New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Post-Katrina: And Now Some Good News

Hurricane Katrina officially is now two years past, but misery and damaged communities are ever present. On the second anniversary of this devastating blow to the Crescent City and the Mississippi/Alabama Gulf Coast, local citizens and many paused for a moment of silence and reflection on the impact of the largest natural disaster in the history of the United States. In New Orleans itself, there have been great signs of progress in certain areas (most of which were not heavily flooded) such as the French Quarter, Convention Center and the Warehouse District, and extending into uptown. Nevertheless, on the other hand, many areas remain clearly affected and appear to be wastelands with closed businesses, abandoned houses, trash, and debris, especially where the flood waters and winds did the most damage. In some areas basic services such as strong vibrant public schools, timely public transportation, childcare, and medical services are in a limited supply or severely lacking. Entire neighborhoods, and the lives they represented, may never return.

Locally, one of the more difficult areas to return to any sense of normalcy has been the health care infrastructure. Two years after Katrina applied its crippling blow, the Charity Hospital, now known as the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans, and at one time the second largest hospital in the United States, remains shuttered. Furthermore, many private physicians have either not returned to establish their practices or those who have returned are finding that without an adequate population of insured patients they must close or reassess their missions.

Even more distressingly, crime and homicides have effectively overloaded the heavily burdened New Orleans Police Department, with the month of August registering 29 homicides in 31 days. Exhausted detectives attempt to function under a crushing case load and several police stations in the more damaged areas are still housed in trailers. Unfortunately, crime is not limited to drug dealing, gang wars, or retribution. Even innocent citizens trying to rebuild their homes are at times targeted, along with their workers.

But now for the good news…. The Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. (ABC) was cited in a positive USA Today article, August 23, 2007, as contributing to the success of the St. Thomas Health Center Clinic. Through the donations of ABC members, the general public, and good corporate citizens, ABC contributed over $100,000 to purchase cardiac ultrasound and stress test equipment. The USA Today highlighted St. Thomas since Drs. Don Erwin, Mary Abell, and staff have been one of the leading positive lights in the reconstruction of the severely damaged health care infrastructure. Originally, St. Thomas served a local housing development, but now is a haven for many people who were previously middle class and have lost their homes, jobs, and medical insurance due to Katrina. Indeed, without St. Thomas some of the more sophisticated primary care and diagnostic services including digital mammography, echocardiography, and ophthalmology would be almost impossible to access for the many uninsured and underinsured New Orleanians. The work of the ABC Health Outreach Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) Project has greatly assisted St. Thomas in its mission and will continue to do so as this health center becomes a new model for care, and one that will make a significant contribution to nullifying and overcoming the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

In the Lower 9th Ward only a small percentage of the population has returned, but the local Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology is now open and was celebrated on a visit by President George W. Bush on Katrina’s most recent anniversary. The little known story is that much of the optimism and good feelings related to the opening of the local charter school in the Lower 9th Ward hide the intense struggle which local leaders and neighborhood residents had to overcome in order to ensure at least one educational outlet for the children of the area. St. Thomas Health Clinic and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School are positive outcomes in what has been a national disgrace in terms of the ability of our society to respond to the disaster and its aftermath.

Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast there also have been uplifting stories with areas being rebuilt from the damages wrought by the 30 foot storm surge in areas such as Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, and Pass Christian. Recently a two mile bridge which had been destroyed by the hurricane was reopened and the area, described as ground zero, appears to have been partially successfully rebuilt due to the generosity of the American people and the wise use of governmental funds.

While we should celebrate the beneficial occurrences at this two year anniversary, there remains the harsh reality that many citizens, especially in the New Orleans area, feel that they have not been treated fairly and that the local, state, and federal responses remain sorely lacking. Progress abounds, but obstacles remain. The efforts of the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to recover will not be successfully completed in a sprint, but will take the sustained effort of a marathon. Perhaps on the third year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina even more positive news will be available.

If you desire to contribute to the support of the HOPE Project, we remain willing and respectfully grateful for your donations and support. Your donations can be made by selecting the button below or upper left corner or by phone at 1-800-753-9222.

Sincerely,

Keith Ferdinand, MD, FACC
Director, Health Outreach Prevention & Empowerment (HOPE) Project
Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc.
5355 Hunter Road
Atlanta, GA 30349
404-201-6632 - office

Updates of ABC’s HOPE Initiative
(Health Outreach Prevention and Empowerment)

Posted 14 June, 2007

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) Foundation, under the leadership of the immediate past-president of the ACC, Steven D. Nissen, MD, and incoming President, James T. Dove, fulfilled a commitment to graciously support efforts to bring quality healthcare services (including long term rehabilitation) to Hurricane Katrina-affected areas and, particularly, to the underserved. This past March, under the leadership of the ACC presidents, the ACC members and staff embraced efforts to develop primary and cardiovascular services woefully absent in the severely damaged, post-Katrina, Crescent City landscape. In his outgoing remarks, Dr. Nissen specifically pointed out that the ACC fulfilled its commitment to hold the 56th Annual Scientific Session in New Orleans as planned, despite the fact that huge, lingering problems remain, related to infrastructure, housing, and healthcare in the city and region. An early decision was made to encourage members to visit and help resurrect the economic and social environment severely damaged by the worse natural disaster in the history of the United States. Dr. Dove, in his address at the Annual Convocation, stressed the need for ACC members to correct healthcare disparities and serve patients, regardless of economic status, gender, race or ethnic group. Under the leadership of Drs. Nissen and Dove, the ACC became a central component of the transformation of New Orleans, one of the true gems of the United States of America.

