That's how many are scheduled for today.

I hate this post Katrina pediatric practice.

It is one of the dirty little secrets of pediatrics that when the economy is bad, people do not bring their children to the doctor. They are pinching pennies and can't/won't afford the co-pay or if the don't have health insurance they can't/won't make the money available for the office visit.

I end up seeing less children, children go without vaccines, and the ones that come in next week are sicker because they have been sitting at home trying to get better on their own. (which in and of itself is not a bad thing so long as the parents do not wait too long)

My practice serves the side of town that was 90% flooded from the storm surge of Katrina, not the failure of engineering that occurred in New Orleans, the "real" effects of the storm. At least 70% of my kids are still living in FEMA trailers or in partially repaired homes. (A FEMA trailer is a small camper trailer with one window, one toilet, one shower and no privacy. Families of 6 or less are housed in these tin cans.) Most of my patients are working poor or working middle class and no one had enough insurance to cover the complete cost of rebuilding, especially with the cost increases for every single step of the rebuilding process.

I understand and empathise with all of this, but I too have bills and rebuilding costs. This decrease in business is getting very old and I am tired.