Perched 8 feet above sea level in Jefferson Parish, Ochsner is one of the few still running.
''We don't have unlimited capacity. We are trying to take in only those patients with life-threatening illnesses," said Dr. Joe Guarisco, director of the emergency department.
That included two almost fatal electrocutions of people who had tried to return to flooded areas.
Others were injured by flying glass when wind and water smashed their shelters.
Even at the clinic, broken glass littered some areas, and patients and staff had fallen on floors slick with hurricane waters. With electricity and air conditioning out, generators were providing the only power. Some areas had no working elevators or phones.
But there were ample water, food, blood, and medical supplies, and enough power to keep medical machinery humming, hospital officials said. ''Things are going -- under the circumstances -- really well," said a nurse, Jackie Lupo, director of labor and delivery.
Several women gave birth during the ordeal. ''Nobody named one Katrina yet," said a clinic spokeswoman, Katherine Voss.
There were no emergency communications among hospitals, and Guarisco, like others, had heard horror stories like one reported by The Times-Picayune of New Orleans that Charity Hospital had been forced to ventilate patients manually, after electricity and backup generators failed.
