Ochsner Community Health – Brees Family Center is open for in-person provider visits, but has also partnered with the Ochsner TeleHealth team to help give care virtually.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana, the Ochsner Community Health Brees Family Center at 5950 Bullard Avenue in New Orleans East opened its first connectivity hub, offering residents multiple ways to connect with Ochsner’s healthcare system online as they deal with impacts from the storm. The new connectivity hub at this New Orleans East community health center was specifically designed to support telehealth visits for residents who might not otherwise be able to secure virtual health care because of limited access to the internet, computers, or smartphones.
Since opening in October 2020, the Ochsner Community Health – Brees Family Center has cared for anywhere from 95 to 115 patients a week. Prior to Hurricane Ida, about 12% of visits were virtual. So far in September, that proportion has climbed to nearly 90% of all visits. As more people return to the area following evacuation from Hurricane Ida, Ochsner Health anticipates the need for this connectivity hub to grow further.
“It’s critical now, following a natural disaster, that we remain available to the community and to our patients that we are serving,” said October Ambrose, manager of Clinic Operations of Ochsner Community Health.
In New Orleans, the Ochsner Community Health Brees Family Center is not the only place where Ochsner has increased digital access for residents to get quality healthcare. Ochsner’s O Bar locations, which served as retail locations for interactive health technology like wireless blood pressure monitors and glucometers, are now also live with access to virtual visit technology for patients.
Through the connectivity hub, residents can:
-Get prescription refills;
-Access Ochsner Anywhere Care, a telehealth platform for instant urgent care visits;
-Perform a MyChart virtual visit for existing doctor appointments;
-Create new doctor appointments for services like virtual therapy;
-All Urgent Care Telehealth visits are $0 and the Ochsner Anywhere Care platform is also offering one free virtual therapy visit.
Ochsner currently has four Ochsner O Bar locations, one Ochsner retail pharmacy, and one community clinic live with access to the virtual visit technology. O Bars include Ochsner Primary Care O Bar, 1401 Jefferson Highway in Jefferson; Ochsner Baptist O Bar, 2820 Napoleon Ave. in New Orleans; Ochsner Grove O Bar, 10310 The Grove Blvd. in Baton Rouge; and Ochsner O’Neal O Bar, 16777 Medical Center Dr. in Baton Rouge. The Ochsner retail pharmacy is located at 200 W Esplanade Ave. #106 in Kenner (Telehealth tablet located in consult room), and the Ochsner Community Health Brees Family Center is located at 5950 Bullard Ave. in New Orleans.
Ochsner Health has committed more than $10 million to open and operate the centers, alongside a $5 million gift announced last summer from Brittany and Drew Brees’ Brees Dream Foundation.
Ochsner Community Health Brees Family Center is currently open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.