After Hurricane Katrina closed Charity Hospital, thousands of people did not know what to do for medical care. Now the same thing is happening after Hurricane Gustav in the Houma area.

Gustav has caused more problems than debris to clean up for the Werners in Wallace on the West Bank of St. John Parish.

Forty-five year old Jonathan, a former sheriff's deputy, is an industrial construction worker. He goes from job to job and on a normal day he does a lot of heavy lifting, like pipes weighing up to 100 pounds. But now he can't.

“I can't lift anything heavier than 35 pounds and I was told that at any time because of my condition I could completely have 100 percent rupture which would require emergency care," says Jonathan Werner. 

He has a hernia. His daughter, who is studying to be a nurse, explains to him that part of the intestines is poking through the abdominal wall. It's painful but even more painful to the household finances. He has no insurance, can't get unemployment, his wife can't work because of a medical condition and he can not get hired on a job site until the hernia is fixed.

“All I really want and the only thing that's really holding me up is if I could get this surgery and recover I could get back to work and I really don't want to depend on no one or the system. I'm just the type of person I want to work for what I get and that's what I'm hoping for," he says. 

Jonathan was supposed to have his pre-op appointment today with a surgeon at Chabert Medical Center. That's the public hospital in Houma and part of the LSU Charity system. In June of 2006, we saw with our cameras just how crucial Chabert is to the people of the Houma area. Out-patient clinic volume is one of the largest in the state. Twelve thousand to 15,000 people come to the clinics each month, many displaced from Katrina. But now because of roof, water and elevator damage from Gustav, it's closed.

"Having these clinics down is a big imposition for a lot a lot of people so that's why we are trying very desperately to get all these services up and running," says Chabert Medical Center CEO, Rhonda Green. 

Here's where things stand for Chabert:

A temporary roof is on and by Monday they hope 2 elevators will be running as required for in patient care.

A DMAT, or tent medical clinic, from Oregon is open near the hospital as a walk in clinic from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The medical clinic for walk-in patients is open on the hospital site from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The ER and specialty clinics such as orthopedics and urology should be open on the first floor by Friday or Monday.

OB-GYN and chemo clinics are open now.

Oncology opens Wednesday, and ambulances are on site now.

"If anyone shows up that is too sick for us to care for at our walk-in clinic we will transfer them to tertiary care facility," says Ms. Green. 

The other state public hospitals are also helping out with patients. University Hospital in New Orleans is donating two modular clinic buildings that will soon be set up at the Winn Dixie on Prospect St. in Houma. And good news for Jonathan, medical workers hope to schedule him soon at another hospital.

To reschedule your medical care or surgery call 1-985-873-5130. There is a phone bank of nurses who can help.