New Orleans is currently dealing with the effects of a severe crisis in its mental healthcare services. Inadequate services for an ailing population have affected not only a rise in the suicide rates and aggravated already existing mental disorders but has also affected an increase in domestic violence, addictions and new mental health issues among children due to devastation brought on by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“In Jefferson Parish, there are more and harsher domestic violence cases where victims say they’ve never been battered before. We’ve seen more severe battering and injuries.” Said Dale Sandifer, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Battered Women’s Program. There is also an increase in sexual assault and incest cases. Sandifer attributes this to closer living arrangements and crowded, extended family situations. Stress is no doubt a contributing factor. At present, The City of New Orleans is unable to meet the overwhelming healthcare needs, specifically those of mental health that its citizens require.
Recently ( July 31st, 2007,) Mayor C. Ray Nagin testified about the status of the healthcare crisis in New Orleans before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. At this hearing , the Mayor emphasized the need for immediate assistance to deal with an increasing healthcare crisis in New Orleans. “I implore. I ask. I beg this committee to really do something to help us,” Nagin said. With every medical facility and hospital closed after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the healthcare system, including delivery of mental health services has been severely impacted and the effects can be felt throughout the City. An increase in homelessness, rise in diagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) and emergency room visits for mental health psychosis are the result of the lack of mental health, primary care and emergency services offered to the community at this critical time. Few outpatient drug treatment centers exist, and detox beds are even harder to attain. People are dying, plain and simple.
According to the Mayor’s Office of Communication, the lack of facilities and healthcare professionals are a huge part of the crisis. As of August 2007, only 4 of the 8 local hospitals have reopened and only 5 out of 13 clinics run by the Orleans Health Department are operating. The reduced number of hospitals, clinics and medical staff have resulted in an unprecedented increase of mortality and mental health problems. During the first six months of 2006, the number of obituaries listed for the time period increased by 47% from that of the previous years’. In Orleans Parish, there was an increase in deaths of some 20% during that same time period. This increase in death is close to TWICE the national average! Due to the massive reduction in primary care services, illnesses are made more severe by the time treatment is sought and rendered. For the uninsured and indigent, the reduction of services has literally meant the difference between life and death as the insured are usually the first to be seen by the overworked providers who still exist.
In terms of money, there have been recent federal allocations made to New Orleans healthcare. These allocations have been made by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt who invoked his authority under and 2005 Deficit Reduction Act. One hundred million has been made available to expand and help rebuild primary care in the Greater New Orleans area. Of this, $35 million will be used to recruit and retain medical professionals, many who left the City after Hurricane Katrina. Another $4 million will be used to open a clinic in New Orleans East and re-open the Mandeville-Deteige Clinic in Gert Town, according to the Mayor’s Office. A proposed VA Hospital is set to open in downtown New Orleans in 2012 next to a new LSU Hospital. “These facilities are critical as we work to ensure that our citizens have access to the healthcare services they need and deserve,” said Mayor C. Ray Nagin.
Meeting our immediate mental healthcare needs is something else. Like most things in post-Katrina New Orleans these days, it is the ordinary citizens that are meeting the community’s needs and not the government. Until New Orleans healthcare infrastructure is rebuilt, many of its citizens are thankful for the work of local nonprofit organizations who have stepped in to fill that critical gap. The number of nonprofits operating in New Orleans is unprecedented. It would be impossible to list the activities of each and every nonprofit currently working here, but here are just a few who have stepped in and are performing critical work for the community.
Odyssey House, a locally run and well established center that treats addictive disorders continues to operate by providing 120 beds for patients. According to Odyssey House, the organization has expanded post-Katrina to offer free clinic services three days a week with LSU medical staff and Common Ground Volunteers.
“We know that our children are experiencing significant post-traumatic stress as a result of the hurricane, and some are at a higher rate due to the combination of past traumas and loss and the added stress from the storm. The storm did not wash away the pain.” Said Dr. Allison Salloum, a Social Worker with the Children’s Bureau of New Orleans. The Children’s Bureau of New Orleans has helped over 230 children with mental trauma symptoms. It is fully staffed and accredited and its Project LAST is open to all children in under the age of 17 in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish who have suffered and survived assorted traumas. The group is supported by the United Way of Greater New Orleans and private donations. According to the Children’s Bureau’s, fifty-nine percent of its focus has been on children exhibiting trauma related to the Hurricane, though the group also deals with violence and death related traumas. The Children’s Bureau is finding an 82% reduction rate in symptoms and reactions through its focused services to children.
Safe Harbor is another currently operating organization that offers temporary assistance to women and children of domestic violence. Despite the decreased population, Safe Harbor says that its client number has tripled since Katrina. Safe Harbor is appealing to the public for help as it struggles to meet the needs of its clients.
The Metropolitan Battered Women’s Program (MBWP) has expanded its number of shelters and continues to operate as one of the few remaining places of safe refuge for battered women.
If you would like to volunteer to help New Orleans heal and rebuild, you can go to www.volunteermatch.org. Here you will find a list of 206 national and local organizations currently working in the area and looking for volunteers. If you are a healthcare professional and reading this article, please consider working in New Orleans. You will be most certainly overworked, but greatly compensated and appreciated
Jamie Menutis is the author of “Where the Natives Feast in New Orleans” 2002, 2005 editions. She is also a freelance writer and contributor to Bayoubuzz.
