Omaha Hospitals Join Relief taskNU and Creighton Medical Centers Will Take in Critical-Care Patients From Hurricane-Stricken Areas.
Posted on: Saturday, 3 September 2005, 18:00 CDT
Cancer patients who need chemotherapy or radiation. Transplant recipients who lack access to anti-rejection drugs. Patients who require ventilators to sustain life.
At conservative estimates, there are 500 to 700 such patients in hurricane-stricken Louisiana. The actual tally may number in the thousands.
Some of the patients are headed to Nebraska so that Louisiana medical staff can focus on new emergencies. Omaha's two teaching hospitals are part of a national effort begun late Thursday to send such patients to specialized medical centers.
Dr. John Gollan, dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College of Medicine, said Friday that the National Institutes of Health and the Association of American Medical Colleges are coordinating the effort to get critical-care patients out of Louisiana.
Nebraska's first such patient already has arrived -- a transplant recipient who weathered the hurricane with her mother at Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans and was transferred to Texas before flying to Omaha Thursday night.
Nebraska Medical Center transplant surgeon Dr. Wendy Grant said Friday that the patient, a child whom her staff has known for four or more years, is doing well. Grant said a second patient from the hurricane area, a transplant recipient in need of anti-rejection drugs, was coming to Omaha for outpatient care -- hopefully during the weekend.
Grant estimated that the hospital had as many as 50 transplant patients living in hurricane-stricken areas but hasn't been able to contact them.
Gollan said the director of the National Institutes of Health spoke to him and others from the nation's 125 medical colleges. The director asked them to identify their ability to provide specialized care and suggested that patients might be matched to centers with room and appropriate specialists.
It's unclear exactly when UNMC would receive patients. Military aircraft were expected to transport patients as soon as Friday or today.
In addition, the medical college association is coordinating the transfer of New Orleansarea medical students to its member colleges. UNMC officials expect to receive eight to 10 pediatric residents soon and have already accepted two medical students by transfer. Michael Kavan, associate dean for student affairs at Creighton University School of Medicine, said Creighton could accommodate up to 25 medical students.
Gollan said UNMC will await direction from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how it can help with the public health issues -- mental health, environmental health, toxicology - - that are sure to follow the disaster.
He stressed that, although many medical professionals want to help, a coordinated effort is critical.
"If we have lots of do-gooders just getting on the bus," he said, ". . . it may well hinder the effort."
Source: Omaha World - Herald
Related Articles
- More Strict Evaluation On The Use Of Generic Medications In Thoracic Transplantation
- Aurora Health Care Top Quality System in Nation in Medicare, Premier Healthcare Alliance Pay-For-Performance Project
- ALR Technologies Receives FCC License for Their Patient Health Management Compliance System, the Constant Health Companion
- Companion Technologies Adds Web Interface for Medical Patient Statements
- Southeast Nebraska Cancer Center Receives Major Research Funding
- The Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans Is Seeking Information on the Whereabouts of Evacuated LSU Patients
- Banner Health to Shut McKee Holistic Center
- North Texas Cancer Center Provides Medical Care for Cancer Patients Displaced By Hurricane Katrina
- Dalteparin Reduced Venous Thromboembolic Events Without Increased Bleeding in Acutely Ill Medical Patients/COMMENTARY
- Health Services Use of Manitoba First Nations People: Is It Related to Underlying Need?
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds