Ascension's Daughters of Charity Health Centers of New Orleans has entered into a collaborative agreement with the Honduran Consulate, St. Gabriel Health Clinic in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, and Jefferson Community Health Care Centers in Marrero, Louisiana, to help increase access to healthcare for South Louisiana's growing Hispanic community.
"Our health centers treated 31,000 patients in 2014, and 17 percent of that patient population was of Hispanic descent," said Michael G. Griffin, President & CEO, Daughters of Charity Health Centers New Orleans. "Our agreement with the Honduran Consulate and other non-profit clinics will help meet the needs of South Louisiana's growing Hispanic community.
New Orleans is becoming a hub for Central American migration. According to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from Census 2000 and Population Estimates 2013, as of July 2013 there were 103,061 Hispanics in the New Orleans metro area representing 8.3 percent of the metro population, up from 58,545 or 4.4 percent in 2000. As of July 2013, the largest Hispanic group in the New Orleans metro was Honduran, representing 25 percent of the Hispanic population, up from 14 percent in 2000.
The collaborative agreement will steer those registered with the Honduran Consulate toward a network of healthcare providers in the region that could help them get the care they need when they may be discouraged to do so because of language and cultural barriers.
"This new collaboration aligns perfectly with our mission of addressing community health disparities that has been central to the work of Daughters of Charity in New Orleans for over 180 years," Griffin said.
The New Orleans metropolitan area now has access to eight Daughters of Charity Health Centers, providing convenient and affordable access to primary care, pediatric care, pharmacy services, behavioral health, dental, eye care, WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), prenatal care and Medicaid enrollment. For more information about the Daughters of Charity Health Centers, visit www.dchcno.org.