The ACC staff was supportive and assisted the Health Outreach Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) Project with procuring a space on the Convention Center floor and allowed the distribution of literature, which encouraged contributions from the members and corporations at the ACC, 07/i2 Summit 2007. Indeed, the contributors included a wide range of individuals, many of whom remain anonymous, in addition to several corporate supporters led by the ACC Foundation and its Louisiana Chapter, including Otsuka; American Pharmaceutical, Inc.; Allscripts, Inc.; AVW-TELAV Audio Visual; The Ernest N. Memorial Convention Center and GES Exposition Services. Furthermore, Astra-Zeneca continued its previous generosity with a grant award of $35,000 to the St. Thomas Health Community Center to assist with the delivery of noninvasive and invasive cardiac care for the indigent and uninsured. This contribution will help to improve the clinic’s cardiovascular unit and continue their ongoing commitment to provide medical assistance to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. The St. Thomas Health Clinic will continue to be a leader in delivering primary cardiovascular care through the support of the ACC Foundation, Orleans Parish Medical Society Foundation, the generous contribution from the attendees, and matching contributions from the ACC itself.

Several ACC attendees who were able to visit beyond the excellent facilities of the Convention Center and neighboring hotels were stunned. The neighborhoods which were once filled with vibrancy remain severely damaged and deserted. Healthcare, primary cardiovascular care and services, especially for the underserved, was difficult (if not impossible) to access. The halls of the Ernest C. Morial Convention Center were, not only the location of the best science and clinical research related to cardiovascular, but also became a central part, literally and figuratively, of the recovery of the New Orleans area and the southern Gulf states.

I would also like to thank Joan Washington and the personnel at Columbia MedCom for their assistance in developing our HOPE brochures, including the artwork and printing, which have been beneficial to the HOPE Project for informational and fundraising purposes.

If you remain interested in supporting the efforts of the HOPE Project, please continue to visit our website at www.abcardio.org. The history of the recovery of New Orleans, specifically related to healthcare, will affirm the important contribution of the 56th Annual Scientific Session of the ACC and the generosity of its staff and members.

Regarding the work that still needs to be done to help this area recover, more information on the St. Thomas Community Health Center is available at www.stthomaschc.org.

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12 March, 2007

In March, the 56th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) will convene, and the cardiology world arrives in New Orleans. As a special gesture to the host city, the ACC will highlight charities doing work with the Hurricane Katrina displaced population. The ACC Foundation will solicit donations from attendees to directly support the work of the Health Outreach Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) Project of the Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. (ABC), the Greater New Orleans Medical Foundation, and Hands On New Orleans.

A recent report in the New Orleans Times-Picayune confirmed that area hospitals are running out of space, with emergency room patients waiting hours for available beds. The March 9, 2007 article noted that for more than one week, hospitals in New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish have been unable to admit patients, with emergency rooms overloaded with respiratory ailments and other seasonal illnesses. Jack Finn, president of the Metropolitan Hospital Counsel was quoted as saying, “We are in crisis in New Orleans…there is not a bed available anywhere in the city.” At the emergency department of Touro Infirmary, one of the few providers of inpatient beds, on a typical night the wait time was listed at 4-6 hours, approximately the amount of time it would take to drive to Houston, Texas. However, at other times, the wait may last 7-8 hours, equivalent to a road trip to Atlanta, Georgia.

The stark reminder of how damaged the health infrastructure in the New Orleans area has become post-Katrina was demonstrated by the thousands of patients who stood in cold, damp, February weather in an outdoor park in Eastern New Orleans to receive basic medical care, including blood pressure tests, basic laboratory values, teeth cleaning, and pap smears. It is perhaps this lack of primary care that is a large component of the crises flooding local emergency rooms, where patients ignore chronic illnesses until crisis arises. Even more distressingly, there is a similar, or even more acute shortage in psychiatric care, where resources, including formerly available inpatient psychiatric beds at the now-closed Charity Hospital are scarce. It is reported that mental health patients are now seen in emergency rooms and local jails, no longer receiving appropriate modern mental health care. The March 6, 2007 local Gambit Weekly reported that after Katrina, New Orleans has more “stressed out” citizens than ever before, with fewer psychiatrists and almost no hospital beds to care for the mentally ill. Issues include the psychological stress of displacement, difficult management of limited finances, domestic violence, anxiety, depression, cramped FEMA trailers and nowhere to turn. Unfortunately, despite living in the wealthiest country in the modern world, many citizens see no substantial relief in sight, both in terms of access to primary care, specialists, and psychiatric care.

The HOPE Project remains committed to providing assistance in areas of healthcare, personal needs, and logistical support to individuals and not-for-profit organizations in the New Orleans and Mississippi Gulf Coast hurricane-affected regions. As Director of the ABC Hurricane Relief Fund, I have strived to locate worthy projects and initiatives which continue to assist residents with reconstructing their lives. Some of the more recent awards have been used to assist the St. Thomas Community Health Center (www.stthomaschc.org) obtain a 2D-Mode echocardiograph for diagnostic primary cardiology services. St. Thomas Health Center, continuously growing, is one of the primary facilities in the New Orleans area to offer treatment for chronic illnesses, including diabetes and hypertension, as well as screening mammography and other women’s health issues. HOPE has also generously supported the Common Ground Health Clinic, (www.cghc.org), a not-for-profit, free primary care initiative which assists with a variety of healthcare needs for the indigent population of the Westbank area, including purchasing insulin and a direct action fund, which assists patients with paying for medications, even utilizing a low-cost generic benefit model, medical supplies, and transportation. After a recent visit to the Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic, (www.l9hc.org), HOPE has also committed to supporting the growth and operation of this nonprofit organization serving the medically indigent population at no charge. Its mission is to increase access to health care for, and improve the health and well-being of, all patients while providing free, high-quality, comprehensive and culturally sensitive health care.

