NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Unfortunately, Louisiana lands at the bottom of most health-related surveys. Now, a company founded by a former state health director is working to change outcomes of many of our most vulnerable residents.
A local woman who lived through a challenging health scare is Casme Barnes Carter. “I experienced somewhat of a horrific child birthing experience. But I was denied home health, which is what I really needed because I was hardly able to hold my daughter. I was in pain. I was on a walker. I had to take so much medicine. I had wounds, and just things that I needed help with.”
Even the expansion of Medicaid coverage for thousands of Louisianans has exposed some of the gaps in healthcare.
Dr. Rebekah Gee is the former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, under who’s watch Medicaid was expanded.
According to Gee, “I’m a mom of five. Raised kids, know how hard it is to get them healthcare, get them behavioral health, get them to the doctor, get me to the doctor, get my husband to the doctor. What I learned in that role was if you’re low income, or you don’t have transportation, or you don’t have time off from work, or you don’t have time off it’s impossible to get to the doctor.”
Once leaving the state office, Gee founded Nest Health to address issues preventing people from receiving adequate healthcare.
“Even with my own kids, try to get five kids an appointment on the same day. We have a family of 14 right now at Nest. What we do at Nest is we provide primary care to the whole family at home, and so we’re getting around those barriers of transportation. We’re getting around those barriers of not being able to get an appointment on the same day,” said Gee.
Carter is now a client and spoke about why the service has been helpful. “The ability to have healthcare come to the home means comfort. It means peace. It means there’s no waiting in long lines in the freezing cold hospital. It means if you need to grab a snack for the baby because the baby’s getting hungry or whining or crying, you’re in to comfort of your own home.”
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