Children's Hospital has signed a lease to rent the property formerly occupied by the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital but it has no plans to reopen the hospital for mental health services.

The hospital says it is "puzzled" by state Rep. Neil Abramson's public announcement Thursday that it would offer both inpatient and outpatient services to mentally ill children.

Abramson was joined by state Reps. Jared Brossett and Jeff Arnold in making the announcement at the City Council meeting.

NOAH was closed by the state in 2009 and its inpatient beds were moved acoss the lake to Southeast Louisiana Hospital near Mandeville, which was run by the state at the time.

Children's Hospital provides mental health services at its Calhoun Campus, the former DePaul Hospital.

“We have been having ongoing conversations with Rep. Neil Abramson and recently met with him and other members of the New Orleans delegation. We articulated the hospital’s position that relocating mental health services from the Calhoun Campus to the deteriorated NOAH campus would not be economically feasible,” Children’s Hospital said in its statement. “We will continue to provide mental health services on the Calhoun Campus."

“We are puzzled that Rep. Abramson would make a public announcement without consultation with our leadership. We hope that he will meet with us shortly to explain the reasons for his announcement.”