There is no easy solution to the disastrous conditions impacting the New Orleans metropolitan area and the Gulf Coast region post-Katrina. The HOPE Project, however, remains committed to support efforts whose scope of work, mission, and needs will help move the area towards a goal of progress and tangible accomplishments created or achieved by their projects.

Please plan to visit us at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center – Hall C: Booth 2461 during your attendance at the ACC Scientific Session, where we will have more information about our work with the New Orleans population, as well as opportunities for you to support our efforts.

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Hurricane Katrina – 1 year later: The difficulties of keeping HOPE alive

The one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is now past. The city of New Orleans had an exhilarating game in the recently refurbished Superdome with an overwhelming victory against its archrivals, the Atlanta Falcons. Nevertheless, outside the confines of the massive, colorfully-lighted sports complex, large sections of New Orleans remain blighted sites of devastation, and the healthcare infrastructure has yet to be rebuilt. Approximately one-half of the population remains part of the scattered greater New Orleans and Mississippi Gulf Coast Diaspora. Charity Hospital, the primary source of care for the largely poor and uninsured population remains dark, and replacement of primary and specialty care proceeds at an almost incomprehensibly slow pace.

Nevertheless, the Health Outreach Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) project remains a committed part of the rebuilding process. At the one-year point, we have distributed direct aid of over $130,000 to a wide, disparate group of individuals requiring assistance, including not-for-profit organizations and churches. The efforts have focused and will continue to look for ways to provide assistance in areas of healthcare, personal needs, and logistical support for those who are doing the most to help the people in New Orleans. HOPE continues to support the St. Thomas Community Health Center in uptown New Orleans. Many displaced physicians have yet to return to New Orleans, and since St. Thomas clinic re-opened in October 2005, numerous patients with onset diabetes, hypertension, and breast cancer, as well as feelings of grief and anxiety have received quality health care regardless of financial ability.

Pending awards include the Volunteers of America of New Orleans, who has been assisting residents who have returned to New Orleans with locating necessities such as appliances, clothing, and temporary transportation. The St. Peter Claver Health Clinic is a not-for-profit, completely volunteer, grassroots primary care effort, located in Treme, one of the oldest Black Catholic parishes in the United States. The nurses and volunteer physician of the St. Peter Claver Clinic will be assisted in their mission by the HOPE grant, in addition to receiving supplies to assist with continued health care. The Lower Ninth Ward Center is located in the widely publicized, twice-flooded area of New Orleans which has been visited by Prince Charles, United States congressmen, and the President of the United States. However, it has been through the efforts of local volunteers like Aliska Jones that the people of the Lower Ninth Ward continue to overcome the perceived blight of their neighborhood and rebuild health and housing infrastructure.

The healthcare infrastructure to support the returned residents is overwhelmingly lacking. The population of New Orleans pre-Katrina was 437,186 and remains 40% smaller, according to the United States Census, at 262,000 residents. Yet the availability of health facilities has decreased in greater proportion than the diminished population. Before the storm, 26% of non-elderly, adult Orleans Parish residents were uninsured. That number has increased to between 35-50%. There were 4,486 physicians serving the New Orleans population prior to Hurricane Katrina. Unfortunately, the burden of serving the hundreds of thousands of residents, post-Katrina, is held by only 1,971 physicians. The amount of staffed inpatient beds in the Greater New Orleans area has decreased from 4,083 to 1,971.

Regardless, the leadership of the ABC, and I personally, as Director of the HOPE project are committed to a long continued struggle in assisting the people of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast with rebounding from this disabling and destructive disaster. You would honor the thousands of Americans killed in Hurricane Katrina in its aftermath as you continue to support our endeavors. You may join us in our efforts by making an online contribution or contacting the ABC at 1-800-753-9222.

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Posted 14 April, 2006

The Struggle Continues: The Ongoing Misery of Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Over six months after the original landfall of Hurricane Katrina, which permanently scarred and crippled the New Orleans metropolitan area and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the many outstanding unmet needs still prevail. Specifically, the physical and psychological health of the population- including individuals who did not leave, those who returned or are scattered throughout the Diaspora - remain unsatisfied. The category 3 hurricane destroyed much of the housing and infrastructure in the New Orleans and Mississippi Gulf Coast area, and only 20% of homes were left completely undamaged. Comparatively, 80% of the city suffered significant damage or even destruction from the floods. This disaster created the largest migration of American citizens since the Great Depression of the 1920’s, including a huge loss of physicians and other healthcare professionals. The lack of inadequate housing affected approximately 4,486 Louisiana doctors and 1270 physicians in training, as they, along with other citizens, evacuated Orleans and Jefferson Parishes and continue to be displaced. Only two of the adult care hospitals, Touro Infirmary and Tulane Medical Center, have reopened with difficulty in maintaining adequate beds due to the lack of professional staff including nurses, laboratory clinicians and radiology specialists. Moreover, people presently living in New Orleans suffer from widespread health care inadequacies.

The city of New Orleans has only 465 staffed hospital beds, compared with 2,269 before the city was struck by Katrina. Inevitably, rebuilding the health care system will be vital for bringing the people back. While health care is available, patients at two hospitals waited up to two hours to be unloaded from ambulances. Also, patients are being kept and treated in the emergency room because beds are not available elsewhere. The latest estimates put the city’s population at about one-third of the 485,000 people who lived there before Katrina hit. Representative John Dingell stated that “it is unacceptable that six months after Hurricane Katrina, people are still receiving health care services in mobile tents and old department stores. New Orleans did rely heavily on a network of clinics to treat socio-economically disadvantaged patients before Katrina, but more than three quarters of those clinics are closed.

