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Badtux the Snarky PenguinIn a time of chimpanzees, I was a penguin. Religious fundamentalists are motivated by the sneaking suspicion that someone, somewhere, is having fun -- and that this must be stopped. |
Thursday, September 01, 2005Health care on the ropes in LouisianaOne unheralded issue is what is happening to the state medical system. Louisiana is unique in that it has a state medical care system that guarantees care to all citizens of the state (not *free* care, unless you qualify due to low income, but they won't turn you away because you're uninsured the way the private hospitals will). The jewel of this system was Big Charity in New Orleans, albeit in new digs and with a new name. This was the hospital of last resort in the state hospital system, with the best equipment, the best doctors, the best of everything. If other hospitals in the state system couldn't handle your case, this is where you ended up.And now it's gone. At least for the next few months. New Orleans was not only the commercial heart of Louisiana. It was also the medical care heart of Louisiana. When you had a case that could not be handled by one of the other hospitals in the state, you went to New Orleans (or Houston, if you could travel out-of-state, but many could not). While many of the hospitals are still physically there -- the LSU Medical Center, Tulane Medical Center, Oschner Foundation, etc. -- reality is that they're basically gone, at least for the next few months. This is a state-wide disaster, not just a New Orleans disaster. New Orleans was the heart of Louisiana in more ways than one. The only good news is that New Orleans and Louisiana itself, contrary to the usual case, currently have competent and honest leaders who aren't afraid to make the hard choices. Whether that is enough, given the utter lack of support they've received from the federal government, is yet to be seen. - Badtux the Louisiana Penguin Posted by: BadTux / 9/01/2005 01:39:00 AMComments:Post a Comment<< Home |
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I am a black and white and yellow multicolored penguin making his way as best he can in a world of monochromic monkeys. ArchivesApril 2004 / December 2004 / January 2005 / February 2005 / March 2005 / April 2005 / May 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / September 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / December 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / July 2007 / August 2007 /
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"Keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce." -- Molly Ivins, 1944-2007
"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."
-- Plato
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