The New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic and Assistance Foundation, a non -profit organization that provides medical care and support services for musicians and city cultures, separates from the LSU health network after more than a quarter of a century.
Change is the result of deficit financing confronted with the Foundation, which pays the wages of three full -time LSU staff members – a practitioner nurse, social worker and medical assistant – who work at the St. Johnson street clinic on the LSU health campus. The foundation also helps to cover the medical costs of the pocket for those it serves.
In total, these costs exceeded $ 450,000 last year. During its recent attraction of donors, the Foundation collected about $ 220,000, less than half of what it needs to maintain the clinic.
“We are making a deficit, which does not fulfill our trustee obligation,” said Dr. Peggy Honoré, president of the foundation council. “Last year, we had to dive into our reserves. It is not durable. “
But the Foundation has found a way to maintain its mission alive in another place. Crescent Care, a community health center with two establishments in New Orleans, has agreed to exploit the Clinique de Musiciens de la Nouvelle-Orleans since its location in the 2500 Street Bloc.
Crescentcare is seen along Canal Street in New Orleans on Friday March 28, 2025. (Photo of Brett Duke staff, The Times-Picayune)
The change comes into force in June, when the existing location of the clinic ends.
New Orleans Musicians’ Assistance Foundation, on the other hand, will continue to collect funds and focus on helping musicians to obtain health insurance. Honoré said that the organization will use the money it collects to pay part of the insurance premiums for its customers and unconditional costs such as Copays and deductibles.
“There will probably be many more costs in the future, if Medicaid is reduced,” said Honoré. “So we plan and already work with Crescent Care on the best way to prepare.”
‘They care
The New Orleans ‘musicians’ clinic was created in the late 1990s to combat growing health disparities faced by musicians and other city culture bearers, many of whom were not insured or under-assured at a time when health care became more and more complex and expensive.
The clinic was founded by a group of musicians and their defenders in partnership with the LSU Health Network, a group of non -profit clinics affiliated with the LSU Health Center and with LSU doctors. The organization and its mission resonated in a historic city renowned for its jazz culture and its unique culture.
New Orleans’ musicians and interpreters feed the local cultural economy. However, many neglected preventive health care, worked late nights and erratic hours without advantages such as health insurance or paid sick leave, the founders of the organization said at the time.
As the clinic has grown, the same goes for the need for more financial support. In 2007, New Orleans Musicians’ Assistance Foundation was created to provide administrative support and fundraising to the clinic and expand its services to include things such as financial literacy, behavioral health and community well-being.
Jeff “Papa Frog” Klein, 74, composer, percussionist and gang leader, used the clinical and foundation services for more than a decade, mainly for visits and references from well to specialists. He says that the artistic community would be lost without it.
Jeff Klein, composer, and percussionist, is represented at his home in New Orleans on Friday March 28, 2025. (Photo of Brett Duke staff, The Times-Picayune)
“They say that New Orleans is a city that loves you,” he said. “The musicians’ clinic embodies this 100%. They care about us – not just if we break a finger – but as people. “
Financial constraints
Despite its popularity within the community, the Foundation has been struggling in recent years to collect enough money to cover the costs associated with the clinic. In the non -profit world, financial weaknesses can quickly snowball, said Honoré. Donors are reluctant to grant subsidies or great donations to organizations that are not durable, which, in turn, makes them less durable.
In October, the clinic informed the LSU that it would no longer be able to afford the salaries of the three staff of the clinic, which cost $ 350,000 out of the total of $ 450,000 in operating costs last fall.
“Our relationship with the clinic has always been good,” said Ben Lousteau, an acting vice-chancellor for finance at LSU Health. “We have supported the concept, but they said that because of financial constraints, they would no longer be able to support the clinic.”
LSU will continue to have a relationship with the Foundation, he added. The organization’s administrative offices are located within the LSU and patients will always have access to all LSU specialists they have been mentioned by the clinic.
New path in the long term
At the end of last year, Honé contacted Crescent Care on the partnership and the design of the musicians’ clinic. Founded over 40 years ago, Crescent Care was originally known as our Aids Task Force and has become a community health center at full service with staff over 270 and a variety of primary and behavioral health services that treated more than 13,000 patients in 2024.
In practice, Crescent Care would treat musicians and artists from the musicians’ clinic even without partnership because, under his mission as a federal qualified community health center, he deals.
But executive director Alice Reiner said that it was important to keep the brand of the New Orleans musicians clinic in Crescent Care because the clinic has such deep roots in the community and is a known entity among musicians and performers.
“Above all, we want to ensure continuity of care and support for musicians,” said Reiner. “There are obviously unique challenges that musicians have that we want to understand how to support. We are delighted to be able to associate with them. ”