Since Katrina, nursing homes are required to report their evacuation plans annually to the department of health. AARP Louisiana Associate Director of Advocacy Andrew Muhl said but what happened in Tangipahoa Parish during Hurricane Ida was a complete failure of oversite, enforcement, and planning.
“Clearly there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, improvements have been made but not nearly enough have been made to avert tragedies like the one a few weeks ago,” said Muhl.
Muhl believes nursing home evacuation plans will be revisited in the next legislative session which begins in March and AARP wants to be part of the discussion.
“We hope to be calling to light what some of the things that need to be fixed are and that’s something we’ll definitely be involved in,” said Muhl.
The evacuation of the more than 800 patients also brought to light the lack of communication between the nursing homes and emergency contacts for the residents. Once the state began removing patients, family members had to call 2-1-1 to locate their loved ones. Muhl said this is another critical issue that plans should address the notification of next of kin.
“I think those are important questions that need to be answered ahead of a natural disaster so those kinds of situations can be avoided,” said Muhl.
Seven patients that were part of the mass evacuation during Hurricane Ida died.
LDH: The evacuation of seven nursing homes to warehouse to Tangipahoa was not executed properly
Mass evacuation of nursing home residents in southeast Louisiana leaves four dead
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