BATON ROUGE- As Houston's MD Anderson Cancer Center took on water, patients in need of care are welcomed at medical centers across the south including Baton Rouge.

The head of Oncology at Ochsner Medical Center Baton Rouge says it's all about the patients. So far, Dr. Jay Brooks has treated half a dozen MD Anderson cancer patients who aren't able to get treatment in Houston because of flooding.

Patients, like Brenden Simoneaux have an appointment after Labor Day, but because of the storm he's planning ahead.

"The MRI scans were scheduled for that visit. They follow the prognosis of your disease based on those MRI scans," said Simoneaux.

The 54-year-old chemistry and physics teacher from Dutchtown High School has geoblastoma multiforme, a rare brain tumor.

"When I saw on television pictures of the first floor of the hospital where I always go for my appointments, I knew those appointments would probably be postponed and no telling how long indefinitely," said Simoneaux.

That's when he reached out to Dr. Jay Brooks at Ochsner.

"He said, we can take care of that here, we can take the blood work here. And I said 'what about the MRI', can you do that here?' He said yes we can do the MRI scans and we can report that to your doctor. We use the same system so it's integrated. And they'll be able to see the results and we'll be able to consult with each other," said Simoneaux. 

It's all thanks to the Epic System.

"This is the next advance in electronic systems that they're connected across the country and really around the world now," said Dr. Brooks.

Dr. Brooks can see all of Simoneaux's medical records from MD Anderson through the system.

Whatever tests the patient receives in Baton Rouge can be viewed by their doctor at MD Anderson, as well.

"It was a big relief to me, I knew how important the scans are and just the fact that I'll be able to do it and get the information to them because it may be quite sometime before they're actually back to operating normally again," said Simoneaux.

Dr. Brooks says MD Anderson patients that need treatment at Ochsner should bring an identification card and insurance information.