Uninsured New Orleans Residents To Receive Care At Health Fair

As many as 10,000 uninsured and low-income residents in the New Orleans area will receive medical care at a weeklong health fair that began on Sunday, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports (McConnaughey, Baton Rouge Advocate, 1/29). About 400 physicians and dentists nationwide have traveled to New Orleans to volunteer at the fair, which Operation Blessing International will sponsor at a cost of $500,000. The Mayo Clinic has sent 38 employees to the fair and has provided access to on-call linguists. Evangeline Franklin, director of clinical services for the New Orleans Health Department, said that the linguists would help the department provide medical care to migrant workers who speak Spanish. She said, “We’re trying to get the word out to undocumented Latino workers, who have very limited access to health care due to government restrictions and other reasons.” In addition, Franklin said that the department seeks to link patients with chronic conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes, to one of the three child and family clinics in New Orleans. She said, “None of us want this fair to replace regular doctor’s visits” (Reckdahl, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 1/29). Residents who visit the fair will have their blood pressure checked by nurses, after which time volunteers will refer them to receive general medical care or specialty care (Moran, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 1/30).

“Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Share This

Also Read