EDITOR'S NOTE: Lest we forget, at about 8 a.m. on what would be a fateful Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005, with thousands of flood victims beginning to fill the Superdome, Children's Hospital President and CEO Steve Worley turned out the lights at his facility, closing it for the first time in its 50-year history. Brian T. Landry, vice president of marketing for Children's Hospital, was there, and he reports for RACMonitorEnews then and now in his own words.

Hurricane Katrina arrived Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 and it packed a wallop.

It was a scary experience for our patients, their families and the 300 employees and medical staff members who rode out the storm. Fortunately, the hospital came through the experience with little more than a scratch. We survived the hurricane with very little damage, but it soon became apparent that we could not overcome the loss of vital city services such as clean water, sewage removal, electricity and police protection. On Wednesday morning, two days after the hurricane struck, we announced that the hospital would be evacuated.

We owe an incredible amount of gratitude to so many of our children's hospitals across the country for helping us make it through that experience. The call went out for assistance, and the response was overwhelming. A total evacuation of 100 patients and their families was completed in less than 24 hours. This included 21 critically ill pediatric patients and 26 critically ill newborns. Mercy Children's Hospital in Kansas City arranged for two C-130 transport planes, including a medical team sent in another plane, to safely airlift 30 of our patients and their families. Texas Children's Hospital in Houston sent two fixed-wing aircraft and shuttled patients to their hospital as well as other children's hospitals. Miami Children's Hospital, Arkansas Children's Hospital and Cook County Children's Hospital in Chicago sent helicopters. LeBonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis and Children's Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham also stood ready to help and many other children's hospitals around the country and in Canada called to see if they could help. There was also vital support provided by Louisiana hospitals including Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Woman's Hospital, Lafayette General Hospital, and Women's and Children's Hospital.

Lights Off, Doors Locked

By 8 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 1, for the first time in the 50-year history of Children's Hospital, we were closed. We had placed the last two PICU patients on a helicopter flight to Houston, where Texas Children's Hospital was waiting for them. Our president and CEO, Steve Worley, turned out the lights and locked the front door. You can only imagine the magnitude of the uncertainty that lay ahead. There were so many more questions than answers. One thing we did know, however, was that ALL our patients were safe and in good hands.

Up and Running

Children's Hospital was closed from Sept. 1 until Oct. 10, when we immediately resumed providing the same medical and surgical services as we had before.

Before the hurricane, the hospital had more than 1,600 employees. Although everyone was called back to work after the storm, only two-thirds returned. By December 2006, we had more than 1,390 employees, but were experiencing shortages in many positions. In 2006 and 2007 the hospital had to rely on many agency nurses, which increased our monthly payroll expenses by approximately $750,000. It wasn't until the middle of 2009 that the hospital's dependence on agency nurses was all but eliminated. Real estate shortages, the economy and environmental issues were but a few of the recruiting challenges we faced in those initial post-Katrina years.

Despite a tremendous loss of adult specialists in the community, Children's Hospital lost less than five percent of its pediatric sub-specialists immediately after the hurricane. Success in retaining these physicians was a result of mutual commitments made between the hospital and the sub-specialists to ensure continued availability of care for our region's children.

Children's Hospital worked industriously with the medical community to help preserve all aspects of pediatric care, education and research. As the years have passed, improvements, purchases and expansions have taken place. Many are outlined below.

1.      Immediately following the storm we allowed displaced private pediatricians to schedule and see patients in our outpatient specialty clinics.

2.      Three of our five "Kids First" primary-care clinics were destroyed by the storm. These clinics were strategically located to provide primary care to the underserved population of the city. All three have been restored (Louisa, Canal and Mid City), one underwent an expansion (Prytania) and two new Kids First clinics (Metairie and N.O. East) have been opened.

3.      Because of the closure of Charity Hospital, a teaching institution for the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC), Children's Hospital assumed additional pediatric residency training responsibilities.

4.      To assist LSUHSC, which sustained significant damage from Hurricane Katrina, Children's Hospital increased its financial support for LSUHSC's own pediatric faculty.