Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Charity Hospital was the oldest continually operating hospital in the nation. New Orleans is one of the most poverty-stricken cities in the country, with one-fifth of the population relying on the Charity system for healthcare. Charity Hospital is considered one of the best Level 1 Trauma units in the country and was the only existing unit on the Gulf Coast.
Since Katrina, Charity Hospital has not reopened. The federal government approved more than $2 billion for healthcare in Louisiana. Further progress has been minimal, with efforts beginning the healthcare redesign halted by struggles between the state and federal government. The Bush Administration favors a system in which the funding allotted for public healthcare would be used for a new system rewarding those who obtain private insurance and creating a voucher system for those who can’t afford insurance.
Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana) supports this privatization system. The plan aims to provide equal healthcare for the poor and to provide families with a general practice doctor rather than causing them to rely on the Charity Emergency Room. Gov. Kathleen Blanco and other state officials support the building of a new hospital run by LSU in conjunction with a Veterans Affairs hospital.
Congress has provided $600 million for the building of a Veterans Affairs hospital in southeast Louisiana. Two hospitals would be built on the same property, sharing features such as parking, cafeterias and laundry. These facilities would provide training for new doctors and the LSU hospital would provide medical care for the poor.
Blanco argues the voucher and insurance system is not financially possible without federal support. Although Blanco and Vitter still disagree on what the future of healthcare holds, arguments have ceased temporarily. The state legislature has agreed to give LSU $74 million for land acquisition and architecture for a teaching hospital in downtown New Orleans. An addition $226 million in federal money is expected once Blanco provides a detailed plan on how the hospital will be run.
While politicians are debating, people need help now. Dr. Kevin Stephens, director of New Orleans’ Health Department, has expressed concern with the condition of New Orleans health. Stephens reports a 42 percent increase in the mortality rate in the city since Katrina. Hospitals in the metropolitan area report extreme bed shortages, and sometimes every hospital bed in the area is full. West Jefferson reported a 32-person wait list for an overnight bed, and patients often wait in the ambulance or on stretchers in hallways.
Due to a shortage of primary care facilities and specialty clinics, emergency rooms are overloaded with patients, particularly the uninsured. Touro Hospital’s patients are waiting seven to eight hours to receive treatment. Private hospitals are frustrated because the state has reimbursed them for only a fraction of the care they have provided to the uninsured. Frustrated by the exhausted state of New Orleans hospitals, many doctors and nurses are leaving the city. Last summer, FEMA delivered six health clinic trailers, equipped with eight exam rooms each. These trailers were to be used for general care and have been ready for use since they arrived. Nearly a year later, the trailers are still sitting unused in the parking lot at University Hospital because of political red tape that has prevented their distribution. Advocates for public healthcare argue the Charity system need not be wiped out but improved.
The federal government has allotted a huge sum of money for the recovery of Louisiana healthcare, and supporters of public healthcare are quick to point out this money could rehabilitate and improve the Charity system at a much lower cost than privatization.
All parties agree on one thing: Something needs to be done about the healthcare crisis soon. While government officials are struggling to reshape the future of healthcare, people are sick and can’t get the care they need. Doctors are leaving the city, and residents are waiting to come home but can’t without healthcare.
Lizzy Delcambre is a mass communication sophomore from Baton Rouge, La.
