LA NURSING HOMES TRAGEDY— Louisiana health officials are revoking the licenses of seven nursing homes whose residents were evacuated to a warehouse after Hurricane Ida made landfall last week. Seven people died amid deteriorating condtions and according to several reports residents made 911 calls using their cellphones asking for help. Authorities found some seniors lying on mattresses on the floor, without food or clean clothes, and detected strong odors of feces in the warehouse, which is located in the town of Independence. The Louisiana Department of Health said it alerted the owner of the nursing homes of the action on Tuesday. According to a statement from LDH the homes failed to execute their emergency preparedness plans to provide essential care and services to their residents. Executive Counsel for LDH Steven Russo explained what happened when LDH officials tried to inspect the warehouse.
"When LDH was making efforts to fully discover the site conditions post-landfall, LDH surveryors and inspectors instead of being provided necessary information were prohibited by the facility and their owner from conducting and completing onsite inspections and surveys," Russo said.
Russo said LDH moved the residents to certified facilities currently in operation to assure they received proper and necessary care. Health officials said the owner, Bob Dean, failed to contact LDH for help and had state inspectors from the agency thrown off the property. State health officials and Attorney General Jeff Landry have launched an investigation into the deaths.
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