GMA: Transcript of George Interview

Bush, Clooney mark rebuilding of hospital after Hurricane Rita

Bush, Clooney mark rebuilding of hospital after Hurricane Rita

The Associated Press

Hundreds waited through hours of wind and rain Wednesday to watch former President George H.W. Bush and Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney mark the rebuilding of Cameron Parish’s only emergency care hospital, which was destroyed by Hurricane Rita.

Bush presented officials with a $2 million donation from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund that will pay for operating expenses once South Cameron Memorial Hospital is rebuilt next year. The fund has raised $130 million to date to help the Gulf Coast recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Bush, who worked for an oil company with an office in Cameron Parish before he entered politics, recalled the aftermath of Hurricane Audrey, which killed more than 500 people in 1957.

Standing outside the parish courthouse, the one structure in the coastal town to survive Rita, Bush said that storm and the community’s ability to bounce back left an indelible impression.

“You’ve always come back, and today is no different,” Bush told the crowd. “I know there’s been a lot of tears shed over the past year. Hurricane Rita, like Hurricane Katrina, showed us the very worst in nature but they’ve also brought out the best in our human nature.”

Bush was joined by an array of government officials, including Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, the federal official in charge of hurricane recovery operations in Louisiana. But it was Clooney, the former “ER” star, who many came to see.

“After all, since we are talking about a hospital, who better to help us celebrate this important day than arguably the best known medical doctor in America?” Bush said as he introduced Clooney.

Clooney quipped, “There is good news in all of this, which is that when the hospital gets up and running, I will not be doing any of the medical procedures.”

In his brief speech that followed, Clooney said he was honored when Bush invited him to Cameron, and he said he accepted to raise awareness about the ongoing hurricane recovery across the Gulf Coast.

“I’m coming to remind people in the rest of the country that just because you’re not on the front page anymore, that all the problems that have been placed here from Katrina and Rita are not solved yet,” Clooney said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done. The hospital is going to stand as testament to your community, to your spirit.”

Bush and Clooney arrived by helicopter shortly after 2 p.m. and met privately with local officials in the courthouse. They emerged around 3 p.m. to take the stage. After the program, Bush and Clooney signed autographs and posed for pictures with dozens of residents who lined a barricade next to the courthouse.

Both men received Cameron Parish mementos and camouflage hunting jackets.

“The spirit here is just something I will never forget. Maybe it’s because I have a warm place in my heart for Cameron because I worked here years ago,” Bush told reporters before departing.

Though bids have been let and construction has begun for the new hospital, Wednesday’s official groundbreaking was a milestone for a parish still struggling 15 months after Hurricane Rita. The hospital is the first public building to be rebuilt in Cameron Parish since the storm. “We are united in our belief and our knowledge that there is no other place like Cameron Parish,” said Jennifer Jones, the hospital’s legal counsel and an assistant district attorney who served as the master of ceremonies for Wednesday’s event. “We will keep working, we will not cry, we will not complain, we will come home, and we will never, never surrender.”

South Cameron Memorial was built in 1964 after Hurricane Audrey. It offered acute care, 24-hour emergency care, radiology and laboratory services and a skilled nursing facility until it was wrecked last year by Rita.

The new $22.2 million facility will be built with a combination of federal and state money. FEMA covered $16 million, the cost to replace the original hospital. The remaining cost is covered by the Louisiana Recovery Authority.

Cameron Parish voters overwhelmingly approved a property tax increase in September to help with operating expenses.

The hospital, which is being operated by Pacer Health Care, will be elevated 10 feet above sea level on concrete piers and is being built using structural steel designed to withstand 130 mph winds.

Bush said former President Bill Clinton - the other half of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund - could not attend but offered well wishes for Cameron.

Clooney said he was impressed the two former leaders have worked together on the relief fund. “The two of them standing together on this … goes a long way in showing that in a country sometimes divided by politics, we have so much more in common than we have differences,” he said.

More on George’s visit to Louisiana

Bush, Clooney coming to Cameron (12/20)

By LAURA HELLER
AMERICAN PRESS

Cameron Parish will be in the national spotlight today as former President George H.W. Bush and Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney pay a visit there. They are coming for the rebuilding of South Cameron Memorial Hospital, and the former president is expected to present a $2 million grant for the hospital. The ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. at the Cameron Courthouse square. The public is invited. Expected at the ceremony are Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the area legislative delegation, members of Congress, and officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Bush will later present the money from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to South Cameron Memorial Hospital to help with post-Hurricane Rita rebuilding.

Getting the two legendary figures to make a visit to Cameron took several months and the help of dozens of local and state officials, said Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach. It started earlier this year at Acadian Ambulance’s annual banquet in Lafayette, where Bush was the featured guest speaker. Richard Zuschlag, founder and CEO of Acadian Ambulance, said Tuesday he was blown away by Bush’s speech. “He gave an emotional speech thanking everyone who worked so hard in the two Louisiana hurricanes,” Zuschlag said. Roach met Bush that night at a prebanquet reception. The two talked for about 10 minutes, he said. Right away, Bush asked Roach how hurricane recovery was going in the Lake Charles area. “I mentioned we were recovering, but that the real tragedy was in Cameron Parish,” Roach said. Bush then told him how he had heard of the Cameron devastation and how he used to have offices in Cameron when he first got into the oil business. “Cameron is a community that I came to know during my early days working on oil rigs,” Bush said in a statement to the American Press last month. “I visited it again for the first time last fall and was struck by their devastation suffered at the hands of Hurricane Rita.” At that point in their conversation, Roach went out on a limb. “I said to him that it would be great if he could just visit Cameron to let the people know that they weren’t forgotten. It would give them a boost and make them feel good,” Roach said. Bush said he wanted to do something for Cameron, but nothing specific was mapped out. Not long after the banquet, Roach wrote Bush a letter and mentioned that anything he could do for Cameron would be greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, Zuschlag, who already knew Bush, got on board with the idea and together with a group of Cameron, state and local officials — including the Acadiana Community Foundation’s Raymond Hebert and Bill Dore, CEO of Global Industries — came up with several ideas for a Bush visit to Cameron.

“Richard pushed really hard for this,” Roach said. Zuschlag told Bush that because of the media spotlight on Hurricane Katrina, the federal government didn’t do as much to help Hurricane Rita victims. Roach said it was actually Bush’s staff who came up with the idea of donating money to the hospital from the Bush-Clinton fund. “This is great for Cameron. He is just a true gentleman, really down-to-earth and easy to talk to. I’m impressed with him,” Roach said. “We’re fortunate we have people like him.” Zuschlag, who lives in Lafayette but had a hunting camp in Cameron, said he is amazed how the people in Southwest Louisiana watch out for one another. “The people have really come together to help each other out,” he said. C-GOV, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury’s cable TV channel, will tape the event for rebroadcast later, Tom Hoefer, the channel’s director, said.

George expected in Louisiana

Dec. 20. 3 p.m. BUSH-CAMERON PARISH — President George H.W. Bush will be traveling to Cameron Parish to make a grant announcement on behalf of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund for the rebuilding of the parish’s hospital. Actor George Clooney is expected to attend. Location: Cameron Parish Courthouse Square, Cameron (Associated Press)