September 9, 2005

MGHers share personal experiences with Hurricane Katrina's aftermath

While the Hurricane Katrina devastation took place thousands of miles away, this national catastrophe affected many in the Boston area — even right here at the MGH. Many MGH employees have relatives, friends or colleagues who live on the Gulf Coast or who were visiting at the time and were affected directly by this tragedy. Below, a few MGHers share their stories about how Hurricane Katrina affected them and their families:

"Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I absolutely love my hometown. The bumper sticker on my car reads 'New Orleans, proud to call it home.' My family is very blessed. Everyone was able to evacuate and has resources available to them to temporarily begin life somewhere else. Selfishly, I am very happy to have my family with me now. It is a lot easier to deal with everything you see, hear and read about Katrina's devastation when you are surrounded by loved ones. I also am thrilled to be able to open my home in Boston to my parents, hopefully making this situation a little easier on them. This whole experience has been incredibly emotional and almost surreal. But, what I do know is that the spirit of New Orleans is incredibly strong, and I have no doubt the city will find a way to reestablish itself as a place of extreme southern hospitality where all are welcome as long as you promise to listen to a little jazz, wear some Mardi Gras beads, and eat beignets, po-boys and some spicy jambalaya."
— Meg Vitter of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO)

"Last spring my son [Sean] was in the final stages of selecting a medical school. As his search narrowed to Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, we questioned and received many assurances from friends that in spite of being below sea level, history showed that a major hurricane might come near but not hit New Orleans directly. Two weeks ago our concerns became reality as Katrina grew in strength and seemed to zero in on the area. In what we thought was a precautionary step, Tulane closed Aug. 27 and told all the students they had to evacuate their apartments and
the city. Sean and his new friends were all physically safe, and he was able to fly to Boston early last Thursday morning.

Sean arrived with more medical schoolbooks than clothing. He had one bag and his computer. All of the personal items and clothes that he moved to or purchased in New Orleans since arriving earlier in the summer are still there. Their condition is unknown.

Given the devastation that we have witnessed on television, as a father, the relief of personally meeting my son at the plane was intense."
— Jim Heffernan, chief financial officer for the MGPO

"I have several friends who worked in the hospitals there — flooded and functioning for six days without running water, electricity, in non-sterile conditions, hand-bagging ICU patients at times and desperately not knowing when or how evacuation would come. And I complain being post-call. My immediate family is safe having evacuated to Baton Rouge. My grandparents' house was destroyed, and the house I grew up in is flooded. We haven't been able to locate a great aunt who told us she was too old to evacuate and then right before the storm said it was too late. Unfortunately, all this pales in comparison to the loss of most."
— Kelly Vallance, MD, pediatric resident for MassGeneral Hospital for Children