When Katrina hit several weeks ago, Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge, LA was
designated by the state of Louisiana as the region's facility to care for women
and infants affected by the hurricane. Overnight, inpatient beds, Labor and
Delivery and their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were beyond capacity.
Staff and volunteers began working 24/7 to meet the many needs of their patients. Stories of tremendous courage and extreme sorrow emerged, such as one woman who gave birth to her sixth child, who previously had been trapped in her attic in New Orleans and watched three of her children die. The needs of the hospital grew quickly: patients needed diapers for newborn, underwear and toiletry goods. The hospital needed cash to pay for clothing, burial services, shelter and airline tickets to reconnect patients with family members displaced by the hurricane.
The needs continued, and then Hurricane Rita hit, creating an increased burden on the hospital.
Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge has been a longstanding member of the National Women's Health Resource Center's (NWHRC's) Women's Center Advisory Council. Since Katrina and Rita, the NWHRC has directed cash and in-kind contributions to the hospital to help support the needs of its many patients.
We would like to encourage you to consider a contribution to Woman's Hospital. When you give, you can be assured that your contribution is directly helping the women and infants in the Louisiana region.
You may contribute in one of two ways:
Write a check payable to Woman's Hospital, and mail to Woman's Hospital, PO Box 95009, Baton Rouge, LA 70895-9009. Please note "NWHRC Friend" on your check.
Visit www.womans.org, and click on the Disaster Relief Fund. Follow directions to contribute online.
If you have supplies or other products that you would like to forward to Woman's Hospital, these can be sent to Woman's Hospital, 9050 Airline Highway, Baton Rouge, LA 70815.
By contributing, NWHRC hopes
to help patients pick up the pieces of their lives. We thank you in advance
for your consideration and generosity.
Amy Niles
President and CEO
National Women's Health Resource Center
The Source for Women's Health Information
www.healthywomen.org