It is perhaps widely believed by the United States population that life in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast would have returned to normal by this time. However 200,000 natives of these areas reside in FEMA hotels and shelters. Others are living with loved ones in distant cities, and in some cases, have become homeless. The magnitude of volumes of debris, trash and grime caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita continue to be eyesores, leaving scents of malodor and putridity. Large areas of New Orleans reveal collapsed homes, overturned cars, discarded washers, driers, refrigerators, clothes and furniture. Utilities have gradually been restored. Nevertheless, areas that suffered the greatest damage such as the lower Ninth Ward, do not possess the capacity to maintain life on a reasonable basis.

Insurance company compensation and FEMA relocation efforts continue to lag behind the massive disaster. Citizens of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, therefore, have been forced to permanently relocate to areas with which they have no personal connection, means of employment or knowledge of public facilities.

On a personal note, the sudden and unwelcome transition from building and working rigorously in one of the busiest cardiology practices in New Orleans, to witnessing the total collapse of my cardiovascular center, had left me utterly distressed. Presently, in general, I am in much better spirits! I, along with most who endured the hurricane, fight the inclination to succumb to helplessness and rage. “This mad fury…this bitterness and spleen” is perhaps a modern form of “nervous conditions”, a term taken from Jean-Paul Sartre’s preface to the Frantz Fanon’s, Wretched of the Earth. Katrina was unequivocally “traumatizing and leaves [us] with inescapable memory and ineffaceable marks.” While my personal misery may be gradually lifting, there are tens of thousands of American citizens who are unsure of what tomorrow will bring in terms of their very survival.

The Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. Health Outreach Prevention Empowerment (H.O.P.E.) program continues to address the needs of the Katrina victims wherever they are and will continue the program’s growth. For instance, we plan to acquire a mobile van; Dr. Waine Kong, the Chief Executive Office of the ABC, recently traveled to Columbus, Ohio to view the site where portable medical vans are actually constructed. The van will allow physicians and other health care professionals to direct medical interventions for those who have been affected by Katrina wherever they may be.

The extensive needs of Katrina victims recently were demonstrated the week of February 6th – 12th. Thousands of Louisiana citizens stood in often uncomfortably cool and wet weather to obtain basic healthcare needs, including dental examinations and extractions, vision examinations, basic laboratory studies, blood pressure evaluations and electrocardiograms. As the Director of the H.O.P.E. Project, I and Dr. Kong traveled to New Orleans to assist in this effort along with community groups such as the local REACH 2010: At the Heart of New Orleans, spearheaded by Dr. Cheryl Taylor. While there was a great deal of enthusiasm and a sense of success by the combined labor of the New Orleans Health Department and the Morehouse School of Medicine in serving this population, it was obvious that many of the elderly patients who stood for hours to receive care, were uncomfortable and weary. This is unacceptable in North American society, as the United States has historically represented the pinnacle of wealth, power and modernity.

On March 18, 2006, H.O.P.E., in conjunction with the Coastal Gumbo Coalition, sponsored a public forum at the Maynard H. Jackson International Library, Research and Conference Center at the Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. Among those present were Dr. Taylor, REACH 2010: At the Heart of New Orleans; Mtimishi St. Julien, New Orleans Housing Authority; Pastor Glen B. Allen, Sr. and the New Orleans mayoral candidates. This forum displaced New Orleans residents currently residing in Atlanta of the future plans for the city and the options for voting in the upcoming mayoral election.

The Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. (ABC) is a 501(c)(3) registered organizations which confines its scope of practice to the elimination of disparities in cardiovascular care and outcomes, with specific emphasis on minorities. The ABC does not take political positions, endorse candidates or allow the use of its name in connection with any political events. The terms and conditions for use of ABC’s facilities assured that all guests participating in the forum were invited regardless of party, race, gender religious affiliation or other considerations.

Please assist the H.O.P.E. project with our ongoing efforts! We will continue to partner not only with academic and governmental agencies such as REACH 2010: At The Heart of New Orleans Coalition, but with other entities dedicated to this cause. REACH 2010 Project has been a healing force in New Orleans. H.O.P.E. will serve churches of all faiths and with them, seek out their individual needs so that we may support them.

If you would like to assist in the efforts to heal the people of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast surrounding areas, please contribute to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. For more information you can read the Hurricane Katrina Helping Handbook: www.mofo.com/about/katrina.html and Bring New Orleans Back Commission: www.bringneworleansback.org. In addition, Bridge Coalition information can be obtained by calling 504.680.2810.

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Posted 30 January, 2006

Continuing Health Crisis - Personal & Community Base in the Post Hurricane Katrina Environment

The Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC) remains dedicated to the improvement in cardiovascular health for all. Our motto is “Children should know their grandparents and become great grandparents themselves.” We speak especially for African-Americans, many of whom have shortened life expectancies, which has affected the potential for our children to receive the wisdom and oral history that their grandparents offer. The ABC has a list of approaches to good health, including diet and exercise, along with spiritual support.

There is mounting evidence that after a disaster the size of Hurricane Katrina, emotional or psychological aspects can also affect a person’s cardiovascular health. For instance, following the lives lost in the Los Angeles Northridge earthquake in 1994, there was a second wave of death from heart attacks and cardiovascular events among people who apparently had been unscathed by the initial physical trauma. The medical literature increasingly notes that emotional trauma is an important complication of a major catastrophe; stress, anxiety, and depression, may lead to serious physical difficulties. Research now confirms that the psychological aspects of a personal disaster can have extremely deleterious effects on a person’s well being. Negative or stressful situations can contribute to heart disease by increasing inflammation, blood pressure, and cardiac arrhythmias. Even patients with no previous history of coronary artery disease may generate evidence of an elevation in inflammatory markers, arterial blood pressure, and abnormalities of heart rate and rhythm. Emotional symptoms of depression include feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, and loss of pleasure. Physicians, when encountering evacuees with cardiovascular diseases, should inquire about changes in sleep and eating patterns, ability to concentrate and intense fatigue or loss of energy to determine the effects emotional trauma may have on the patients’ physical states.

