BATON ROUGE, La. — As the state capital's largest public health hospital, the Earl K. Long Medical Center routinely accepted people other institutions didn't like to, or simply wouldn't. But immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck, the hospital, critically short of staff, began turning away desperate New Orleans evacuees who not only couldn't pay but who had just lost everything.
The hospital, whose mission it is to care for those whom no one else does, was forced to close to new patients. Amid the scramble and chaos, hospital officials weren't sure how many were refused aid.
Then the California nurses came.
The first wave of about 30 volunteers landed within four days of the disaster, immediately helping the medical center to almost double its patient load. The nurses, from across California, rapidly integrated into the overburdened facility, relieving weary local nurses and expanding overall levels of care in all parts of the hospital.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...la-home-nation
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Amen to those who have helped!
