ABOUT THE FACILITY that needs our help...

Daughters of Charity Health Center - Saint Cecilia, New Orleans

 4201 N. Rampart Street, New Orleans (Map)

Hurricane Katrina’s high winds and floods dramatically impacted the medical infrastructure of New Orleans.  Everyone recalls the tense situations reported after Katrina at New Orleans Charity Hospital and Louisiana State University’s Health Sciences Center. In addition, many small neighborhood medical clinics were destroyed by the wind and water. 

Slow progress in restoring services...

As citizens return to local neighborhoods, some functional clinics have been established by utilizing space in former storefronts and churchs. However, the citizens of New Orleans experience continuing problems with access to medical care.

Limited access to medical care...

In a testimony before Congress earlier this month, the Executive Director of the Kaiser Family Foundation noted that “getting health care facilities up and running is one of the public’s highest priorities”.

For full report:  http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7678.pdf

An opportunity to help...

For those attending the ACS Clinical Congress in New Orleans this October, you will have an opportunity to support our colleagues and neighbors in New Orleans  by participating in the establishment of an expanded clinic facility in the historic Bywater neighborhood.

The previous clinic space was a total loss from flooding, and underwent demolition. Saint Cecilia’s Church and rectory were enlisted into service as a clinic space. Now that the neighborhood has returned, the clinic has outgrown this makeshift space. But a good facility is nearby, and the clinic is in the process of  relocating  to the adjacent Saint Cecilia’s school.  Within the church there are 5 exam rooms—moving to the adjacent school will expand that capacity to at least 10 exam rooms. The clinic has seen over 14,000 patients since it opened post-Katrina. The Daughters of Charity have asked for our help in this expansion/relocation process.

This project will be ongoing during the week of Clinical Congress;  however, it is not possible to provide  exact details on how far along they will be in the process.  We will provide updates via this Web site if available.

For those unable to volunteer for a hands-on workday we invite you to visit the online gift registry -  Designate a donation for much needed equipment and supplies for the clinic, or make a general donation in kind to be used where it is most needed.

Quality health care for the citizens of  New Orleans...

Saint Cecilia’s Clinic has been designed as a national “Center of Excellence” (COE) developed and supported in conjunction with local community and academic centers. The COE model emphasizes preventative care, coordination of care and the use of nationally recognized standards of treatment, tailored to the unique needs of each community in collaboration with local care providers. The Daughters of Charity Health Center-St. Cecilia is the fourth community clinic established as a United Health Foundation "Center of Excellence.” ( The other  facilities are located in New York City, Miami FL,  and Washington DC.) 

The goal of a COE facility  is to  provide immediate and sustained access to the best possible health care for people in communities with significant and often unique health care needs.  The Daughters of Charity, a religious order involved in providing medical care to the indigent, is partnering with the Excelth Primary Care Network and the Partnership for Access to Healthcare to operate the clinic

Partners/Supporters of the clinic  include:  Daughters of Charity/Ascension Health, Partnership for Access to Healthcare (PATH), EXCELth, Catholic Charities Archiocese of New Orleans, United Health Care Foundation.

Read more about it: 
CityBusiness Staff Report "New clinic to offers services in Bywater, Louisiana". New Orleans CityBusiness. Aug 21, 2006. FindArticles.com. 24 Jul. 2007.

 

According to the United Health Foundation, the center will provide immediate and sustained access to high quality health care and provide comprehensive health care services to meet the special challenges of existing and returning residents in the Bywater neighborhood and surrounding community.   According to William W. McGuire, MD, UHF Chairman, “We believe the DOC Health Center – St. Cecilia will be a springboard for fostering clinical excellence throughout the region.”

Here is what other political and health care leaders have to say about the DOC Health Center in New Orleans:

“Access to quality health care is a cornerstone for revitalizing our local community.  This DOC Health Center in Bywater is a testimony to the faith and confidence people have in NO and I appreciate their willingness to invest in our City and people by providing access to quality health care for our citizens.”
     —New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin

[The clinic]  “will be a cornerstone of the area’s health care safety net, facilitating the growth and coordination  of other related health and social services.”
     —Michael A. Andry, CEO EXCELth Primary Care Network

“Community-based, integrated quality preventative and clinical care delivery is the future of health in NO.”
     —Clayton Williams, Ex Dir PATH, LPHI

About the surrounding area

Bywater Neighborhood:  a National Historic District

Fast facts:

• It began in the early nineteenth century as a Creole, downriver, suburb of the original City of New Orleans. Settlers included Creoles, "free persons of color", Germans, Irish, and later on Italian immigrants; known as a working neighborhood
• One of New Orleans’ “first neighborhoods”—culturally diverse, home of artists, full of local color
• Located in New Orleans' Ninth Ward (upper)