Need Remains Great for Louisiana Health Centers Hit by Gustav; $150,000 Pledged to Aid Response

September 1, 2008 
Prolonged power outages and sustained damage from Hurricane Gustav are taxing health centers in Louisiana, who have played a key role in caring for evacuees, special needs, and low-income patients. Winds up to 110 miles per hour downed power lines, caused flooding, and damaged structures, including health clinics and hospitals in the Category 2 hurricane’s path.

The $150,000 Direct Relief pledged earlier this week to the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) will be used first to help health centers buy the essential medicines they need to treat the influx of patients, and second, to help clinics rebuild and recover. With at least one health center completely flooded, funds for rebuilding are critically needed.

Gwen Laury, managing the disaster response efforts for the Louisiana Primary Care Association, is in Baton Rouge, where emergency shelters are “filled to capacity,” caring for a large influx of special needs patients evacuated from regional hospitals without power. Reports indicate that in some parts of the state, it may take two weeks for power to be restored.

The LPCA runs 22 health centers with 44 clinical sites in Louisiana. Tomorrow, Direct Relief is sending medical aid shipments, including first aid materials, antibiotics, medicines for chronic conditions, and personal care products to help treat evacuees. Health centers are operating around the clock, which requires additional funding for staff—a challenge for cash-strapped centers treating large populations of uninsured patients.

RKM Primary Care in Clinton, Louisiana, is the only clinic open in Feliciana Parish, reports Leslie Matte, RKM’s director. “We are also providing 24-hour care due to power outages at area hospitals,” Matte reported Tuesday. “Lane Regional Medical Center was evacuated today due to generator problems; Oschner Medical Center was evacuated due to damage. West Feliciana Hospital and Field Memorial Hospital in Centreville, Mississippi are running on minimum generator power.”

“RKM is housing Acadian Ambulance Service and we are triaging and stabilizing all patients brought in until they can be transported to a surrounding hospital when available,” Matte said. “East Feliciana Parish is also evacuating families due to flooding. We are working hard on minimum supplies and equipment to help whoever walks through the door.”

Direct Relief domestic programs staff remains in constant contact with partners in Louisiana and Mississippi to identify needs as they emerge.

Direct Relief Makes $250,000 Available to U.S. Gulf Coast’s Medical “Safety Net” 

Direct Relief International today announced it has committed $250,000 in special hurricane response funds to assist the medical “safety net” – nonprofit clinics, community health centers, and alternate care sites at evacuation and shelter areas – along the U.S. Gulf Coast in response to Hurricane Gustav, which is expected to make landfall Monday.

“We think it’s important to make these funds available so that safety-net clinics and community health centers can ramp up their operations,” said President and CEO Thomas Tighe. “These nonprofit facilities have no financial cushion to absorb an influx of patients or financial losses caused by emergencies like this; they may need to procure items locally that are needed immediately, pay for extra staff, or finance other short-term concerns.”

Direct Relief is coordinating with the National Association of Community Health Centers and State Primary Care Associations in the Gulf, as well as with individual clinics – all of which Direct Relief has worked with on an ongoing basis since Hurricane Katrina struck three years ago.

In addition to cash resources, Direct Relief has already placed medical material aid into the region. In July, the organization delivered 18 hurricane preparedness packs to locations along the Gulf Coast in advance of possible hurricanes in the late summer and early fall months, and Friday sent three additional shipments of medical supplies to alternate care sites in Louisiana operating at evacuation sites. Long-time corporate donors including Abbott, BD, CVS, Johnson & Johnson, Matrixx, and Miltex have given their product for use at these sites, and FedEx has generously donated transportation services.

Additional infusions of medical essentials will be provided as necessary to help meet demand. Direct Relief possesses about $60 million (wholesale) in standing medical material inventory at any given time at its headquarters in Santa Barbara, California that can be focused on helping the people of the Gulf Coast.

