VA workers return to New Orleans hospitals

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the hospital system in New Orleans remains short-staffed and overworked. But employees at four area hospitals can look forward to some relief as the Department of Veterans Affairs sends over 180 healthcare workers to the region. Nurses, radiology technicians and other workers will be sent to Tulane University Hospital and Clinic, New Orleans; East Jefferson General Hospital, Metairie; West Jefferson General Hospital, Marrero; and Meadowcrest Hospital, Gretna, and will serve both veterans and other patients during the course of their temporary assignments.

The city's VA Medical Center closed after the storm and reopened in December on an outpatient-only basis, so most VA employees have had to work elsewhere in the system. Damage to the old building is so bad that it will never be fully rebuilt. Rather, a new $1.2 billion facility will be opened in 2011. In the meantime, the VA staffer's return to the area means that 40 more beds will open at the four hospitals.

- check out The Times-Picayune article for more