all regardless of their ability to pay. Our partnership with the state has allowed us to do that.”
Teaching for the Future
Feirn added that UMC’s existence within the larger LCMC network also contributes to the hospital’s capacity to keep its doors open to all. DeBlieux noted that Louisiana’s expansion of Medicaid benefited both the facility’s finances and its patients, noting that many area residents are one accident away from substantial financial difficulties.
Two other partners are vital to the operation of UMC — the LSU Health System and the Tulane University School of Medicine.
“UMC provides a platform to teach medical students and allied health care professionals like nurses and clinicians,” explained DeBlieux, who added that the majority of those who are trained at the facility stay within the community.
“We grow their faculties, recruit them to New Orleans,” concurred Feirn, “while training future New Orleans health care providers.”
Six additional local institutions of higher education are also engaged in teaching and research at UMC: Delgado Community College, Dillard University, University of Holy Cross, Loyola University, Southern University and Xavier University.
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Greg Ferin, Chief Executive Officer of LCMC Health[/caption]
New Leadership and Specialized Care
Just in time for its 10th anniversary, UMC appointed a new president and CEO: Tom Patrias, who took the helm this past July after serving 18 months as the hospital’s chief operating officer. Previously the CEO of Tulane Medical Center, Patrias brings leadership experience and knowledge of the landscape and players to his new role. He listed several aspects that make UMC so unique and valuable to its Gulf South patient base, including that UMC is the only Level One trauma center in the region, is home to the only verified burn center between Tampa, Florida, and Galveston, Texasm and provides behavioral health care with 60 beds and 85% of the market share.
DeBlieux also cited the importance of the hospital’s palliative medicine clinic, one of the first in the region. In addition to end-of-life care, the clinic also specializes in chronic disease medicine.
“We provide dialysis, treatment for chronic lung and heart disease and people living with cancer,” he elaborated. “We do a lot of symptom management. We want to treat people before they reach extreme sickness.”
In addition to a wide array of specialties, UMC offers a wide range of more routine types of medical care, including allergy and respiratory care; plastic and reconstructive surgery; women’s health care, including mammograms and breast imaging; infectious disease treatment; and heart, vascular and stroke care. Virtual health care is also available.
UMC is formally accredited in a variety of medical fields. In addition to the Level One Trauma Center and the Burn Center, these include weight loss and bariatric surgery; the Advanced Primary Stroke Center designation; the Cancer Center; and recognition as an Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).
Additional facilities and programs round out the picture. A triennial community health needs assessment, conducted with multiple other medical facilities and community organizations, helps identify and align priorities with regional health requirements. The eight-room conference center hosts professional groups, corporate events and community meetings. UMC’s designation as an Academic Medical Center highlights its teaching and research emphasis, including specialties as diverse as pharmacy and dentistry alongside its more regular treatment areas.
The benefits of all these specialties to a region like Greater New Orleans and the Gulf South are clear cut. From industrial accidents to gunshot wounds, high rates of diseases such as diabetes to the vestiges of poverty and broken families, the area has a higher-than-average need for widespread access to health care.
The specialty clinics and services also enhance the teaching and research aspects of UMC. The burn center, for example, is considered a world leader for research in its field, and emergency care physicians all over the country count UMC, and Charity before it, as vital to their training.
Challenges — Unexpected and Ongoing
Patrias noted that several events over the past year particularly tested the trauma center: including the massive vehicle wreck on Interstate 55, and the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2025.
“When the call [on New Year’s Day] came in to all members of the administration and all members of the trauma team showed up despite it being a holiday,” he recounted. “Even people who weren’t on call, medical staff and administration, came in wanting to know what they could do to help.
“Whenever there’s an event, we’re showing up for the community,” he continued. “People come to work at UMC to work for the community.”
A different kind of challenge has confronted the administration over recent months: a difficult set of talks with the nurses’ union on a new contract.
“The negotiations remain active,” Patrias said, indicating that he was hoping for a rapid resolution. “We meet two times per month with the union leadership. We will continue to negotiate in good faith.”
Feirn echoed that point.
“We’ve never paused the negotiations, and we continue to work toward getting a contract,” he said. “Providing health care is a team effort, and the nurses are part of that team.”
Despite this enormous presence, it is not entirely clear that everyone knows of the existence and role of UMC as that health care safety net.
“It’s a challenge making sure that the community understands that we are here for them,” explained DeBlieux, noting that the entity changing names after almost 300 years of being Charity Hospital contributed to the confusion.
DeBlieux feels that the situation has improved over the hospital’s decade of service, overcoming much of that initial doubt. “The community asked, ‘Will we be welcome inside that $1.1 billion facility?’ and UMC unequivocally said ‘Yes!’”
One ongoing method UMC uses to address this is by emphasizing “The Spirit of Charity” in much of its messaging. This includes highlighting staff members whose service goes well back into the Charity Hospital era – and even several who are “Charity babies,” born at the old institution as were so many famous New Orleanians.
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Dr. Peter DeBlieux served as chief medical officer when UMC opened[/caption]
Looking Forward
The tenth anniversary provides another opportunity to drive home that message, as well as to take stock and look to the future.
“The anniversary is a recommitment to innovation and growth, to equitable access and reducing barriers to health care,” said Patrias. “We will continue to expand access and our quality of care. We will continue to enhance our infrastructure and capacity to serve more patients. We will continue to grow our research, and enter into new, cutting-edge medical fields.”
“We look forward to seeing the growth, not just in patient care but in research, innovation and training the next generation of health care professionals,” agreed Feirn. “We will continue to invest in the community.”
Underlying all of this is the awareness of, and commitment to, being that vital safety net for all those seeking health care.
“Our guarantee to New Orleans and the region is that our door is always going to be open,” affirmed Patrias, “to provide the care that is required, regardless of the patient’s circumstances or the circumstances that got them here.”
“This is and always will be a hospital that will provide care for all,” concluded DeBlieux. “There will always be a continued commitment to the spirit of Charity.”
Highlights of 10 Years of UMC
2015 - University Medical Center New Orleans opened August 1, safely relocating 131 patients from Interim LSU Hospital to the new, state-of-the-art medical facility.
2021 - The Burn Center received American Burn Association verification, the Outpatient Surgery Center opened, and construction began on second parking garage. The new 1,365-space parking garage opened for hospital staff and the outpatient Behavioral Health Center opened at 2475 Canal St.
2022 - University Medical Center earns national accreditation as a Comprehensive Center for Bariatric Surgery and receives Geriatric Emergency Department accreditation.
2023 - University Medical Center received Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (AANC). This prestigious designation distinguishes organizations that meet rigorous standards for nursing excellence.
2024 - Launch of Healthy Brain Aging Initiative, a program designed to address cognitive health in aging patients across three LCMC Health centers.
