Uptown neighbors file class action lawsuit against Children’s Hospital over helicopter | Health care/Hospitals

Six Uptown residents have filed a lawsuit against New Orleans Children’s Hospital for building a new helipad on campus almost a year after the daily roar of helicopter operations across the street from their homes began.

The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, was filed in the civil court of Orleans Township on Friday. It is alleged that the children’s hospital, owned by LCMC Health, moved its helipad from one side of the hospital to the other during the $ 300 million renovation project without proper permits and without consulting with residents across the street.

The plaintiffs, represented by lawyers Christoper Bruno, Joseph Bruno and Megan Kiefer, argued that the new location disrupted their daily lives and lowered property values.

The hospital says the location was chosen for patient and flight crew safety. Neighbors measure 104 decibels

“The flights, take-offs and landings are random at any time of the day or night and emit deafening noises and vibrations that are so strong that they cause physical and mental discomfort, property damage and anger,” the lawsuit said.

The legal filing adds to a year-long public dispute between the children’s hospital and some of its neighbors over the helicopter and its operations. Hospital officials have argued that the new landing site will be safer for its staff and its young, critically ill patients. The neighbors said they never had a chance to worry about the change and wondered why the landing site had to be moved.



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A children’s hospital helicopter takes off from the hospital’s landing facility near Calhoun Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, September 16, 2020. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)



Since May last year, the children’s blue and white striped Eurocopter has been using a new location on a four-story tower near Tchoupitoulas Street between Henry Clay Avenue and Calhoun Street to pick up and drop off patients for medical treatment. Previously, the helicopter named Abby landed and took off from a helipad across the hospital campus near the Mississippi and Henry Clay Avenue Wharf.

Children’s owns the helicopter but leases it to Acadian Companies, which have an airport area on the Lakefront that supposedly serves as the permanent base for the plane.

The Charity Hospital, the massive building that has dominated the 1500s block of Tulane Avenue since 1939, is empty and quiet – a clear contrast …

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Last year around 100 neighbors organized representation by another lawyer, Henry Kinney, to appeal against the decision by the Department of Security and Permits to classify the new location as a “Helistop” in August 2020. That appeal was closed in September 2020, but two other appeals against the building permit filed in March 2021 will be considered in June.

A helistop is a minimal space for unloading and loading passengers and cargo. A “helipad” is a permanent repository for the helicopter. Helistops are allowed in this area of ​​the city, but helipads require special permission.

The plans drawn up in 2016 showed a helipad at the original location, according to the latest lawsuit, and approval for the new location was obtained in December 2019 after construction was completed.



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Pilots prepare to exit the children’s hospital helipad near Calhoun Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, September 16, 2020. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)



The harm alleged in the lawsuit includes hearing loss, insomnia, mental health problems, diminished property, property damage, loss of use of your property, property remediation costs, physical and mental suffering, inconvenience, and past, present and future medical expenses and pain and Suffer.

“There have been neighborhood meetings for the past two years,” said neighbor Arthur Wisdom in September, who is not part of the new lawsuit. I want to be able to support the children’s hospital, I really do. “

“The Children’s Hospital relocated the helistop for our pediatric ICU air transport to improve the safety of our critically ill patients and flight crew,” said Kristen Robinson, LCMC communications director, last year.

LCMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new lawsuit.

Writer Ramon Antonio Vargas’s collaborator contributed to this report.

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Emily Woodruff covers public health for The Times-Picayune | ab The New Orleans Advocate as a member of the Report For America Corps.

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