National reporting on N. O.: This time it's the medical system

City full of patients, devoid of doctors - baltimoresun.com: "

• Only a quarter of the city's doctors have returned since the disaster, and specialists are particularly scarce.

• More than half of the city's hospitals remain closed. Most of those that have reopened function at greatly reduced capacity as they grapple with the crushing demand for care. The burden is spilling over to suburban hospitals and the few area clinics that have reopened.

• About 40 percent of the region's residents have no medical insurance, double the pre-Katrina rate. This is largely because tens of thousands of people have lost jobs that included insurance.

• The federal government has provided relatively little help for rebuilding damaged medical buildings or enticing doctors to stay.

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