New Orleans Health Clinics Funded

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – Some of the clinics have been serving city residents for years, becoming especially crucial after Hurricane Katrina shattered the health care system. Now, the clinics care for one in five people in the greater New Orleans area, many without health insurance. Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced the funding package at the St. Thomas Community Health Center.

"We are the most immediate laboratory for change in the entire United States of America. And the things that we are doing on the streets of New Orleans can be replicated across the country. This is clearly one of them."

Landrieu says the clinics provide preventive care, and fit into the health system taking shape with a new VA Hospital under construction, LSU Hospital in the planning stage and the refurbishing of Methodist Hospital in New Orleans East.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming.