Medical Blessing

t began as a tiny medical outpost in eastern New Orleans.

Today the clinic in the 5500 block of Read Boulevard serves thousands of patients and has mushroomed into a collection of modular buildings with eight exam rooms and a room for minor surgery.

In an effort to restore some semblance of the health-care services obliterated by Hurricane Katrina, Operation Blessing, in partnership with the International Medical Alliance, set up the free clinic in April -- and it's thriving.

The 12-by-60-foot mobile home clinic, with a 15-person waiting room, three small exam rooms and a tiny pharmacy, has expanded into a 30-person waiting room, which often is full. It has a larger pharmacy, a mental health counseling room, offices and restrooms, plus a dental center with three exam rooms and an X-ray room.

from the Times Picayune