A decade after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf coast and nearly wiped out New Orleans, Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu came to the National Press Club in Washington D.C to discuss the city’s recovery efforts and progress.
Katrina hit the city causing havoc on the federal levees resulting in an infrastructure failure of epic proportions as floodwaters surged over rooftops resulting in eighty percent of the city being under water and eventually incurring $150 billion in damages.
As Mayor Landrieu reports, “Today, New Orleans is one of the fastest growing major cities in the nation. The economy is growing and diversifying, home values have increased by 50 percent, schools are rapidly improving, and the city is better protected from flooding than before the storm.”
The Mayor described the health and wellness picture in the city before and after Katrina. Before the hurricane hit, health outcomes were bleak for too many residents. Most of the region’s uninsured population received emergency care through the New Orleans Charity Hospital.
After Katrina, only three of the nine hospitals remained opened. Today, the New Orleans area boasts world-class clinical care through new and refurbished hospital facilities with one of the new hospitals serving the veteran population. In addition, billions have been invested in the development of the New Orleans Biomedical Corridor, a 2.4 square mile area in the downtown medical district.
The city has expanded access through a network of neighborhood-based community health centers. For example, the St. Thomas Community Health Center provides healthcare to the neighborhood that includes chronic disease management, pediatrics, plus women’s health. All of the neighborhood health centers together serve 59,000 patients across the region every year who otherwise would have to get much more expensive healthcare at emergency rooms.