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Katrina psychologists:
one year later
(October
2006 Issue)
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Last year, New England Psychologist ran a story on the lives of
several psychologists who had lost homes and/or businesses to Hurricane
Katrina. Now, one year later, we've caught up with them to find
out what changes a year has wrought.
Joseph P. Tramontana, Ph.D., lost both the New Orleans home he
grew up in and his office/apartment in Pass Christian, Miss. A year
later, he is living in an apartment in Baton Rouge, where he has
started a new practice and working part-time at the Social Security
Administration Disability Determination Unit.
"It is kind of slow starting in a new city," he says of his practice.
"Right now, I'm seeing probably six to eight patients per week."
His house in New Orleans has been gutted but not rebuilt. People
throughout the neighborhood are waiting for the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) to decide on new regulations. He may rebuild
his office/apartment in Pass Christian with an SBA grant but only
as an investment. He doesn't plan to return to the coast full-time,
although he does visit bi-monthly to see several long-term patients.
Down the coast in Gulfport, Chester Gaston, Ph.D., director of
training and neuropsychology for the Gulf Coast Veterans Health
Care System, had a bit more luck with his home. Located three blocks
from the coast, the house filled with "only" a foot of water. On
the other hand, his office was located a block from the ocean in
the bottom floor of the VA building.
"It was a beautiful, old building," he says. "It is gutted now.
Even right after the storm, you couldn't tell where one room began
and the other ended. There's nothing but support pieces left - no
walls, thousands of files just gone."
Gaston and his wife have repaired much of their home - most of
it at their own expense.
"Wind damage was paid for by the insurance company," he says. "That
worked out to about $9,000. The rest of it ran to about $60,000."
The doctoral training program he heads up for the VA is now located
in Biloxi. After helping staff and clients with basic survival needs
- shelter, food, and clothing - and then with everything from filling
in FEMA paperwork to finding work, they are back on track with training.
The VA has provided funding for six residents and the current crop
has hailed from as far away as Hawaii to take part in the program.
"I don't think it's because of the hurricane that they have come.
The interest in our program is the same. People want training in
particular areas and want the mix that we offer," says Gaston.
The mental health department will not return to Gulfport. The building
has already been donated to the town but its fate remains undetermined.
"On the coast, people say things will not be back to normal for
10 years," he says. "There are still nothing but blank spaces between
Highway 90/Beach Boulevard and the railroad tracks three blocks
up. No one is sure yet about how high above sea level we will need
to go."
One psychologist we tried to reach last year didn't return the
reporter's call...until June of this year. He apologized. His phone
messages didn't get relayed to him, one more problem he has faced
over the past year.
Last August, Fred Sautter, Ph.D., was a tenured professor at Tulane
University, head of Family Mental Health for the Veteran's Administration
in New Orleans and engaged to be married in October.
One year later? Sautter is no longer a professor at Tulane. The
school downsized 180 faculty members in an effort to remain solvent.
He remains with the VA, however, but his October wedding had to
be pushed back to March.
"We got the contractors to clean out one room for the wedding,"
he says of the house he and his fiancée bought before the storm.
"It was quite a scene."
The most amazing part of the recovery, says Sautter, is the time
and energy it has taken to deal with insurance companies. It took
his wife, Kathy, 40 hours per week over nearly six months to track
the paperwork, follow up with claims and finally get the money they
were owed.
"The most difficult thing is watching people not making it," he
adds. "They can't take the anxiety and uncertainty and they leave.
It's heartbreaking. My experience is that people outside of the
city are doing better, dealing with less stress than those who returned
to New Orleans."
Overall, the recovery of the area will take much longer than a
year. From rebuilding the homes and buildings to re-creating the
agencies, hospitals, schools, programs and myriad businesses that
these towns rely on, it will take time and money…and a lot more
people. Getting the people to return may be the most difficult piece.
There often is nowhere for them to return.
In particular, the medical community in New Orleans has taken a
serious hit. In New Orleans, only three out of 10 hospitals are
still open, the region is short nearly 1,000 nurses. Of 364 psych
beds, there are now only 60 left, according to a Boston Globe article.
Nearly 36% of Louisiana Psychological Association members were displaced
after the storm (although the LPA has seen a rise in members since
before the storm - possibly due to more already-licensed psychologists
deciding to join the organization). In Mississippi, the Psychological
Association has seen a drop in membership, from 217 to 149.
"It's an epic struggle," says Sautter. "The survival of the city.
It's a big city but big American cities are not supposed to not
make it."
Of course, when it does finally struggle back to full capacity,
New Orleans will be looking for professionals.
"It will be a great place to be," Sautter says. "There are going
to be lots of great jobs for mental health people."
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