September 27, 2005
Dana-Farber offers care to Katrina evacuees and region
Louisiana native Theresa Billiot (right) evacuated the New Orleans area with her daughter, Janise
Although Hurricane Katrina took its toll far from New England, Dana-Farber has felt its effects — from caring for displaced evacuees and continuing clinical trials for displaced patients to informing evacuees of job opportunities here.
Theresa Billiot is one of a handful of patients from the devastated region who has sought care at Dana-Farber. A petite, soft-spoken 53-year-old Louisiana native, she has been receiving treatment for lung cancer here since Sept. 2. Along with her husband, two grown daughters, and four grandchildren, Billiot evacuated her hometown of Port Sulphur — 75 miles southeast of New Orleans — two days before the eye of the storm slammed into the Gulf coastal area.
"When they went through town and said everyone needs to leave, we did," says Theresa, whose daughters Janise and Brandi — both now Massachusetts residents — had gone home to help their mother. "We each took one suitcase."
The Billiots traveled to Baton Rouge, where they stayed in a hotel with no electricity for a few days. Then Brandi, who lives in Watertown, contacted her employer, Starbucks. The company flew Theresa, Brandi, and Brandi's two children up to Boston, while Janise drove up with her two kids. As soon as the family reached town, Theresa came to Dana-Farber to continue the treatment she had started in Louisiana.
"They [Dana-Farber] started the ball rolling right away," says Janise, whose mother is under the care of Michael Rabin, MD. "It's amazing and great how fast things have happened for her." Adds Theresa, "Everybody has been wonderful. I'd like to give special thanks to Starbucks and the hospital. And people are still trying to donate — it's unbelievable."
The Billiots have been in contact with relatives in Louisiana. While no one in their family was injured, they have learned that Theresa lost the house she has lived in for 21 years. "The river has it or the Gulf of Mexico has it," she says solemnly. "It's heartbreaking. There are just no words to describe it."
She does, however, plan to return to Louisiana after she completes her treatment in late October. "In the future, I will return," she vows. "Just in another location."
Staff, departments reach out to victims
There are several other ways Dana-Farber is aiding those impacted by Katrina.
Clinical trial assistance
For many years, Dana-Farber has collaborated with institutions in New Orleans, including the Oschner Clinic and Tulane University, in conducting clinical trials for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). When a pediatric oncology clinic in Baton Rouge began receiving displaced patients on these protocols, they contacted DFCI's Lewis Silverman, MD, principal investigator for the trials.
"Their effort was truly heroic," says Silverman. "Not only did they have to accommodate a large number of patients, they had to do so without the benefit of medical records. So they often didn't know what protocol a patient was on, which week of treatment they were in, or relevant information about their side effects."
Silverman was able to provide the clinic with Dana-Farber's protocols and answer ensuing questions. He also guided patients seeking treatment to their oncologist Marshall Schorin, MD, a longtime Dana-Farber collaborator based at the Tulane Hospital for Children, once he was established in Baton Rouge.
"I wish I could have done more," says Silverman, of Pediatric Oncology. "I am tremendously impressed by the daunting task faced by the staff in Baton Rouge, and their commitment to providing care for these children under the most difficult of circumstances."
Space for displaced medical colleagues
Dana-Farber has offered opportunities for displaced graduate students to perform rotations or perform thesis work with relevant mentors; space for displaced postdoctoral fellows who can transfer their fellowship support to continue their training; and a limited amount of space for displaced senior investigators who can transfer their support here to continue their work on a "sabbatical" basis until their home institutions are rebuilt.
"These offers have been posted on Web sites designed for disseminating this information by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Association for the Advancement of Cancer Research," says Chief Scientific Officer Barrett Rollins, MD, PhD, of the Executive Committee for Research. "So far, we have had no requests."
Collections
Dana-Farber is also working to help other hurricane victims still in the Gulf Coast region. Departments are pooling their resources to collect clothing, towels, and baby-care items to send south.
Martha McNally, a manager in Information Services, along with Carolyn Reilly and Sarah Cohen, organized a donation drive within IS and the Communications Department that collected toiletries, school supplies, and adult and children's clothing. On Sept. 16, their department mailed a 220-pound shipment to a shelter in the Baton Rouge area.
"We have several staff members whose family or friends have been affected by the storm, so this is the least we can do," says McNally. "Within each care package we placed a 'well wishes' card, a flyer that each of the people who donated something signed. We've been told the flyers have been posted in the shelter, and have received plenty of welcome comments." McNally says the departments plan to mail a second shipment of supplies soon.
Job Fair
Human Resources is pitching in to help hurricane victims as well, but is doing it their way — through recruitment. On Sept. 21, HR representatives Beth Dean and Faye Holmes traveled to Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod to attend a job fair held for New Orleans evacuees living there. Dean says that although the majority of evacuees are concentrating their efforts on getting home, she's happy that she and Holmes attended the job fair.
"We're glad we attended and represented Dana-Farber," says Dean. She added that HR will represent Dana-Farber at another job fair in the near future for the other 600 Hurricane Katrina evacuees currently residing in Massachusetts.
