ABSTRACT
Health disparities that exist among Americans are an indicator of the inequality in health status found among the races in this country. In 1985 US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler released the landmark report on black and minority health drawing national attention to this problem. The child poverty rate for the New Orleans metropolitan statistical area was the highest in the nation in 2005. High rates of poverty and single female heads of households for many women remain consistent throughout the life cycle. African Americans in New Orleans’ poorest communities, renters, and the unemployed were disproportionately impacted by Katrina’s floodwaters. Crippled by significant layoffs and damage to its infrastructure, the New Orleans Health Department is operating only four of its nineteen clinics. The health care workforce, as a major artery of the health care delivery system, continues to hemorrhage.
