VIDALIA &045; After a few anxious days, evacuees can once again get assistance with their prescription medications.

A program that allowed pharmacies in Louisiana to be reimbursed for prescription medication expenses lapsed on Sept. 30, temporarily cutting off assistance to many sick people.

The reimbursement program was renewed Thursday.

&8221;This could have sparked a huge health crisis,&8220; Grace Woods, director of Concordia Parish Crisis Medical Center, said.

Woods said Thursday night her clinic, located in the Concordia Parish Courthouse, had been running dangerously low on supplies and the prospect of patients with diabetes or heart disease going without medicine could have extreme consequences.

&8221;With diabetics, no meds for four weeks can be fatal,&8220; she said.

Woods went to Baton Rouge Thursday, where she received supplies from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

&8221;They sent us to this warehouse where they had everything. We just went crazy, we got all sorts of stuff,&8220; Woods said.

From resupplying her clinic, to being able to write prescriptions that can be filled, the week is ending better than it began for Woods and her crew.

And while confirmation of the program had not been received from FEMA, another big player did give the all-clear sign.

&8221;People from Louisiana who are shelter-eligible can get their prescriptions filled at a Louisiana pharmacy,&8220; Bob Dufour said.

Dufour is the director of pharmacy, professional dervices and government relationships for Wal-Mart. He spoke from a conference of state boards of pharmacy in Wyoming, where he was meeting with Malcolm Broussard, the president of the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy.

The BOP acts as a middle-man in the reimbursement process: pharmacies turn in receits to them and FEMA pays the BOP to reimburse the pharmacies.

The BOP office in Baton Rouge referred all questions to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Shelter-eligible refers to any evacuee who would qualify to stay in a shelter, not just those who are currently in shelters.

While the big pharmacies &045; Wal-Mart, CVS, Rite Aid, etc. &045; are on board, it is the small, independent stores that need to get the message.

&8221;Those are the ones we have to use because we can’t use the ones in Mississippi. It’s a Louisiana program,&8220; Woods said.

Colvin’s Pharmacy in Ferriday is one of the few that has been taking prescriptions throughout.

&8221;I know he’s been taking the scripts on the premise that FEMA actually going to do what they said,&8220; she said.

&8221;Hopefully, tomorrow all the others will get on the bandwagon, once they start getting their faxes and hard copies.&8220;

There is no program of this kind in Mississippi. FEMA representative Eugene Brezany said prescription costs can be part of the individual assistance package the agency is offering. In order to qualify, he said evacuees need to have applied for the Small Business Administration loan.

&8221;Regardless of whether they want the loan or not, they have to fill it out to get other benefits (beyond housing damage),&8220; he said.

Those who are registered with FEMA but who did not apply for an SBA loan may contact the agency at 1-800-621-FEMA.

While Mississippi isn’t participating, evacuees staying in Natchez are free to visit the clinic to get prescriptions to fill in Louisiana.

Only those with no health insurance or who have no Medicare or Medicaid to pay for prescriptions can take advantage of the program, although all are free to visit clinics for help.

How the program works and who is ultimately paying the bill is less important to evacuees than knowing that the program is indeed up and running.

&8221;I am operating under the impression that they have taken care of what they said they were going to take care of,&8220; Woods said.