Healthcare in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Three Years after Katrina

Newswise — As the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, the healthcare system in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast shows encouraging signs of recovery—with important lessons for planning to respond to future disasters, reports the special August issue of The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, official journal of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry.

The special symposium issue—titled "Moving Beyond Katrina: From Crisis to Opportunity"—reports on the unexpected opportunities and successes encountered by the New Orleans and Gulf Coast healthcare communities since Katrina.

In striving to recover, "Individuals and institutions were forced out of their comfort zones to forge uncharted territory, foster new collaborations, explore fresh approaches to scientific investigation, redesign facilities, curricula and community healthcare, and better prepare for future disasters," writes guest editor Dr. Marie A. Krousel-Wood of Ochsner Clinic Foundation and Tulane University Schools of Medicine and Public Health and Tropical Medicine. The other co-guest editors are Dr. Errol Crook of University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Dr. Mark Kahn of Tulane University School of Medicine, Dr. Kent Kirchner of the VA Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., and Dr. Charles Sanders of Louisiana State University School of Medicine.

The symposium addresses four facets of "healthcare recovery and opportunities" following Katrina:

Patient-focused disaster preparedness. Several studies look at Katrina's impact and aftermath on specific groups of patients. Although overall post-Katrina rates of low birthweight infants were comparable to pre-Katrina rates, one study finds an increased rate of low-birthweight infants among pregnant women with intense exposure to hurricane conditions; another suggests that psychosocial issues hindered post-disaster coping for kidney disease patients dependent on dialysis. Other articles address the critical issue of planning to provide care for patients with chronic diseases, and others evacuated from the disaster area.

Impact on Medical Education. The symposium also draws attention to the recovery efforts of New Orleans medical schools and training programs. Medical students narrate their experiences, highlighting the challenges and obstacles that inspired and shaped their personal and professional growth. Two studies show that student performance on licensing examinations remained about the same in the years after Katrina—a tribute to the efforts of dedicated medical school faculty, staff, and administrators.

Residency program directors share their experiences in striving to maintain high-quality postgraduate medical experiences for doctors in training, with essential lessons for other programs making their disaster-preparedness plans. The "treasure trove" of educational opportunities for public health faculty and students responding to the public health crisis resulting from Katrina is also described. Health Care Infrastructure. "Crisis also gave way to opportunity in the area of healthcare infrastructure," Dr. Krousel-Wood writes. Leaders of New Orleans medical institutions provide their perspectives on rebuilding to fulfill their clinical, teaching, and research commitments. "Though challenges remain, the majority of the health sector in Greater New Orleans is recovering and reforming," according to an infrastructure status report included in the symposium. "Inpatient and outpatient services have been restored, but certain populations and geographic areas remain dramatically underserved."

Healing the Healers. The final section focuses on the "invisible victims"—the physicians and other healthcare professionals, administrators, and staff who worked tirelessly to meet the needs of patients and communities affected by Katrina. Such disasters can carry a substantial "hidden cost" if the psychological and emotional impact on health professionals and other responders goes unaddressed. Articles highlight opportunities to study the effects of disasters on healers, to explore new modes of practice, and to promote growth on the individual, organizational, and systems-policy levels.

The symposium contributors share the hope that their experiences will inform disaster preparedness efforts in other healthcare systems. While many thought that New Orleans and some areas of the Gulf Coast would never recover from Katrina, the intervening years have shown the encouraging promise of recovery, despite continued challenges. "We have had time to rethink and reevaluate our response to and preparations for disasters and to rebuild our communities and our personal and professional lives," Dr. Krousel-Wood writes. "The commitment to the region and preserving our unique identify is stronger than ever."

About The American Journal of the Medical SciencesFounded in 1820, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences is the official journal of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Regular features include the Southwestern Internal Medicine Conference, Cardiology Grand Rounds of the University of North Carolina, the Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control, Case Records of the VA Maryland Healthcare System/University of Maryland Medicine, and Case Report/Focused Reviews. The Journal also publishes original articles dealing with topics such as infectious disease, rheumatology/immunology, hematology/oncology, allergy, and endocrinology. Visit the journal website at http://www.amjmedsci.com.

About the Southern Society for Clinical InvestigationFounded in 1946, the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (SSCI) is a regional academic society dedicated to the advancement of medically-related research. Its major focus is on encouraging students and postgraduate trainees (residents and fellows) to enter academic medicine and to support junior faculty success in clinical investigation. SSCI members are committed to mentoring future generations of medical investigators and promoting careers in academic medicine. Visit the SSCI website at http://www.ssciweb.org.

About Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (www.LWW.com) is a leading international publisher for healthcare professionals and students with nearly 300 periodicals and 1,500 books in more than 100 disciplines publishing under the LWW brand, as well as content-based sites and online corporate and customer services. LWW is part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry.

Wolters Kluwer Health is a division of Wolters Kluwer, a leading global information services and publishing company with annual revenues (2007) of €3.4 billion ($4.8 billion), maintains operations in over 33 countries across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific and employs approximately 19,500 people worldwide. Visit www.wolterskluwer.com for information about our market positions, customers, brands, and organization.