September 28, 2020 LSU, LDH community primary care clinic bridges the gap after Hurricane Laura

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sep 28, 2020 - With many primary care offices in southwestern Louisiana still closed due to damage from Hurricane Laura, the Louisiana Department of Health is partnering with the LSU Family Medicine Residency Program of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital to offer basic services until most clinics can resume operations.

The clinic will be located in the parking lot of the Calcasieu Parish Health Unit, 3236 Kirkman St., Lake Charles. Clinic hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning September 28. Services are offered at no cost, and insurance is not required. No appointments are needed. Services are first come, first served. Please wear a mask when you arrive.

This clinic will be staffed by LSU Family Medicine Residency physicians who will be offering chronic care management and basic care services, including:

• Refilling of medicines for chronic conditions like depression, diabetes, hypertension or thyroid disease,*
• Checking blood pressure and vital signs,
• Basic physical examination, such as looking at rashes, minor injuries, and listening to heart and lungs,
• Basic medical advice,
• Connecting patients to specialists that have resumed services, and
• Ordering of routine labs, X-rays or other imagining to be done at an offsite lab of choice, where standard fees apply.

*This site will not have the ability to perform procedures, X-rays, lab work, COVID-19 testing or vaccines. COVID testing and vaccines for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and tetanus will be available at the testing site across the parking lot. This site also will not have the capability of handling emergencies. For emergencies, residents should call 911.

The LSU Family Medicine Residency Program typically trains new physicians at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. Its outpatient clinic building was left unusable due to damage from Hurricane Laura, but the resident physicians wanted to be a part of recovery and continue to offer services in the region. With Louisianans across the region having difficulty getting in touch with their physicians’ offices for routine care, and resident physicians wanting to fill that void, the program collaborated with the Office of Public Health to bridge the gap through this temporary community primary care clinic. The clinic is not intended to take the place of regular primary care relationships, but will remain open until the need is met.