Free traveling health clinic will stop in New Orleans on Hurricane Katrina anniversary

If all goes according to plan, as many as 2,000 south Louisiana residents will spend the sixth anniversarygetting a battery of health screenings and consultations as partof one of the most successful traveling free clinics in the country. started the effort in 2009 — targets the uninsured and underinsured, with a special emphasis on anyone who has not received a medical examination recently.
It will mark the third consecutive year that the tour has come to New Orleans, something that has not occurred in any other city. “We just get so much support here, and the need is obviously so great,” spokesman Tom Susman
The clinic will be held Aug. 29 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at theServices include routine physicals; mental health assessments and referrals; strep tests; pregnancy tests; urinalysis to test kidney function; kidney cancer screening; blood analyses for cholesterol, glucose and hemoglobin; and electrocardiogram testing to gauge the heart’s electrical activity. A new offering this year is prescription drugs, with no charge for up to a 90-day supply. Nicole Lamoureux, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based clinics groupis still working on securing ultrasound services. There is no dental or optometry service planned, though Lamoureuxoverall physical assessments will include a check of oral and eye health.
Patients will be referred to clinics where they can continue to receive primary care and other services,There also will be stations to provide information about Medicaid insurance, for which some of the uninsured population, particularly children, might be eligiblePatients wishing to schedule an appointment can do so by calling 1.877.236.7617. Appointments are not required, but organizers plan limited walk-in availability. Volunteer registration is availableAnyone wishing to support the venture financially can dovolunteers are still needed, from medical professionals to anyone willing to help set up or work at registration tables. “We’re excited, but we do need some additional help
The group has made a special call for physicians, doctors of osteopathy, nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, registered nurses, licenses vocational nurses, emergency medical technicians, medical administrators and licensed clinical social workers. Information and
volunteerregistration is available

Lamoureux’s organization launched the national tour amid the congressional debate about health care legislation that would eventually pass in a form intended to expand health insurance coverage by about 30 million Americans. Besides providing care, Lamoureuxmegaclinics are intended to highlight a need that private and government health insurers have not met.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Louisiana has almost 800,000 uninsured residents, about 18 percent of the population. The overwhelmingly majority of those are working-age adults who are not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid.
“We want to show people that this population is not just the chronically unemployed,
but includes members of working households and many who have worked but lost jobs during the recession or sluggish recovery. And, she noted, even the full implementation of the 2010 health care law will leave 20 million or more U.S. residents without health insurance. The New Orleans clinic will get a boost for that platform this yearwho is billed as a co-sponsor. He will attend the clinic and plans to originate his Aug. 29 show from New Orleans.