A community in Baton Rouge struggles with healthcare

Ariya Carter, 2, lives near Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church, whose pastor, the Rev. Melvin Rushing, is trying to improve the health of the people in his community, a middle- and low-income area in the heart of Baton Rouge. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

March 9, 2014 3 AM PT

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Baton Rouge, La., has a diversified economy, but large pockets of poverty remain. Chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer are commonplace.

At Capitol City Family Health Center, Rena Jenkins, 26, gets a checkup while her son, Jonathan, 1, plays. Jenkins suffers from migraine headaches and has been on Medicaid since the birth of her second child. Unlike other states, Louisiana has opted not to expand Medicaid under President Obama’s health law, and it bars publicly subsidized coverage for working-age adults without children.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

At Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, nurse Christi Gaubert works in the oncology infusion center, where cancer patients receive treatment. Lack of insurance “is really the No. 1 driver of our healthcare challenges,” said Scott Wester, chief executive of Our Lady of the Lake, Baton Rouge’s largest hospital system, which last year took over the city’s charity health system. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

At Capitol City Family Health Center, Isaac Williams, 14, gets his blood pressure taken during a physical. The eighth-grader hopes to join the basketball team at school. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Kendra Curtis ,1, gets a checkup at Capitol City Family. The clinic serves thousands of the city’s poorest and sickest residents. One in 5 patients has high blood pressure, and 1 in 10 is infected with HIV. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Samuel Williams waits to see a doctor at Capitol City Family. The clinic is always busy. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Edricka Louis holds her daughter, Kendra Curtis, 1, as they wait for a nurse at Capitol City Family. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Ceaira Revish, 9, left, and Bobbie Parker, 13, live in the Mid-City neighborhood. Bobbie says she had lead poisoning as a young child and spent months in a hospital. Working parents in Louisiana get publicly funded medical care only if they make less than a quarter of the federal poverty level, or $4,687 for a family of three. By contrast, Minnesota will make fully subsidized coverage available this year to families of three making up to $26,951. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

“Nearly every day, I am seeing families who need the help of doctors, and it’s just not there,” said the Rev. Melvin Rushing of Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)