One of the best interventions for evacuees is to receive words of wisdom and kindness from fellow citizens, along with a helping hand. The ABC recommends seven steps to maintain mental health following a crisis: pray without ceasing, share pain and frustration with family and friends, allowing freedom to cry, take prescribed medications, refrain from watching and reading too much media reports, exercise daily, avoid bad habits, and help someone else in need. Unfortunately, moreover, health disparities will continue, especially related to socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity. Combined with the trauma of a major event, these issues can only cause more distress.

In South Louisiana, major medical centers including Tulane University and Louisiana State University (LSU) continue to struggle financially post-Katrina. LSU Medical School may run out of funds in March 2006 unless they can procure an emergency effusion from Federal officials. The cash crunch threatens the jobs of faculty members, clinical support members, and even custodial workers at the LSU Health Science Center in New Orleans. The majority of hospitals were destroyed or damaged with scores of prematurely deceased patients. All, but one New Orleans hospital within the city limits still remain closed; some have officially been condemned, and few see any hope of immediate reactivation.

While some primary care providers are returning to the New Orleans area, specialists find it difficult to practice with a depleted referral base. The geographic footprint of New Orleans has been greatly curtailed. The previous population of 485,000, excluding the outer suburbs, now only numbers perhaps 60,000-80,000 and no plan has been produced to explain how it can return to its large, vibrant status of the pre-hurricane era. No American city or local government would be able to withstand the environmental and medical destruction of a natural disaster the size of Hurricane Katrina, especially a city with a large disadvantaged population and high levels of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes as seen in the New Orleans area. Nevertheless, patients need care wherever they reside. It is hopeful that in the future, evacuees will continue to locate expert and appropriate primary and specialty care in their new homes, whether temporary or permanent.

While evidence of the revival of New Orleans on a smaller scale continues, we must not forget that evacuees were ripped from their previous doctor-patient relationships, often with little prior knowledge of the exact nature of their conditions, results of previous laboratory and diagnostic intervention, and plan for care. Records in the most heavily flooded or damaged areas are unavailable or destroyed and it will be up to all of us to ensure that patients are not unnecessarily harmed in their efforts to rebuild their lives and personal health. Post-Katrina fund relief programs such as ABC’s Health Outreach Prevention Empowerment (HOPE) program will continue to be instrumental in ensuring the health and survival of the diaspora from the Southern Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast areas. The following are some of the contacts and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts the ABC’s HOPE program has been instrumental in providing financial assistance to. Please continue to visit our website for further Katrina Relief information at www.abcardio.org. Monetary donations are continuing to be accepted.

Sincerely,

Keith C. Ferdinand, MD, FACC
Director, ABC Hurricane Relief Fund
5355 Hunter Road
Atlanta, GA 30349
404-201-6632 - office
>Email

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Our On Going HOPE Relief Efforts

September 1, 2005

• Monetary and supply donations went to ABC CHOICES churches in Port Gibson, MS.
• Worked directly with CHOICES churches in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Phoenix, to deliver money, toiletries, transportation, food, clothing and other basic necessities of life.
• 25,000k check issued to Atlanta Metro Concerned Black Clergy in support of Hurricane Katrina Relief.

Key Contacts made in various states in support of relief effort:

Littlerock, AR.

• Nov. 2005: ABC awarded Pastor Hezekiah Steward, Executive Director Watershed, Inc. With $3000 to help provide meals, clothing, baby supplies, formula and personal items to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Tallulah, LA

• Nov. 2005: Mr. Michael Johnson, Superintendent of Madison Parish Schools was awarded $1000 to help child victims of Hurricane Katrina with school uniforms, books and supplies.

Jackson, MS

• Dr. Malcolm and Gwen Taylor: Relief efforts on Gulf coast continue to move forward.

Baton Rouge, LA

• Dr. Cheryl Taylor, RN, PhD key contact for REACH 2010

Newton, PA

• Nov. 2005: Mr. Harry Welton, Delaware County Christian Schools: Awarded $4000 to help with efforts in securing homes for evacuees and providing them with supplies while they move forward in the restructuring of their lives.
• Mr. Weldon is from Philadelphia and uses his own money and time to travel to the areas affected by Katrina taking supplies and providing housing for evacuees, he has helped to get three families into homes; he recently traveled to Lawrenceville, GA and met with Pastor Steve McKnight and his wife Theresa of “The River of Life Worship Center” in New Orleans. The couple recently had a baby and were beneficiaries of Mr. Weldons’ generosity.

New Orleans, LA

• Oct. 2005, Pastor Tom Watson of the “Watson Memorial Teaching Ministries. Pastor Watson is temporarily located in Houston, TX. Pastor Watson’s church sustained a great amount of damage. He and some of the members of his congregation will return and rebuild the church. Pastor Watson states he will use evacuees to do the labor thus affording those out of work an income. Pastor Watson was awarded $5000 help his congregation get back on their feet and to help with the building of the church.
• Sept. 2005: Deborah Senter, Program coordinator for HOPE met with local hurricane evacuees at area hotels to discuss the availability of free medical care, free pharmaceutical products, and health screening.

Dr. B. Waine Kong traveled for a second time to Port Gibson, MS taking health literature and donations.

