Baton Rouge attorney Ron Haley has filed a lawsuit on behalf of one of the more than 800 nursing home residents that were evacuated to a warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish during hurricane Ida. The suit names nursing homeowner Bob Dean and the Louisiana Department of Health as defendants. Haley said nursing homes in southern parts of the state are required to file an evacuation plan with the state.
“And somehow the State of Louisiana approved a hurricane evacuation plan that said you know what we’re going to roll out 800 something cots, stick them in a hot warehouse and put two or three Porta Potties in there and just leave these people to sit until the storm blows over,” said Haley.
Haley’s client is Darlene Franklin, who is currently in a nursing home in New Roads, was not only a resident in a Bob Dean facility but also a former employee.
“The tragic irony with Ms. Franklin is that Ms. Franklin actually was an employee for Bob Dean and retired as a nurse there in 2016, and five years later she’s a victim,” said Haley.
Inspectors with the health department visited the warehouse after they received reports of deteriorating conditions but were thrown off the property then returned the next day to relocate the more than 800 residents to properly equipped facilities across the state.
Seven residents have since died from the original evacuation to the warehouse.
Haley said Franklin told him not only were evacuees crowed into the warehouse and left on mattresses on the floor, but they also weren’t given food or medication for two days.
“According to my client the smell was so bad and she’s more haunted by the cries of discomfort and pain that the other individuals that were stuck in the nursing home with her. She suffered a great deal from this as everyone that was there did,” said Haley.
This is the second lawsuit filed against Dean, the first was a class action suit filed out of New Orleans. The state has since revoked the licenses of seven nursing homes owned by Dean that were evacuated to the warehouse.
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