Free clinic exposes real health care needs in New Orleans

[babylonsister]

Free clinic exposes real health care needs in New Orleans
By C.J. Lin, The Times-Picayune
November 14, 2009, 8:15PM

Chris Granger / The TImes-Picayune

Dr. Corey Hebert, left, a chief medical editor with WDSU and an assistant professor at the Tulane University Medical School, examines Annette Petty of New Orleans at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.


Joann Bradford lives in a vicious cycle.

Almost every month, the 6th Ward resident is taken to the emergency room at Tulane Medical Center because of violent epileptic seizures.

Because of her illness, Bradford, 47, a former nurse's aide, hasn't been able to hold down a steady job for several years, so she can't afford insurance or visits to a doctor.

So the fits keep coming, and she is able to buy medicine only when her boyfriend has money to spare.

Her condition keeps the hospital bills mounting: $368 for a trip by ambulance to the ER in September, $113 for a trip in October.

Bradford is among the 22 percent of Louisiana's population that is uninsured, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. A Harvard Medical School study released in September found that 45,000 Americans die annually because they lack health insurance, 2.5 times more than was estimated in a 2002 study.

Some of those people, Bradford included, found temporary relief Saturday when the National Association of Free Clinics, a nonprofit organization, sponsored a free Communities Are Responding Everyday, or CARE, health clinic at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

More than 100 doctors and 400 volunteers from around the U.S. were on hand to staff two halls of the convention center that had been converted into 52 examination areas sectioned off by blue curtains.

By the end of the day, more than 1,000 people had been examined. Doctors said they discovered many cases of cancer, diabetes and hypertension, and four people were so ill they were sent immediately to hospitals.

Chris Granger / The Times-Picayune

Hundreds of people, top left, wait to be examined in one of about 50 small tented exam rooms spread out across the floor at the National Association of Free Clinics held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

"The need is ridiculous, so we've got to do something," said Dr. Rani G. Whitfield, a family physician from Baton Rouge who will be traveling to Kansas for another free clinic next month. "These people need to be seen."

By 10 a.m., two hours after the clinic opened, Whitfield had examined 20 patients. Fifteen of them had not seen a doctor since Hurricane Katrina. Five had not seen a doctor since 1999.

more...

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/free_clinic_exposes_real_healt.html

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. I volunteered to work at the clinic here in December

Looking forward to it.

[barbtries]

3. how did you go about it?

i'd be happy to do that if/when it comes to NC

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. I went to the website Keith mentioned on his show

I think it was free clinic dot org. But you could probably Google Keith Olberman free clinic and find it.

[West Virginia RX]

8. Free Clinic (C.A.R.E.) Registrations!

Those who wish to volunteer for the National Association of Free Clinic's C.A.R.E. clinics in Little Rock Arkansas on November 21st, 2009 and in Kansas City, MO on December 9th and 10th, 2009 should go to www.freeclinics.us to register!

Come join us! Feel free to email me with more information!

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

I am really excited this clinic is coming to my city and I get to volunteer.

[barbtries]

2. what kind of country are we

"four people were so ill they were sent immediately to hospitals."

[roguevalley]

5. people who do this are angels.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Why is this reminding me of oh I don't know MEXICO

where i worked as a medic?

GRRRR

And some still believe we cannot and should not do any reforms.

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. I love that groups do these free clinics