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| EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 10 A.M. (CT), THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2007 Media Advisory: To contact James J. James, MD, DrPH, MHA, call Melissa Smith at 312/464-4443 Sizable Proportion of Gulf Coast Physicians Displaced Following Hurricane Katrina CHICAGO – About one fourth of the physicians who left the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were still gone six months later, and some displaced physicians had no plans to return, according to a study in the inaugural issue of the AMA journal, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. The storm and subsequent flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi were blamed for at least 1,808 deaths and over $100 billion in damage. More than 1.5 million people were evacuated. By autumn 2005, nearly 6,000 physicians had been displaced from the Gulf region, including 4,486 from three New Orleans parishes. Only three of nine hospitals in Orleans parish had reopened by February 2006, according to background information in the article. Kusuma Madamala, PhD, MPH of the American Medical Association’s Center for Public Health Preparedness and Disaster Response, and colleagues conducted a descriptive Internet-based survey during the spring of 2006 to investigate physician demographics and relocation patterns following Hurricane Katrina. Survey participants were selected from an AMA master file of all licensed physicians reporting addresses within Federal Emergency Management Agency-designated disaster zones in Louisiana and Mississippi before August 2005. A total of 312 eligible responses were collected, yielding a 32 percent response rate from the physicians who were contacted. Among the disaster zone respondents, 85.6 percent lived in Louisiana and 14.4 percent lived in Mississippi before the hurricane. “By spring 2006, 75.6 percent (236) of the respondents had returned to their original homes, whereas 24.4 percent (76) reported a different place of residence,” the authors report. “Nearly ten percent remained out of state, with the preponderance of this group indicating that they were either unlikely to or uncertain about returning their original practice,” they continue. At the time of the survey, 40.7 percent of physicians reported that the hospitals with which they were primarily associated were closed. Virtually all the physicians surveyed also reported some level of damage to their homes. “As expected, physicians whose homes were significantly damaged or destroyed were far more likely to be displaced at the time of the survey,” the authors write. “Approximately 24 percent of those still relocated six months after the disaster reported complete destruction of their homes, and nearly 40 percent of this same group reported personal losses greater than $50,000.” One of the highest priorities identified by the respondents was financial assistance to rebuild their practices. “Although the plans elicited from respondents are subject to change based on many factors as the Gulf Coast recovery progresses, programs to address identified physician needs in the aftermath of the storm may give confidence to displaced physicians to return. Additional follow-up assessments may be useful in determining whether the identified patterns of physician relocation persist or change over time,” the authors conclude. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2007;1:21-26). Available pre-embargo to the media by contacting Melissa Smith in AMA Media Relations at 312/464-4443 or melissa.smith{at}ama-assn.org) Editor’s Note: Information contained in this news release is protected by copyright. Journal attribution is required. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc. # # # For more information, contact Melissa Smith, AMA Media Relations Department, at 312/464-4443 or e-mail melissa.smith{at}ama-assn.org |
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