October 19, 2007 West Jefferson Medicaid Reopens at Original Site

NEW ORLEANS, Oct 19, 2007 - The West Jefferson Medicaid Office reopened this week on the fourth floor of the state office building at 2150 West Bank Expressway in Harvey. This is the same address, but on a different floor, as where the Medicaid office operated from before Hurricane Katrina.

The reopening of the Harvey office completes Medicaid’s full return to the New Orleans region with many post-Katrina operational improvements. For the past two years, the Medicaid office had been located in the city of New Orleans. However, officials believe returning to the Harvey location ensures easier access for West Bank residents to Medicaid and other state-sponsored services.

Despite the Medicaid office on the West Bank being out of service since Katrina, residents in the area have had continuous access to services.  West Jefferson Medicaid staffers, many of whom lost everything in the storm, were among the first to return to the area and establish off-site work locations in order to provide easy access to assistance for residents.

“Churches and community organizations with relatively undamaged building coordinated outreach efforts in the first days and months following Katrina by generously offering space and resources to Medicaid personnel,” said Don Gregory, Medicaid Field Operations Director.  “But the largest challenge, by far, has been to reconnect with clients.”

Gregory also credited technology, combined with assistance from state Medicaid staff, for allowing Medicaid offices to set up almost immediately on both the east and west banks of Jefferson Parish, as well as in Orleans and St. Bernard.

To reach the Harvey office by phone, call (504) 361-6973 or call the Medicaid hotline at (888) 342-6207.