When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the gulf coast on August 29, 2005, it unleashed
a series of catastrophic levee breakages that led to widespread, devastating flooding
in the major metropolitan area of New Orleans. The health sector was completely disrupted
across the continuum of care from primary care services to quaternary care. Most hospitals
and other facilities including the academic medical centers were initially closed
and operations temporarily relocated or reconfigured.
1.
,
2.
Further, the largest health care workforce efflux in United States history occurred,
including the acute loss of thousands of physicians, a third of which were primary
care providers.
3.
KEY INDEXING TERMS
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
May 27,
2008
Received:
May 22,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
