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GAO-06-576R 1 (2006-03-28)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptatia0001 and id is 1 raw text is: i Gi Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 March 28, 2006 Congressional Committees Subject: Hurricane Katrina: Status of the Health Care System in New Orleans and Difficult Decisions Related to Efforts to Rebuild It Approximately 6 Months After Hurricane Katrina Among the challenges facing New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is the significant destruction and disruption of health care services. Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall near the Louisiana-Mississippi border on the morning of August 29, 2005, and the subsequent flooding caused by the failure of the New Orleans levee system resulted in one of the largest natural disasters to hit the U.S. Among other things, the hurricane resulted in the sudden closure of hospitals and loss of other health care providers, including one of the largest hospitals in the area, Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans (MCLNO), which suffered extensive damage and remains closed. MCLNO, consisting of Charity and University Hospitals, is part of the statewide Louisiana State University (LSU) system and served as the primary safety net hospital for many local residents. About half of its patients were uninsured, and about one-third were covered by Medicaid. Furthermore, MCLNO also served as a major teaching hospital and the only Level I trauma center in the area. The availability of health care services is one of the factors that can affect whether and how quickly residents return to the area. We have undertaken work to provide a snapshot of the status of the health system in New Orleans and efforts to rebuild it approximately 6 months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. We are performing this work under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative.' To conduct our review, we obtained information on (1) estimates of the availability of health care services; (2) efforts by state and local officials to plan for the rebuilding of the health care system; and (3) assessments of the damage to the MCLNO facilities, cost estimates for repair or replacement, and the costs that are eligible for federal funding. The Ranking Minority Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and its subcommittees on Health and on Oversight and Investigations requested a briefing on the preliminary observations of our review. We briefed the committee and other committees of jurisdiction on February 15 and 16, 2006. In addition, Comptroller General David Walker's testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on March 8, 2006, discussed the significant damage to the health care infrastructure in New Orleans. This report documents the information presented in those briefings and testimony. GAO-06-576R Status of the Health Care System in New Orleans 'See 31 U.S.C. § 717(b)(1).

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