Oct. 2005: Deborah Senter attended the “Bayou in the Desert Health & Wellness Fair” in Phoenix, AZ and provided financial assistance in the amount of $3000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Also distributed the new “7 Steps to a Healthy Heart” book mark to evacuees which states we should be Spiritually Active, Take Charge of our blood pressure, Track our blood sugar, Eat smart & Enjoy regular exercise, Do not smoke and Access better healthcare and take our medication as prescribed.

After visiting Phoenix we supported efforts in Gulfport, MS by aligning ABC with area churches to decrease the financial burden the evacuees face. ABC Hurricane Relief donated $9000 to the Little Rock Baptist Church where the Pastor is the Reverend Lee Adams. Mrs. Gwen Taylor of Jackson, MS is the point of contact for this endeavor.

200 glucometers arrived at the ABC on Wednesday Oct. 19, 2005 to be used in ABC’s Hurricane Relief efforts.

November 19, 2005: The ABC held a health screening event in Memphis, TN at the office of Dr. Jesse McGee.

January 2006: We are in the final stages of issuing cell phones in the amount of $3600.00 to Reach 2010 “At The Heart of New Orleans” a community –based, cardiovascular risk reduction research project.

We are continuing to work with Mrs. Gwen Taylor and Gulf Coast churches. We are awaiting final paper work in order to approve the purchase of debit cards in the amount of $6000, which will provide victims returning home a start in their rebuilding efforts.

December 19, 2005: The ABC met once again with The Atlanta Metro Concerned Black Clergy (CBC) to show our continued support by presenting the CBC with $25,000 for a grand total of $50,000 to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

 Plans are moving forward to purchase a Mobile Medical Unit which will allow the ABC to provide basic essential care for chronic illnesses in high risk communities, including hypertension, asthma, and heart failure.

Feb. 3, 2006: Dr. Kong will visit Laboit industries in Columbus, OH; a manufacture of mobile medical units on to review their product line.

Feb. 6- 9, 2006: The ABC will travel to New Orleans to support the “Health Recovery Week” a collaborative effort with the New Orleans Health Department and Morehouse School of Medicine.

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Posted 20 December, 2005

Surviving the Post-Katrina Blues: The Good, the Bad, and the Unacceptable

Approximately three months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, there continues to be an unacceptable amount of anxiety, alienation, anger, and depression, especially among displaced evacuees across the United States. There are some positive aspects of the post-Katrina environment in the Crescent City itself. On a recent visit to my native home, it was apparent that uptown New Orleans, including the Garden District and St. Charles Avenue corridor, will continue to improve and blossom although the historic St. Charles and Canal Street Streetcars no longer function due to motor and undercarriage damage from saline flood waters. Other aspects of the uptown New Orleans area continue to grow: cafes, restaurants, and even bars were open. Many uptown homes appeared to have little evidence of the fury of Hurricane Katrina. The French Quarter, as often highlighted on cable news channels appears alive and well. In fact, this particular aspect of New Orleans shows no evidence that its hardy approach to life and celebration has been significantly impaired. Faubourg-Marigny, the area immediately behind the French Quarter, is now full with ambitious, young professionals and hipsters seeking a funky urban lifestyle.

Nevertheless, it is also apparent that huge areas of the New Orleans area have little potential of soon returning to livable neighborhoods. The huge portion of New Orleans known as New Orleans East, with its largely black middle class and executive homes, appears to remain essentially a disaster area cluttered with destroyed cars, molded furniture and refrigerators, in a post-Katrina landscape resembling that which would be seen after an atomic bomb. East New Orleans and the 9th ward, where our cardiac clinic, Heartbeat Life Center was located, remain two of the hardest hit areas. Environmental testing and adequate flood protection should be completed before these neighborhoods can be re-developed. The lower 9th ward, a primarily African-American and disadvantaged neighborhood of New Orleans, and my childhood home, has no evidence at all of any meaningful improvement. Indeed family members who were fortunate enough to evacuate before the storm, return to continue to find dead, often elderly relatives who unsuccessfully attempted to escape into the attics and recesses of their quickly flooding homes.

The ugly aspects of the post-hurricane Katrina landscape include the inability of our politicians, especially on the Federal level, to provide adequate housing and job support for the hundreds of thousands of evacuees who fled primarily to cities of the Southwest and South. A recent headline in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper noted that evacuees were given two weeks before they would stop paying for hotel rooms, giving approximately 12,000 people in Georgia a short window to find housing. Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) officials said later that they would still provide aid to evacuees, and not abruptly discontinue the 250 million hotel program. It is reasonable to curtail unnecessary or excessive federal spending, but the lack of a detailed plan on how to deal with the massive loss of shelter for the hundreds of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims remained unacceptable. Many evacuees face a potential for homelessness. Most citizens outside the Gulf Coast still cannot comprehend that many people left New Orleans and Mississippi in an abrupt, unplanned manner, with only one to two days of clothing and a few personal items in a hastily assembled suitcase or plastic bag. Their homes remain in ruins, previous jobs nonexistent, and hopes and dreams often in shambles.

One distressing aspect of the Hurricane Katrina scenario is that a stronger life in New Orleans is not viable for many. Much of the city remains in total waste, with families having no aspect of a quick return, especially since the hurricane season is only approximately eight months away and the potential for a reoccurrence very real. Small businesses in the hardest hit areas have essentially disappeared or will have difficulty staying afloat. The Small Business Association (SBA) has at this time only approved approximately 1,000 loans to businesses across the Gulf Coast, and has actually denied 1,945 applications, with approximately 25,000 business loan applications still being processed. If this region is going to survive, it will need the businesses which employed its citizens. Unfortunately, loans may not be available until September 2006. Indeed it may already be too late for many business owners who no longer have the capability of handling the burden of caring for their families with no meaningful incomes.

