Oral

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. After the levees broke in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the facility took on four feet of water. Staff and faculty were displaced across the country. This session will describe how, through resilience and adaptation, organizations can undergo successful strategic transformation. The presentations will describe the strategies that agencies affected by Hurricane Katrina have undergone to adapt their mission and develop plans for sustainability. We will discuss the process of adaptation to changing post-Katrina community needs in a New Orleans church. This session makes clear that in the case of major events, resilience requires not resuming one's original shape or position, but rather transforming oneself to adapt to changes in the landscape and environment in which one used to function. This concept of resilience and adaptation applies to individuals and organizations.

Session Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be better able to: • Describe characteristics of resilience and adaptation, as applied to an organization • Identify strategies for communicating organization change • Identify components that should be added to public health preparedness plans

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing