Resilience, adaptation, and transformation: Rising from the flood as a "new" organization

How does an organization successfully execute a paradigm shift integral to changing needs? Hurricane Katrina caused an major disruption in programs and plans affecting thousands of individuals. The Tulane Xavier National Center of Excellence in Women's Health in New Orleans, Louisiana, was actively engaged in providing clinical services, women's health research, leadership, education and community outreach to a large metropolitan area prior to the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. The facility took on four feet of water after the levees broke, and staff and faculty were displaced across the continental US.

Through resilience and adaptation, organizations can undergo successful strategic transformation. Formative research, including structured face-to-face interviews with over 100 individuals and meetings with community partners laid the groundwork for new strategic ideas and concepts. Recovering with a reduction in program portfolio and staff, the Center continues to build capacity, concentrating on the defined needs and opportunities in the local community. The Center uses an ecological approach to engage in evidence-based health promotion activities in collaboration with communities, valuing cultural sensitivity, community development and individual growth as it works in partnership with the women of the greater New Orleans area to reclaim their future. Both the Center and the community have had to shift their ideas concerning the work the Center does, including the fact that women must now seek integrated healthcare at other sites. The transformative effect and lessons learned provide rich and invaluable tools for groups desiring to customize their strategies, broaden their perspectives, and embrace change.