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Blogger kicked out of Metro Council during NBR healthcare discussion

7 years 10 months 3 weeks ago Wednesday, May 25 2016 May 25, 2016 May 25, 2016 6:51 PM May 25, 2016 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A popular community blogger was escorted out of the Metro Council meeting Wednesday afternoon during a heated debate over a plan to bring emergency health services back to North Baton Rouge.

Watch the exchange between Metro Councilman Chandler Loupe and Gary Chambers here:

After Chambers said "Y'all the most disrespectful bunch of white boys I've ever met", Loupe had him escorted out.

The debate was over a plan that would bring an emergency room to Champion Medical Center near the airport. Representatives with the private surgical center say they can break ground on an emergency room in three months if the state appropriates about $15 million over the next three to five years.

After more than an hour of debate, the Metro Council approved a resolution to urge other Baton Rouge hospitals to work the proposal.

Coletta Barrett is the chairperson for Healthy BR and a vice-president at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. Barrett says the push for an emergency room in North Baton Rouge is an emotionally charged issue but studies show there is a much higher need for primary care doctors.

"Having access to primary chronic care, dental care, mental health. Those are the things that are really going to make a difference," said Barrett.

Chambers spoke to News 2's Mark Armstrong earlier Wednesday.

"To say we don't need emergency care, I would challenge those folks: Where would they want their grandma to live in an emergency situation?" Chambers said. "Yes we need primary care, yes we need dentists. There is a huge health care gap and this is a start."

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