New Orleans-area emergency rooms are reporting a spike in the number of flu cases over the past two weeks.The Emergency Department at University Medical Center reported 71 flu cases in January and 107 cases as of Feb. 12.At West Jefferson Medical Center there were 126 flu cases for both adult and pediatric patients in January and 180 cases as of Feb. 10.At Children’s Hospital New Orleans, the emergency department started seeing an uptick in patients coming in with flu-like symptoms starting Jan. 27. Last Monday (Feb. 11) their ER had 275 patients total come in during the day, according to Dr. Toni Gross, the medical director for Children’s Hospital Emergency Department.“While it is not as severe as it was last year, we are not having to admit them into the hospital, this year’s flu is still really prevalent,” she said.The 2017-2018 flu season was the deadliest in nearly a decade. There were about 15,000 hospitalizations last year and 1,600 deaths in from … [Read more...] about New Orleans emergency rooms report sudden spike in flu cases
Childrens hospital new orleans
New Orleans cook who died rescuing man from lakeside canal chosen as Carnegie hero
Frank Williams Jr., the 50-year-old grill cook who died while helping to rescue a stranger from a canal near Lake Pontchartrain, was recently named a Carnegie hero, according to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission website.The prestigious award is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others, the website states. The organization, established in 1904 by Andrew Carnegie, receives about 800 nominations each year.Williams was among 18 people, including 16 Americans and two Canadians, to receive the honor this year. Of those, Williams and two others gave their lives while rescuing other people—Williams while helping a man he did not know.Body of good Samaritan who jumped in water recovered: NOPDThe well-loved cook worked at The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar on Lakeshore Drive and was at the dockside eatery on Dec. 5, 2017, when a car drove into an adjacent canal.Another man … [Read more...] about New Orleans cook who died rescuing man from lakeside canal chosen as Carnegie hero
New Orleans’ next generation isn’t ‘entitled’: We just want a city that works
Sydney is a 17-year-old high school senior from Uptown and a member of NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune’s NOLA Student Voices team.Much like Mardi Gras and watching the Saints on Sundays, boil water advisories are a staple of life in New Orleans. Showering, washing dishes, brushing teeth and cooking dinner -- activities so rudimentary and essential to most people’s lives we complete them absentmindedly -- suddenly require gymnastic flexibility in our plans to accommodate these mandated precautions. What’s more, it is the lowest income communities in the greater New Orleans area that are most frequently impacted by boil water advisories.The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board’s reputation for ineffectiveness is widespread, so much so that its infamy is recognized by even the youngest New Orleanians. We are well aware that those who live in other parts of the country don’t often deal with unusable water (though there are certainly still communities, like … [Read more...] about New Orleans’ next generation isn’t ‘entitled’: We just want a city that works
Chelsea Clinton debuts ‘Talking is Teaching’ campaign in New Orleans
Chelsea Clinton visited New Orleans Thursday (June 11) to promote an initiative to help show parents they can boost children's brain development through simple actions like reading a book. The Parenting Center at Children's Hospital New Orleans launched the "Talking is Teaching: Talk, Read, Sing" campaign in partnership with the Clinton Foundation's "Too Small to Fail" initiative. The campaign involves partnerships with the Touro Family Birthing Center, West Jefferson General Hospital Family Birth Place, Children's Pediatrics Clinics and the New Orleans Health Department to share books and tips with parents about talking, reading, and singing with their children after birth. Studies suggest a person's success in life is impacted by the number of words they hear by age four, Children's Hospital President and CEO John Nickens IV told attendees of a panel hosted at the hospital. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said she hopes the campaign teaches parents to speak to … [Read more...] about Chelsea Clinton debuts ‘Talking is Teaching’ campaign in New Orleans
Meet the man who brought New Orleans into the TV age
The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting 300 people who have made New Orleans New Orleans, featuring original artwork commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune with Where Y'Art gallery. Today: businessman and civic activist Edgar Stern Jr. The icon: Edgar Stern Jr. The legacy: He was blessed with family wealth, but Edgar Stern Jr. was also saddled with a family name that seemed impossible to live up to. His parents, after all, were Edith and Edgar Stern Jr. -- only two of the most revered civic activists and philanthropists of 20th century New Orleans. Junior proved to be up to the challenge, though. Among other business and civic accomplishments, he, in 1948, established WDSU as the city's first commercial TV station. With his knack for selecting talented leadership, and the wisdom to get out of the way and let them do their jobs, WDSU under his guidance became a pioneering … [Read more...] about Meet the man who brought New Orleans into the TV age