The redevelopment of the medical district in New Orleans is expected to create more than 10,000 jobs. But a local shortage of doctors, scientists and researchers since Hurricane Katrina has officials looking as far as Atlanta for help.

The New Orleans BioInnovation Center, a collaboration of public and private interests focused on providing jobs and funding for life science and biotechnology companies, launched the “Bio Boom 2009″ campaign to target prospective employees for its core project, the building of the Greater New Orleans Bioscience Economic Development District. The Louisiana Department of Economic Development is sponsoring the campaign, which this week sent scientists, researchers, and economic development leaders from the region to the 2009 Bio International Convention in Atlanta to recruit workers to the Big Easy.

“Labor workforce shortages were a huge problem before Hurricane Katrina hit,” said Aaron Miscenich, the executive director of the New Orleans BioInnovation Center. “In its aftermath, there is an even greater need because the research base has dropped and the city has lost researchers to other markets.”

A federal grant made it possible to develop the new medical district, which will include two hospitals, a cancer research center and a research innovation center, called a wet lab incubator. The additions have allowed  the biotechnology industry to expand beyond what it was before the hurricane, and has provided even more opportunities for jobs in research and innovation: The health care industry has become the largest employer in the region, with salaries averaging as high as $90,000 annually, according to the Regional Planning Commission.

“We have a thriving economy considering the recession because of the spending we are doing,” said Miscenich. “The city will be spending $2 billion over the next few years on our clinical facilities. We want people to take notice and come work with us.”

Miscenich said the center has continuously encountered potential employees who are reluctant to consider relocating to New Orleans for work because they have been influenced by the devastation of the hurricane.  ”We want to show that New Orleans is no longer in recovery,” he said. “This region has the hottest economy right now considering the recession.”

As part of the federal grant, the planning commission created the New Orleans Regional Bioscience Initiative to coordinate the new medical facilities with the existing medical district.

“We recognize how necessary the medical industry is to this city,” said Caitlin Cain, director of economic development for the commission. “The goal of the district has been to develop improved medical technology, services and drugs that would lead to new businesses and jobs in the local area.”

Cain said the medical district will be able to attract future workers to the region, which would provide a $3 billion economic boon to New Orleans.

“Our state-of-the-art facilities attract the demographic that New Orleans desperately needs, a younger generation who is comfortable with the technology and people with experience in the field who can adapt,” she said.

The first of the clinical facilities to open, by the end of 2010,  will be the $45 million wet-lab incubator on Canal Street.  The 66,000-square-foot structure, smaller than the original design prior to Hurricane Katrina, has been constructed to house life science and biotechnology companies with laboratory space to develop products for human trials.

Also being built is a $102 million, 175,000-square-foot Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium, on Tulane Avenue. This facility will provide opportunities for New Orleans’ medical universities to collaborate in their research and development of innovative cancer treatment and therapy programs. And two additional hospitals, a Veteran Affairs  hospital and Louisiana State University academic teaching hospital, also are being constructed in the district. All of these facilities are expected to open in 2010.

“The investments being made in the clinical expansion is a necessary component in providing world class health care and medical training,” Cain said. “Biosciences provide New Orleans with the competitive advantages that can compete with other biomedical facilities across the state, national, and global stage.”