Health & Wellness: Blog of New Orleans, Gambit

Blood drive Wednesday for victims of Mother's Day shooting

Kevin Allman — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:00 -0500

The New Orleans Musicians' Clinic has finalized plans for a blood drive in response to the Mother's Day shootings that injured 19 people in the 7th Ward.

The blood drive will be held Wed., May 22 from 3 to 9 p.m. at 617 Frenchmen St. (the site of the Frenchmen Art Market).…

ReFresh Project breaks ground on Broad Street

Alex Woodward — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:25:00 -0500

Developers and public officials broke ground on the 60,000 square-foot ReFresh Project, anchored by a Whole Foods Market, on Broad and Bienville streets in Mid-City. The development, spearheaded by L+M Development Partners and Broad Community Connections, takes over the former Schweggman's site, which has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures in 2005.…

Trojan to distribute free vibrators in New Orleans on May 3

Lauren LaBorde — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:39:00 -0500

First there were food trucks, and now another mobile vendor rolls to town — and they're not offering expensive fries or grilled cheese sandwiches. Condom purveyor Trojan is coming (sorry) to New Orleans on May 3 to distribute free vibrators.…

Legislation would allow Children's to purchase shuttered NOAH property

Charles Maldonado — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:35:22 -0500

A newly amended state House bill, advanced by the state House Natural Resources Committee today, would allow Children's Hospital to purchase the shuttered New Orleans Adolescent Hospital for $29 million. Children's agreed to lease the property in January but balked at the terms of the agreement, which required that it reopen NOAH as a child and adolescent psychiatric hospital.…

Children's Hospital reps say reopening NOAH for mental health would be too expensive [Updated]

Charles Maldonado — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:31:54 -0500

Originally published 11:15 a.m. Updated with responses from Rep. Neil Abramson 3:30 p.m.

Children's Hospital is still interested in purchasing the shuttered New Orleans Adolescent Hospital (NOAH), but meeting demands that it be used only for psychiatric services — as mandated by a law passed last year — would be too expensive, Children's spokesman Brian Landry told the New Orleans City Council today. Landry's appearance before the City Council was a rebuttal to state Rep. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, who announced last month that Children's had signed a lease for the NOAH property.…

Abramson bill gives hospital lease to Ochsner if Children's won't reopen

Charles Maldonado — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:26:00 -0500

State Rep. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, filed legislation today that would allow the state to lease New Orleans Adolescent Hospital (NOAH) to Ochsner Health Systems in June should Children's Hospital does not agree to reopen NOAH for child and adolescent mental health services.

The bill follows last week's dispute after the lawmaker announced to the New Orleans City Council that Children's signed a lease and agreed to reopen the hospital, which Children's denied.…

Children's Hospital agrees to reopen New Orleans Adolescent Hospital (Update: Maybe not)

Charles Maldonado — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:22:37 -0500

Update (4 p.m.): Laura Maggi reports in The Times-Picayune that Children's Hospital this afternoon issued a statement saying it is in fact not planning on reopening the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital.

From the story:

"We articulated the hospital's position that relocating mental health services from the Calhoun campus to the deteriorated NOAH campus would not be economically feasible.…
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NFL players and coaches record public service announcement for Team Gleason

Kevin Allman — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:41:05 -0600

Drew Brees, Lance Moore, Thomas Morstead, Jon Vilma and other New Orleans Saints players are among those in this new public service announcement for Team Gleason and the fight against ALS.

It's a great spot, and one entirely appropriate for Super Bowl week.…

Circle Food Store to reopen summer 2013

Alex Woodward — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:05:00 -0600

Raindrops filled a few puddles inside the shell of Circle Food Store, the iconic domed Treme grocery store and community space, which has stood empty since the 2005 floods when 5 feet of water filled the landmark. It first opened in 1939 as the first African-American-owned grocery store in New Orleans.…

Photos: Groundbreaking ceremony for New Orleans East Hospital

Charles Maldonado — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:53:55 -0600

The city broke ground today on the $130 million New Orleans Hospital at 5620 Read Blvd., the site of Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital. Methodist was damaged in 2005 resulting from Hurricane Katrina and the federal floods and has since been closed.…

Steve Gleason receives bike for Ride 2 Recovery

Alex Woodward — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:18:00 -0600

Saints safety Steve Gleason was surprised this morning with a custom-made, two-seater recumbent bike — and within a few minutes of seeing it in his driveway, he suited up for a ride in Lakeview. Gleason, who battles ALS (or Lou Gehrig's disease), will plan to train on the bike to ride in the Ride 2 Recovery Gulf Coast Challenge, a more than 400 mile ride that begins in New Orleans and ends in Florida.…

Closing Hainkel Home?

Jeremy Alford — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:17:00 -0600

After being chartered in 1891 and opened to the public four years later, the institution on the corner of Henry Clay Avenue and Patton Street in Uptown New Orleans quickly became the kind of place where baskets containing babies would be left on the doorstep in the dead of night.

