Linda Henderson is currently living and working at a church shelter in Baton Rouge, while caring for her teenage grandson. She lost her employer-sponsored health insurance after fleeing New Orleans and went without diabetes and cholesterol medications for many months as a result. Now enrolled in Medicaid, Linda is receiving the treatment she needs.

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Michelle Singleton, 37, is self-employed as a tow truck driver and uninsured. Before Hurricane Katrina she relied on Charity Hospital and clinics for care. She is now living in a FEMA hotel in New Orleans and has had no medical care since Katrina struck.

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• Update 07/01/2006: Michelle has dropped out of the system, despite suspicions she was developing new health problems. She is planning to move to a new city.

Dr. James Aiken is an emergency care physician at Charity Hospital. He stayed in New Orleans throughout the storm and heads up the hospital’s temporary emergency facilities. At the time of the interview the unit was operating inside the convention center. It has since moved to an abandoned department store in downtown New Orleans.

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• Update 05/01/2006: Dr. Aiken is now the Director of the trauma stabilization unit at the Elmwood Medical Center.
  

Susan Finamore, 57, is HIV-positive and is on Medicaid and Medicare. Before Hurricane Katrina, Finamore lived in Lazarus House, a long-term care facility specializing in treatment for HIV/AIDS. She fled the city during Katrina but is back in New Orleans now and living with a friend.

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• Update 01/2007: Susan is now living in an apartment in New Orleans though she is uncertain how long she will be able to afford the rent. Susan says her health, generally, is good and that she has found a new AIDS doctor to replace her long-time physician who left the state. Susan says she is experiencing "bad" anxiety attacks that have occurred with more frequency since Hurricane Katrina struck. She sometimes does not see her doctors when she should because of transportation costs.
  
  
• Update 05/01/2006: Susan got pneumonia in March and spent three weeks in the hospital. She now lives in a nursing home, but hopes to find an affordable apartment in New Orleans. She has had access to all the medications she needs.

Video Update June 2006:

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Dawn Pontikakis, 54, is on Medicaid. She left New Orleans for Baton Rouge just before the storm and has been living in a hotel room there. Pontikakis has emotional and physical problems which were left untreated for weeks because she was separated from her doctors.

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• Update 01/2007: Dawn still lives in Baton Rogue. She has re-located once again and is living on her own in a house which, she says, has no electricity because she could not pay her bills. Dawn says her health continues to decline and because of transportation costs she has not seen her physician at Baton Rogue General for "quite a while." Dawn says making co-pays for prescription drugs is difficult so she sometimes does not have all the medication she needs. She is looking for a job but, so far, has not found one.
  
  
• Update 05/01/2006: Dawn recently left the FEMA hotel she had been living in, in Baton Rouge, and is now living on her own there in a rented house. She is still seeing the primary care doctor she found at Baton Rouge General. She has made some attempts to find a job but will not be more aggressive about finding something until her health stabilizes.

Video Update June 2006:

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