A commitment to family

Woman took in her parents, who left New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, and is receiving help from colleagues.Gilda Hogan cries when speaking of the weather-beaten home that carries memories from her childhood.

She cries when mentioning the people who have offered to help her parents since hearing of their fate.

It has been an emotional two months for Hogan, a Hoag Hospital nurse whose parents, Mary and Melvin Patnett, were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Hogan, a Rancho Santa Margarita resident, has stayed put. But her routine is different these days.

After work, Hogan visits her parents in their temporary apartment, just a few minutes from her place. It’s a hard sell, Hogan realizes, but she is trying to make them feel settled in Orange County.

The Patnetts have no friends here. They have no means of transportation. Hogan’s mother, who is disabled, lost her wheelchair en route from New Orleans to Southern California. Hogan’s father suffers from emphysema and has struggled to deal with the new climate.

“It pains me every time I see my parents,” Hogan said. “They’ve lost everything.... They still feel displaced, but I don’t want them to go back.”

EASING THEIR PAIN

Two Newport Beach physicians are making it easier for the couple to stay. James Berman and Sasha Thomas of Newport Beach Medical Associates are providing free medical care to the couple.

Berman, who serves on the Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian board of directors, announced in September that he and his colleagues would accept hurricane evacuees as patients at no charge. He said physicians have a duty to give back whenever possible.

“This was a major catastrophe. You want to help people who are in need,” he said. “It wasn’t a problem for me to reach out.”

When Hogan heard about the offer, she knew her parents were perfect candidates: They are on a fixed income and were without medication after having to leave their home abruptly.

Berman and Thomas, both internists, began seeing the Patnetts in mid-September and have checked up on them every few weeks since.

Thomas said helping the displaced couple has been a rewarding experience.

“At this time, it’s hard for either one of us to leave,” Thomas said. “This is a way for us to help from here, by making sure they are comfortable in their new surroundings.”

JUST IN TIME

Mary Patnett is 77 years old. Her husband is 79. Before this fall, neither had lived away from New Orleans. They had never moved from the house, just blocks away from Lake Pontchartrain, where Hogan lived as a child.

The day before Hurricane Katrina hit, Hogan was at work, on the phone with her parents. They didn’t want to leave.

After days of coercing, and just hours before the hurricane hit, Hogan and her siblings convinced their parents to part ways with New Orleans. The Patnetts eventually landed in Orange County, staying first with their grandson, Keith Hogan, in Yorba Linda. Gilda Hogan welcomed her parents into her apartment while she looked for a place for them to live.

Late last month, Melvin Patnett and Hogan’s sister went back to New Orleans for the first time since the hurricane. They saw the extent of the damage: a roof in shambles, rooms filled with debris and a car caked with dirt.

There is no word if or when they can return.

“My parents were devastated,” Hogan said. “All they had known was from what they saw on television.”

Back in Orange County, efforts to help the Patnetts continued. The Red Cross provided assistance. Hogan’s co-workers donated clothing and more than $600 to her parents. Her friend, Joyce Potter, raised about $3,000 for the couple.

Hogan said her parents were hesitant to take handouts. But she welcomed the help -- especially the medical attention.

“I don’t know how to thank them for all they’ve done for my parents and how warm and loving the entire staff has been,” she said. “They have treated them like kings and queens.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter. He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at [email protected].

20051116iq113ykn(LA)Former New Orleans residents Melvin and Mary Patnett were forced to leave their home before Hurricane Katrina.