Direct Relief International Honored at National Community Health Conference
Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts Honored as Nation Observes Two Year Anniversary of Storm
BETHESDA, MD (August 27, 2007) The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) today honored Direct Relief International, an international relief organization, for their unprecedented assistance to Community Health Centers and their patients in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, supplying $26.8 million life-saving medicines and supplies to the Gulf region and funds to aid in providing health care services to evacuees. In presenting the award, NACHC cited the organization’s unwavering commitment to low-income and medically underserved who are often the most vulnerable during natural disasters. The award was presented at NACHC’s 38th annual Community Health Institute in Dallas, TX, an annual gathering which draws thousands of community health leaders from around the country.
Direct Relief International, since 1948 mainly known as an international relief organization, received $4.73 million designated for victims of Hurricane Katrina and it used the money for cash grants to the professional people on the Gulf Coast barricades (including $350,000 directly to NACHC). In addition, they supplied $26.8 million in medicines and supplies to the entire Gulf Coast region affected by the disaster. From its warehouse in Santa Barbara, CA, DRI made 95 emergency shipments to 65 clinics and other health facilities during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“Direct Relief International responded swiftly to our needs as we struggled to provide health care to hundreds of evacuees,” said Michael Andry, CEO of EXCELth, which lost four of its six sites from Katrina. “More importantly, they remain excellent partner still and continue to be engaged in the public health needs of low-income underserved people in New Orleans still struggling two years after the disaster.”
“Direct Relief International’s assistance was invaluable as we struggled to get our health center operational after Hurricane Katrina,” said Charles White, CEO of Franklin Primary Health Center in Mobile, Alabama.
In the days that followed Katrina, health centers treated more than 37,170 evacuees from Louisiana & Mississippi, close to 80% of whom had no health insurance.
“Community Health Centers are our country’s health safety net for millions of people,” said Thomas Tighe, president and CEO, Direct Relief International, accepting the NACHC award. “These health centers are a key element of any emergency response scenario, which was demonstrated most profoundly by their absorbing and caring for victims after Hurricane Katrina. We are honored to support their heroic efforts.”