Leavitt declared a public health emergency in the area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and has readied the department's full complement of emergency response assets and resources to help in the wake of what is being called the worst natural disaster in American history.
As officials worry about a public health crisis in the aftermath of the storm - the soiled water, unsafe food and unsanitary conditions - Leavitt has dispatched health officials to the region and the department's mobile command post was en route Wednesday to Baton Rouge. The department also shipped 27 pallets of medical supplies and is flying in 40 mobile, 250-bed hospitals.
"We are mobilizing all of our capabilities to help provide care and assistance to the victims of this storm," Leavitt said in a statement.
Leavitt became HHS secretary in January after a stint as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Gulf Coast disaster is the first major incident in Leavitt's tenure as a Cabinet secretary.
- Thomas Burr
