Many New Orleans hospitals flooded during the storm. Now that it looks like the population may become smaller some have announced that they will not be reopening. Charity (sometimes called MCLNO for Medical Center of Louisiana in New Orleans) is the subject of some debate. Will it be demolished? Will the two tier system for health care delivery be restored? What will happen to its Level 1 Trauma Center?

Prior to the storm, hospitals were overbuilt in New Orleans. Utilization was low, under 60%.  Several hospitals had closed and several were teetering. Continuing population loss and shifts to the suburbs had their effects on health care delivery too. A GAO study six months after the storm reports that 1,984 hospital beds are now available in the area vs 4,083 before the storm. By August 2007 2,367 hospital beds are now available.

Recent reports say the storm right-sized the system. In the case of hospitals Orleans Parish was hit hard. Only Touro and Childrens Hospital were spared. Statistically, by limiting our view to Orleans only, the percentage loss makes it look like there is a crisis. Announcements that 80% of the hospital capacity is gone and there are only 200 hospital beds left in New Orleans are sensational and misleading. The hospitals ringing the city in Jefferson and St. Tammany fared much better. Overall about a third of the hospital capacity in the area was shuttered.

Closing Charity and University Hospital had a disproportionate impact on the medical schools and the trauma care facilities in the area. LSU Medical School for doctors and nurses had to relocate. Charity's Level 1 Trauma Care Center (a.k.a. "the gun and knife club"), was reputed to be the best in the nation and remains shutdown. These students, doctors and nurses will be hard to get back.

The Level 1 Trauma center was relocated to Elmwood.