The Association of Black Cardiologists continues the HOPE program, raising funds to assist, especially in those areas where the government continues to fail. As we enter into the holiday season, it is important that all of us remember that Hurricane Katrina was not an event which happened and is now resolved; it is an ongoing situation, which needs to be consistently and persistently approached in terms of solutions both short term and long term. Your donations, prayers, and moral support are appreciated by citizens of the New Orleans and Mississippi Gulf Coast who have been perhaps permanently damaged by the financial and psychological difficulties in the post-Katrina environment. Please see our continuing update on our specific efforts to assist our citizens from these areas that have been affected.

The following are some ongoing efforts from the HOPE initiative, September 1, 2005:

• Monetary and supply donations went to ABC CHOICE Churches in Port Gibson, MS.
  
  
• Worked directly with CHOICES churches in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Phoenix, to deliver money, toiletries, transportation, food, clothing and other basic  necessities of life.
  
  
• 25k check issued to Atlanta Metro Concerned Black Clergy in support of Hurricane Katrina Relief.

Key Contacts made in various states in support of relief effort:

• Littlerock, AR
  Pastor Hezekiah Steward, Executive Director Watershed, Inc. ABC awarded Pastor Stewart with $3000k to help provide meals, clothing, baby supplies, formula and personal items to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
  
  
• Tallulah, LA
  Mr. Michael Johnson, Superintendent of Madison Parish Schools was awarded $1000k to help child victims of Hurricane Katrina with school uniforms, books and supplies.
  
  
• Jackson, MS
  Dr. Malcolm and Gwen Taylor: Relief efforts on Gulf coast continue to move forward.
  
  
• Baton Rouge, LA
  Dr. Cheryl Taylor, RN, PhD key contact for REACH 2010
  
  
• Newton, PA
  Mr. Harry Welton, Delaware County Christian Schools: Awarded $4000k to help with efforts in securing homes for evacuees and providing them with supplies while they move forward in the restructuring of their lives. Mr. Welton is from Philadelphia and uses his own money and time to travel to the areas affected by Katrina taking supplies and providing housing for evacuees, he has helped to get 3 families into homes; he recently made a trip to Lawrenceville, GA and met with Pastor Steve McKnight and his wife Theresa of “The River of Life Worship Center” in New Orleans. The couple recently had a baby.
  
  
• New Orleans, LA
  Pastor Tom Watson of the “Watson Memorial Teaching Ministries. Pastor Watson is temporarily located in Houston, TX. Pastor Watson’s church sustained a great amount of damage. He and some of the members of his congregation will return and rebuild the church. Pastor Watson states he will use evacuees to do the labor thus affording those out of work an income. Pastor Watson was awarded $5000k help his congregation get back on their feet and to help with the building of the church.
  
  
  
• Met with local hurricane evacuees at area hotels to discuss the availability of free medical care, free pharmaceutical products, and health screening.
  
  
• Dr. B. Waine Kong made 2nd trip to Port Gibson, MS taking health literature and donations.
  
  
• Attended the “Bayou in the Desert Health & Wellness Fair in Phoenix, AZ and provided financial assistance in the amount of $3000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Also distributed the new 7 Steps to a Healthy Heart book mark to evacuees that states we should be Spiritually Active, Take Charge of our blood pressure, track our blood sugar, Eat smart & enjoy regular exercise, Do not smoke and access better healthcare and take our medication as prescribed.
  
  
• After visiting Phoenix we supported efforts in Gulfport, MS by aligning ABC with area churches to decrease the financial burden the evacuees face. ABC Hurricane Relief donated $9000.00 to the Little Rock Baptist Church where the Pastor is the Reverend Lee Adams. Mrs. Gwen Taylor of Jackson, MS is the point of contact for this endeavor.
  
  
• 200 glucometers arrived on Wednesday Oct. 19, 2005 to be used in ABC’s Hurricane Relief efforts.
  
  
• November 19, 2005 Held health screening event in Memphis, TN at the office of Dr. Jesse McGee.
  
  
• December 2005 we are in the reviewing stages of supplying cell phones in the amount of $3600.00 to Reach 2010 “At The Heart of New Orleans” a community–based, cardiovascular risk reduction research project.
  
  
• We are continuing to work with Mrs. Gwen Taylor and Gulf Coast churches. We are awaiting final paper work in order to approve the purchase of debit cards in the amount of $6000, which will provide victims returning home a start in their rebuilding efforts.
  
  
• December 19, 2005 The Association of Black Cardiologist met once again with The Atlanta Metro Concerned Black Clergy (CBC) to show our continued support by presenting the CBC with $25,000.00 for a grand total of $50,000.00 to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
  
  
• Plans are moving forward to purchase a Mobile Medical Unit which will allow the ABC to provide basic essential care for chronic illnesses in high risk communities, including hypertension, asthma, and heart failure.

Sincerely,

Keith C. Ferdinand, MD, FACC
Director, ABC Hurricane Relief Fund
5355 Hunter Road
Atlanta, GA 30349
404-201-6632 - office
>Email
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Posted October 7, 2005

Update of ABC’s HOPE Initiative
(Health Outreach Prevention and Empowerment)

Dear Members, Friends and Supporters,

The ABC is pleased with the overwhelming response from individuals, and corporate sponsors in support of the Hurricane Katrina disaster fund. Unfortunately there is much more work that needs to be done to stabilize the lives of the evacuees and help them return to their previous healthy status.

