Ochsner Health is offering free urgent care telemedicine visits via Ochsner Anywhere Care to Lake Charles and its area residents who have been displaced due to Hurricane Laura. Impacted individuals can visit with a doctor on their phone, tablet, or computer 24/7 by using the code LAURARELIEF. Free, same-day prescription delivery may also be available in select areas, located within 20 miles of an Ochsner Pharmacy.
Hurricane Laura hit Lake Charles, Louisiana in the early hours of Aug. 27 as a strong category 4 storm – the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the state in more than 150 years. More than 1.5 million people in Louisiana and Texas were under evacuation orders prior to the storm’s arrival. It’s estimated that power and water restoration in the affected areas could take four-six weeks.
Ochsner facilities have welcomed 48 adult and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) patients from Lake Charles hospitals, including CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital and CHRISTUS Ochsner Lake Area Hospital. Ochsner’s Flight Care team worked around-the-clock for 48 hours to quickly transfer the area’s highest acuity patients via air and ground transport. Displaced Lake Charles-based Ochsner employees have also been given the opportunity to work in other facilities whose operations have not been impacted by the storm. This past Saturday, Ochsner delivered an 18-wheeler full of supplies to CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital to help kickstart recovery efforts.
“Our organization understands the challenges that come with rebuilding following a natural disaster and our hearts go out to all those impacted by Hurricane Laura,” said Robert Hart, MD, chief medical officer, Ochsner Health. “As our community continues to feel the impact of COVID-19, we want to remove barriers that may prevent people from receiving critical healthcare services. We hope that free telemedicine visits can help our neighbors from Southwest Louisiana as they recover and rebuild.”
How Virtual Visits Work
Launched in November of 2018, Ochsner Anywhere Care is a virtual visit platform in which patients can instantly connect with board-certified family medicine, internal medicine and pediatric physicians and advanced practice providers for secure, live, on-demand video visits via their smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. It’s an integrated and streamlined experience delivered through a free Ochsner Anywhere Care mobile app on iOS or Android or online through a computer at www.ochsner.org/ochsner-anywhere-care.
Ochsner Anywhere Care is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The visit is free to Lake Charles-area residents with the code LAURARELIEF. Other individuals interested using the platform can receive a visit for a discounted rate of $10.