Letter from New Orleans

It's 19 September 2005. We are getting things done in a whole new way, and we're making terrific progress. The same rules don't really exist anymore, hierarchies have broken down, and responsibility goes to people who are willing to work. The local motto is “ask for forgiveness, not permission.” Even the dress code is different. You can't tell who the CEOs are because everyone is wearing jeans.

The city itself is becoming more livable each day. The storm damaged trees, billboards, and anything else that served as a good sail, but in the areas that the flood spared, streets are clear and crews are working at a Herculean pace to restore power, sewerage, and other vital systems. Today, Entergy connected our downtown hospital and other buildings to emergency-level power. Crews can now get in and clean effectively.

Connections to the outside world are still limited. The only reliable media source is radio station WWL870 AM, with 90% of people tuned in. In some outlying areas, newspaper and mail delivery is starting slowly. Cellular and other telephone service is improving daily, but dropped calls, redialing, and recorded messages of “all circuits are busy” are routine. Most of us walk around with 2 cellular telephones, 1 with an out-of-state area code. Internet access is spotty but invaluable.

Those of us at Tulane University are focusing on rebuilding our city and its health care infrastructure. The opportunity to develop health care services and medical education from the ground up is, literally, energizing. Since the first week of September, I have been involved in the complex and rewarding process of jump-starting our university, medical school, training programs, and clinical care …