Daphne and I recently returned from a site visit to our beloved home in New Orleans East, and office, Heartbeats Life Center, in New Orleans. The beautiful natural lake of which our home sits is now a blackened soup of organic solvents, waste materials and debris. The previous large number of fowl including mallard ducks, egrets, and geese are nowhere to be found. The lush vegetation including trees, palms multiple shrubs and ornate tropical flowers are all dead. While traveling through New Orleans in the 8th and 9th Wards on the way to Heartbeats Life Center, it was clear that our previous vibrant working class neighborhoods, where friends, families, and patients previously resided are now devoid of human presence other than New Orleans law enforcement agents, municipal police personnel from other cities (including Newark, NJ!) and Army and National Guard troops bearing arms.

This disaster has taken an intense emotional toll, on hundreds of thousands of our citizens. The sudden shock of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath continues to affect the displaced New Orleans diaspora. There is however; an additional real, but under recognized crisis. There will be a large wave of depression, anxiety, stress and hostility which will powerfully affect increasing large numbers of evacuees with subsequent increased rates of hypertension, smoking, obesity, stroke, cardiac events and even deaths. We need to support our fellow citizens in their time of need for medical, psychological, and even psychiatric care.

Unfortunately after personally viewing the science-fiction like landscape and destruction, it is clear the Crescent City will never be the same. Large areas of our communities are unfortunately doomed for destruction. It is however with great appreciation of individuals who have supported our efforts that we offer this updated report of specific focused programs of the ABC’s HOPE (Health Outreach Prevention and Empowerment) Initiative.

• We have developed key contacts Little Rock, AR; Jackson, MS; Tallulah, LA and other cities needing direct financial support for evacuees.
  
  
• Dr. B. Waine Kong visited Port Gibson and Jackson, MS bringing health literature and donations.
  
  
• Consultations with various agencies are being made in order to begin the distribution of debit cards for transportation and personal needs of victims.
  
  
• We have worked with evacuees in Atlanta including providing a 25K grant to the Black Clergy.
  
  
• Hotels in the local area where Katrina evacuees are staying have been visited to ascertain and fulfill their needs.
  
  
• Future plans are to purchase a Mobile Medical Unit which will allow ABC to provide basic essential care for chronic illnesses in high risk communities, including hypertension, asthma, and heart failure.

Although we are one month from the original landfall, there are over 2000 children and adults, including disabled individuals, who have not been located or reunited with their families. We hope and pray that those individuals who have been displaced will eventually return to their home and renew productive lives.

Keith Ferdinand, M.D., FACC
Director, ABC Hurricane Relief Fund
5355 Hunter Road
Atlanta, GA 30349
404-201-6632 - office
>Email

“Victory cannot be won by a single individual. Harambee (let’s pull together)”

_________________________________________________________________________

Posted September 7, 2005

From the Desk of Dr. Keith C. Ferdinand
ABC Hurricane Relief Program Director

Dear Members, Friends and Supporters,

This is an update on efforts related to the ABC Hurricane Relief Fund.

There is an ole’ jazz tune, “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?” The lyrics speak to the longing of a Crescent city ex-patriot who loves his home, but cannot return. I, now, feel the sentiments of that song deep in my heart, as do my other brothers and sisters of New Orleans who are now unfairly dispersed across the US. All Americans feel the economic impact of the devastation of New Orleans; presently in higher oil and gas prices. Furthermore, you can anticipate a future of disruptions in imports/exports of grains, coffee, bananas, sugar, and a wide range of other products that enter and exit the continental US through the northern most “Caribbean city.”

However, what will be truly missed is the many citizens who are now prematurely deceased and injured, both physically and emotionally, by loss of our collective ‘joie de vivre’ (joy of life). We are enduring a total disruption of our normal lives which is admittedly uncomfortable, but more importantly, I pray and hope all Americans and citizens of the world will remember, respect, and appropriately respond to the deep and permanent scar this catastrophe will leave on the lives of those innocent souls whose only crime was being too poor to respond to a crisis.

With that in mind, I am proud to inform you that I have been appointed to oversee opportunities that will aid in the Hurricane Relief efforts suffered by the citizens of New Orleans and the Gulf coast. On Saturday, September 2nd, I traveled to Louisiana and visited Tallulah, LA. Being moved by the effects this devastation has caused the children, I provided funds to the Tallulah school system that will assist with the educational supplies for the children evacuees. The ABC is working directly through the Atlanta Metro Concerned Black Clergy and churches associated with its CHOICES program in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Phoenix, to deliver money, toiletries, transportation, food, clothing and other basic necessities of life.

In addition to the ABC providing food supplies to Port Gibson Mississippi, the ABC will continue to raise funds and support local grassroots initiatives such as:

• Contacting the ABC members who worked/lived in “Hurricane Alley”
  
  
• Developing Resource Flyers for churches to be distributed to their congregations and provided to evacuees and friends of evacuees. The flyers will include information on accessing online family message boards, food stamps, federal housing allowances, food and furniture banks, Department of Labor, Board of Education, colleges and universities, Red Cross, etc.
  
  
• Supporting faith-based shelters in local communities
  
  
• Assisting with letter writing campaigns to Senators and Congressional leaders
  
  
• Providing transportation to resource centers and transitional housing units
  
  
• Providing food, toiletries, and clothing
  
  
• Providing telephone access for family contact
  
  
• Providing health-based recreational activities for the shelters (i.e., jump rope contests, ABC’s of exercise and nutrition, spelling bees, and bible studies)

You may join me and the ABC in these efforts by providing donations to the ABC Hurricane Relief Fund online at www.abcardio.org or by mailing your check to 6849 B-2 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30328. I assure you these donations will be specifically directed to evacuees through organizations, faith-based institutions and agencies that have direct contact with these displaced Americans.

Best regards,

Keith Ferdinand, M.D., FACC
Director, ABC Hurricane Relief Fund
5355 Hunter Road
Atlanta, GA 30349
404-201-6632 - office
>Email

“Victory cannot be won by a single individual. Harambee (let’s pull together)”