Photo courtesy APNews. After 850 nursing home patients were evacuated to a warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish during Hurricane Ida in 2021, the Louisiana Department of Health assists with their relocation.
After 850 nursing home patients were evacuated to a warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish during Hurricane Ida, resulting in more than a dozen deaths, legislation to give the state more oversite powers has been proposed in this session. Baton Rouge Representative Rick Edmonds’s bill gives the department of health more enforcement.
“LDH has the opportunity to not only review the plan for the emergencies, but they have the opportunity and the teeth to approve the plan,’ said Edmonds.
House Bill 291 gives LDH the ability to reject questionable evacuation plans. Edmonds said Health and Welfare Committee members repeatedly asked who approved a plan to evacuate patients to a warehouse where patients’ bedding consisted of mattresses on the floor.
“Who approved this? And their answer each time was we don’t have the approval process. The plan itself should have been rejected,” said Edmonds.
Baton Rouge Representative Barry Ivey asked if the legislation requires nursing homes to show proof of the ability to execute approved evacuation plans, for example, their finances and contracts for supplies. Edmonds welcomed Ivey’s input on the legislation.
“We could amend between here and the Senate, or have the Senate amend, I’d be glad to do that, anything to make it better,” Edmonds responded.
Bill passed in the House with only one vote in opposition. There’s also Senate legislation that charges the State Fire Marshal’s Office with inspection of evacuation plans.
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