Members of the public wishing to support Direct Relief’s activities for Hurricane Gustav may donate to the Hurricane Preparedness & Response fund online at DirectRelief.org, by phone at 805-964-4767, or by mail at the address on the website. Every dollar donated to this fund is used exclusively for programs assisting healthcare for people affected by hurricanes, not for fundraising or administration.

On Anniversary of Katrina, Direct Relief International Preparing Clinics for Gustav

August 29, 2008
With Hurricane Gustav poised to strike the U.S. Gulf Coast after claiming lives in the Caribbean, humanitarian medical aid organization Direct Relief International is sending additional relief materials to complement its pre-positioned hurricane preparedness materials distributed in high-risk areas.

Today, shipments of specifically requested emergency medical materials were sent to:

• David Raines Community Health Center of Shreveport, Louisiana;
• Morehouse Community Medical Center of Bastrop, Louisiana; and
• Primary Health Care Services of Monroe, Louisiana.

Their contents included basic first-aid materials, antibiotics, personal care products, and supplies for diabetics valued at a total of $13,000 for all three shipments. All three clinics are operating alternate care sites at shelters in their respective areas. More shipments will be planned as necessary to help meet clinic demand.

These materials were generously donated by Abbott, BD, CVS, Johnson & Johnson, Matrixx, and Miltex. FedEx is transporting the materials to the recipients overnight free of charge. With the Labor Day holiday weekend fast approaching in the U.S., swift response was key in determining partner needs today.

To supply partners for the hurricane season, Direct Relief delivered Hurricane Preparedness Packs in July to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, as well as domestically in the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The packs, which contain enough materials to treat 100 patients for a range of conditions for a 72-hour period, were developed after careful analysis of the healthcare conditions following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which struck the Gulf three years ago today.

In the three years since Katrina and Rita, Direct Relief has supported safety-net clinics and community health centers along the Gulf Coast with $47 million in medical material aid and $4.6 million in cash assistance.

Direct Relief has also contacted five of its partner groups working in the Dominican Republic and Haiti to offer assistance. Before reaching hurricane strength, Gustav flooded Haiti and caused landslides in the Dominican Republic, killing at least 59 people in its wake. Standing water, combined with a displaced population, could lead to significant public health issues.

“Standing water creates a breeding ground for a range of diseases, including those that cause severe diarrhea, which can be deadly if untreated,” said Emergency Response Coordinator Brett Williams. “We saw a similar situation arise after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in May.”

As with all its emergency response efforts, Direct Relief is communicating frequently with healthcare partners treating people affected by Gustav to deliver the most effective aid possible, both in the U.S. and in the Caribbean.

Direct Relief Offers Emergency Aid in Wake of Gustav

Pre-positioned hurricane packs stand ready with partners in Caribbean, U.S. Gulf States

August 28, 2008

Direct Relief has offered emergency assistance to help the people of Haiti and Jamaica recover from the devastation left by Tropical Storm Gustav.

As needs are identified with local partner organizations in country, Direct Relief will deliver requested medical aid to Haiti, where Gustav has caused extensive flooding and 51 deaths. Landslides in neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola, have killed eight people. Packing winds of 70 mph and building toward hurricane strength, Gustav is winding its way over Jamaica and is scheduled to make landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast by Tuesday.

In July, Direct Relief delivered Hurricane Preparedness Packs to its partners in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the U.S. Gulf States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The packs, which contain medical materials to treat 100 patients for a range of traumas and conditions for a 72-hour period, were developed after careful analysis of the health conditions and lack of available medications to treat them following 2005’s Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Direct Relief provides humanitarian assistance on an ongoing basis to charitable health facilities in Haiti, Jamaica, and other Caribbean nations. Personal care supplies, antibiotics, analgesics, and first-aid materials are among the most commonly supplied items. Direct Relief has been providing assistance in Haiti since 1964; since 1989, it has delivered $77.5 million (wholesale) in medical material aid.