Over time, it offered refuge to not only abandoned babies but also to individuals afflicted with terminal illnesses.…

Fact-check: Sen. Jack Donahue at last night's meeting on Southeast Louisiana Hospital

Charles Maldonado — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:20:32 -0500

The Committee to Save Southeast Louisiana Hospital held another meeting last night at the Mandeville Community Center. At the meeting, State Sen. Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, said he supports Rep. Jerome "Dee" Richard's call for a special legislative session on Gov. Jindal's recent cuts to health care.…

Did anyone else notice Frank Opelka using a Machiavelli quote in his presentation on the LSU hospital cuts?

Charles Maldonado — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:11:50 -0500

(Note: This is an extended version of a section we cut from an early draft of this week's cover story on Southeast Louisiana Hospital.)

I found the choice of a quote from Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince a little strange given the context.…

Y@ Speak: The boil-your-water bye week

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:02:00 -0500

PLEASE let boiled H2O cool before drinking. If water tastes flat, pour in a clean bottle and shake.…
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Boil water advisory for East Bank of Orleans Parish

Charles Maldonado — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:20:16 -0500

City of New Orleans press release:

PRECAUTIONARY BOIL WATER ADVISORY ISSUED FOR THE EAST BANK OF ORLEANS PARISH

NEW ORLEANS, LA—Sewerage and Water Board and the state Department of Health and Hospital officials are warning the residents of the East Bank of Orleans Parish not to drink, make ice from, brush teeth, bathe or shower, prepare or rinse food with tap water unless it has been properly disinfected until further notice.

A momentary loss of 25-cycle power at about 8:30 a.m. at the main water plant brought water pressure to low levels throughout the eastbank of the city.…
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Long-term oil disaster study still seeks participants

Alex Woodward — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:35:17 -0500

Since it began its data collection in March 2011, the Gulf Long-Term Follow-Up (GuLF) study — a $25 million, 10-year project under the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — has gathered more than 29,000 participants to study the health implications of handling (and exposure to) oil, dispersants and other chemicals in the cleanup operations following the BP oil disaster.

The study closes its enrollment period at the end of year, on Dec. 31, and cleanup workers, rig workers, or people who received cleanup training or were assigned to the Gulf following the disaster are all encouraged to participate to help "get a full picture of what happened during oil spill and understand how it affected people’s health," said Dr. Dale Sandler, who heads the study.…

Slow Food plans to restart in New Orleans

Ian McNulty — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:43:12 -0500

Long before the lexicon of local foods was commonplace, the international movement called Slow Food was encouraging people to reconnect with authentic regional flavors and food traditions. Launched in Italy in 1986, it came in response to the rise of fast food and industrialized food in Europe and it grew with chapters across the world.…

Paul Ryan gets less-than-warm reaction at AARP conference in New Orleans

Kevin Allman — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:02:37 -0500

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is having its Life@50+ convention in New Orleans through tomorrow. That voting bloc is catnip to any political candidate, particularly during a presidential election.…

Family Research Council head Tony Perkins: "I think that Todd Akin is getting a really bad break here"

Kevin Allman — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:46:50 -0500

Since yesterday, when Missouri Rep. Todd Akin's remark about "legitimate rape" and miscarriages caused a firestorm, many fellow Republicans have distanced themselves from Akin, and some have outright condemned his statement. Akin, who is leading in a Missouri Senate race against Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill, was even told to step down by GOP senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Scott Brown of Massachusetts.…

Louisiana: still fat (but not as fat as Mississippi)

Alex Woodward — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Every week we look forward to— as a city, as a state, as a shared consciousness — the latest online list of horrible, awful things, things we hope (or fear) New Orleans or Louisiana does best. Whether it's the sexiest college campus (congrats, LSU), one of the best cities for "hipsters" (lame, Travel + Leisure) or food trucks (thanks Taceaux Loceaux).…

Iconic Circle Food Store receives $1 million loan

Alex Woodward — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:30:00 -0500

Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced a $1 million loan from the Fresh Food Retailer Initiative (FFRI) to the Circle Food Store, the historic property at the corner of North Claiborne and St. Bernard avenues.

According to a statement from Landrieu's office, the total renovation costs to re-open are $9.2 million — the $1 million loan has a forgivable amount of $500,000, and will allow the store to begin its re-opening process.…

HIV rates in the South the subject of Dan Rather program

Alex Woodward — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:47:00 -0500

In this week's Gambit, I look at women's health organization Women with a Vision as it recovers from an arson at its office in Mid-City.

One of Women with a Vision's primary focuses is HIV education and prevention, and its executive director Deon Haywood is a guest at this year's International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.…

Pink Ribbon, Inc, explores the money and politics of the fight against breast cancer

Will Coviello — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:47:36 -0500

As the trailer above details, the first breast cancer ribbon wasn’t pink. It was salmon colored.…

Y@ Speak: Health care, Hornets and confetti guns

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:04:00 -0500

This week the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate portion of President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and America has officially gone the way of Europe. I'm currently writing this from a park where I'm enjoying a baguette and Brie to celebrate the completion of my grueling two-hour work day.…