NO Convention Center Hospital @ 178 million, Consultants Named

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New documents show Louisiana has spent $178 million on the COVID medical facility at the New Orleans convention center. Two of the top five contractors receiving money employ Mike Edmonson, who resigned as head of state police amid controversy, and Glenn Curtis #lalege #lagov

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The number of patients at the facility--capacity 1,000--reached a peak of 108 on April 16. Then it fell to the single digits and never reached above 31 until it was finally wound down in November #lalege #lagov

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Former Louisiana State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson and former Louisiana National Guard commander Glenn Curtis have both emerged as players in the state's response to the coronavirus – this time as consultants in the private sector.

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Edmonson, who resigned his top state post in 2017 amid investigations into questionable overtime and travel by top troopers, is consulting for a group of firms that includes Garner Environmental Services. The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness hired that company to house people believed to have coronavirus next to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

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Curtis, who retired in December, works for Dynamic Construction Group, the main contractor on the state’s massive temporary hospital facility at the convention center – the key part of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ strategy to quickly increase the region’s medical capacity so that hospitals are not overrun with coronavirus patients.

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Combined, the contracts are worth tens of millions of dollars, though the exact price tag is in flux in the rapidly moving response to the outbreak. GOHSEP hired Dynamic, a Baton Rouge firm run by Joshua McCoy, for an estimated $33.5 million for the initial project, which involved building out 1,000 beds and providing material for another 1,000 beds. That price tag is expected to grow because Edwards has already exercised an option to expand the facility to include the extra 1,000 beds.

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Louisiana state law prohibits former state agency heads from contracting with, or helping another person contract with, their former agency for two years after leaving office.

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Edwards recently signed an executive order suspending the two-year ban, writing in the order that state agencies have “expressed an urgent need to utilize separated public employees to maintain and fulfill their missions.”

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Dane Ciolino, a professor at Loyola Law School and an expert on Louisiana ethics law, said both Edmonson and Curtis would be in the clear because their private consulting work is being done on contracts with a different agency than their former employers. Both contracts were awarded by GOHSEP.

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