Big Charity

Filmmaker Alex Glustrom's documentary focuses on Charity Hospital in New Orleans, a landmark healthcare facility that fell victim to political machinations during the post-Katrina period. Founded in 1736, the hospital was situated at different locations over the years before the 1939 opening of its massive 2,680-bed facility. Originally operated by the Daughters of Charity religious order and celebrated for providing high quality medical care to patients of all races and economic conditions, the hospital was administered by Louisiana State University (LSU), which advocated for a new medical facility in the early 2000s but was unable to obtain state funding. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005—when the rescue effort to evacuate patients and medical staff was uncommonly lethargic—LSU abruptly shut down Charity Hospital, even though it had been restored to functioning ability by the U.S. Army. A proposal to modernize the existing Charity building, at a cost far below the construction of an expensive new complex, was rejected, and eminent domain was used to evict longtime homeowners whose properties were located at the site of the new structure that opened in 2015. Big Charity goes so far as to suggest that LSU played a role in vandalizing the hospital after it was restored, and Charity hospital staff complain of heavy-handed pressure tactics by LSU officials, who here deny those charges. A disturbing and haunting documentary, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)