Goodbye Charity Hospital

This think-piece presents an exploratory research conducted in New Orleans in February 2015. I took great interest in the history – distant and recent – of Charity Hospital, a big public hospital of New Orleans parish established in 1736 which provided accessible yet excellent services for all. Sinc...

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Main Author: Fanny Chabrol
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Association Anthropologie Médicale Appliquée au Développement et à la Santé 2018-05-01
Series:Anthropologie & Santé
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/anthropologiesante/3045
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author Fanny Chabrol
author_facet Fanny Chabrol
author_sort Fanny Chabrol
collection DOAJ
description This think-piece presents an exploratory research conducted in New Orleans in February 2015. I took great interest in the history – distant and recent – of Charity Hospital, a big public hospital of New Orleans parish established in 1736 which provided accessible yet excellent services for all. Since the 1930s this hospital was embodied in the collective identity throughout the specific urban history of racial segregation and poverty becoming emblematic of welfare for disadvantaged and Afro-American populations. Although also emblematic of solidarity during hurricane Katrina, this hospital was nonetheless closed in the aftermath of the storm. It was never re-opened despite intense collective attachment and huge health needs. A case of disaster capitalism (Klein, 2007 ; Ott, 2012), the damaged infrastructure serves as an excuse for state authorities to get rid of the “Charity system” and accessible healthcare for all. Despite years of collective mobilizations and several plans to reuse and reopen Charity, the gigantic Art Deco building is in ruins and a brand new hospital complex “up to the standard” has opened a few streets away within a new “biodistrict” neighborhood. This text presents a few ideas that have nourished my research on hospitals’ political economy and the collective sense of belonging to health infrastructures. 
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publisher Association Anthropologie Médicale Appliquée au Développement et à la Santé
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spelling doaj-art-c8b9ff7b60f948e1bef85ee943096b192025-08-20T03:47:40ZfraAssociation Anthropologie Médicale Appliquée au Développement et à la SantéAnthropologie & Santé2111-50282018-05-011610.4000/anthropologiesante.3045Goodbye Charity HospitalFanny ChabrolThis think-piece presents an exploratory research conducted in New Orleans in February 2015. I took great interest in the history – distant and recent – of Charity Hospital, a big public hospital of New Orleans parish established in 1736 which provided accessible yet excellent services for all. Since the 1930s this hospital was embodied in the collective identity throughout the specific urban history of racial segregation and poverty becoming emblematic of welfare for disadvantaged and Afro-American populations. Although also emblematic of solidarity during hurricane Katrina, this hospital was nonetheless closed in the aftermath of the storm. It was never re-opened despite intense collective attachment and huge health needs. A case of disaster capitalism (Klein, 2007 ; Ott, 2012), the damaged infrastructure serves as an excuse for state authorities to get rid of the “Charity system” and accessible healthcare for all. Despite years of collective mobilizations and several plans to reuse and reopen Charity, the gigantic Art Deco building is in ruins and a brand new hospital complex “up to the standard” has opened a few streets away within a new “biodistrict” neighborhood. This text presents a few ideas that have nourished my research on hospitals’ political economy and the collective sense of belonging to health infrastructures. https://journals.openedition.org/anthropologiesante/3045affectspublic hospitaldisastercapitalismNew-Orleanspolitical economics
spellingShingle Fanny Chabrol
Goodbye Charity Hospital
Anthropologie & Santé
affects
public hospital
disaster
capitalism
New-Orleans
political economics
title Goodbye Charity Hospital
title_full Goodbye Charity Hospital
title_fullStr Goodbye Charity Hospital
title_full_unstemmed Goodbye Charity Hospital
title_short Goodbye Charity Hospital
title_sort goodbye charity hospital
topic affects
public hospital
disaster
capitalism
New-Orleans
political economics
url https://journals.openedition.org/anthropologiesante/3045
work_keys_str_mv AT fannychabrol goodbyecharityhospital