Local health care providers assist evacuees
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Many of the evacuees from coastal Louisiana who sought shelter from Hurricane Gustav arrived in Bastrop with medical needs.
The staff of Morehouse Community Medical Centers Inc., with support from local volunteers, answered the call of duty and worked to meet those needs.
Morehouse Community Medical Centers was launched in August 2007, with the stated mission of providing accessible and affordable primary health care services to Morehouse residents who may be uninsured or of limited financial means. The Bastrop clinic is affiliated with the Louisiana Primary Care Association, which exists to promote quality care for uninsured and under-served patients in the state.
“We just finished our first year,” said CEO Katie Parnell. “Community response has been good. We’re averaging about 100 new patients per month.”
Gustav brought a wave of new patients to the Bastrop critical needs shelter in the former Wal-Mart building on East Madison Avenue. The Morehouse staff teamed up with East Carroll Emergency Medical Services in setting up makeshift exam rooms in the store’s former layaway area.
“We were asked to assist by the state, as part of Louisiana Primary Care,” said Parnell. “Our first responsibility was to provide emergency care. But we ended up taking care of patients with chronic health problems, some of whom might not have had insurance or were not able to afford quality care at home.”
Evacuees had the chance to be seen by local doctors Shahzad Malik and Daniel Trejo in addition to two nurse practitioners. The team made it possible for patients to get vital over-the-counter and prescription medications.
“We were providing health care services 24 hours a day for the first few days,” said Parnell. Clinic office manager Christy Little estimates the team had about 1,000 encounters with patients in the shelter. Many of these patients needed medical services more than once for chronic ailments.
“We were absolutely busy every day we were there,” said Little. “It was especially challenging because we were trying to run our clinic, and keep up at the shelter too. Our staff was limited, but we had some great volunteers.”
Little said churches prepared food for the team, and both medical professionals and laymen gave their time and services to what became a community effort.
“We opened our hearts to those people,” said Little. “That is our mission. That’s what our clinic is all about.”
The staff at Morehouse Community Medical Centers would like to express their gratitude to the following individuals, organizations and businesses for their help:
East Carroll EMS, Wanda Garner, Catherine Jones, Tiffany Swan, Stephanie Harris, Jennifer Evans, Jennifer Newton, Brandy Tullos, Gwen Davenport, Loe Dunn, Boo Robinson, Cathy Ingram, Linda Shores, the Rev. and Mrs. Billy Ray Smith, Stacy Christmas, Tommy Little, Cindy Burlew, Ora Evans, the Rev. Jim Ingram, the Rev. Chad Ballard, the Rev. Jeff May, First Baptist Church, First Assembly of God, Bonita Road Baptist Church, Trinity Assembly, Direct Relief International, Centene Corporation, Specialty Pharmacy, Pearce Pharmacy and the Louisiana Primary Care Association.
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