Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2007 - (Page 19) special agent Gilbert B. Carter. His 12-page report goes into said to have approved the omission of one of the six screws great detail, listing things like aluminum trim omitted in in each door hinge at a savings of $5,000. It’s a good story, phone booths. Consistent omission of hinge screws would and it might well have happened on one of Weiss’s other most likely have been noticed in an inspection at this level. buildings. But it probably didn’t on this one. This project In another study of the hospital’s finances covering this was inspected and audited in excruciating detail. Anything period, Stella O’Conner concluded that “despite wholesale that might have escaped notice or been willfully overlooked scandals which later resulted in prison sentences for high during construction would have been caught in the poststate officials as well as contractors and architects associated construction investigations. with the project, comparatively little fraud was connected There were at least four investigations of the bidding with the hospital construction.” She notes further: “A force process, most having to do with equipment. When the PWA of 30 Federal Investigators was unable to find factual evidecided that the bidding for the contract to provide sterilizdence of graft.” ing equipment was improper, its cost ($101,800) was elimiThough it took years of struggle within the state and benated from the grant. The most serious bidding irregularity tween the state and the federal government, Big Charity involved the contract for the pilings undergirding the main was built. It became “one of the world’s great hospitals” building. It was discovered that the competitors for this and continues to stand (though a bit lower than intended) contract had all included an “estimating fee” in their bids. as “a model of health care for indigents years before modThis was paid by the winning contractor, Farnsworth and ern federal health-care programs were put into effect,” acCompany, to the New Orleans chapter of the Associated cording to Dr. John Salvaggio, author of New Orleans Charity General Contractors of America, which divided it among Hospital. the losing contractors. This led to the prosecution and conHow long it will continue to stand, however, is an open viction. of Farnsworth and the association. question. As of the end of 1939, Because of damage 357 change orders had from flooding and subsebeen submitted for apquent infestation of mold, proval. The PWA anaofficials of the Louisiana lyzed 339 of them. Their State University Hospitotal cost would have tals, which now runs been over $850,000. AlCharity, want to replace most $150,000 of this was it. After Hurricane disapproved by the PWA; Katrina, doctors, nurses, the rest were withdrawn. military personnel, and In the final reckoning, all civil engineers from these change orders had Germany worked with added only $17,732.50 to hydraulic pumps to clean the total cost of the $12 up the building. But once million project. The inthe first three floors were vestigation noted that scrubbed and the doctors Weiss authorized numerpronounced them ready ous changes himself for use, the medical without the knowledge of personnel were ordered the PWA or the hospital. out of the building. Dr. Many of these were due Juliette Saussy, director to the architects’ “inadeBecause of damage from flooding of emergency medical quate research or investiand subsequent infestation of mold, services for New gation of conditions to be Orleans, believes the encountered, lack of coofficials of the Louisiana State building is usable. ordination of the respecUniversity Hospitals, which now Hospital officials have tive technical staffs of the declared it unsafe. offices of the consulting runs Charity, want to replace it. New construction is engineers and the office always appealing, but its apparent financial advantages of the architects, and a situation approaching incompeover renovation may be deceptive. Bringing down such a tence with respect to the mechanical layouts and analysis of solid building may be more difficult and costly than it first substitute costs involved in the reissue of pile layouts.” Inappears. Whether Big Charity comes down or survives to vestigators found various corners cut by contractors, for continue its service to the city, its three-quarters-of-a-cenwhich the contractors had to reimburse the hospital. Howtury contribution should not be forgotten. LCV ever, they found no “evidence of graft in connection with the actions of the Owner, its architects or other officials ” Excerpted with permission from Building Louisiana: The Not only were the architects and contractors scrutinized, Legacy of the Public Works Administration (University Press subcontractors were audited as well. Even those who had of Mississippi, 2007) by Robert D. Leighninger Jr., faculty asbeen eliminated from the project or paid directly by the hossociate in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University. pital rather than through the PWA were audited by the For more information, log on to www.upress.state.ms.us. PWA. They included some projects as low as $1,400 as well as those of several hundred thousand dollars. The building itself was gone over thoroughly by PWA PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER Fall 2007/LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES 19 http://www.upress.state.ms.us
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.