BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) — The Louisiana Department of Health alerted senior living centers that evacuated to a Tangipahoa facility ahead of Hurricane Ida that their licenses are being revoked and their Medicaid provider agreements have been terminated, according to a press release from the LDH.

The seven nursing homes include the following:

• River Palms Nursing and Rehab, Orleans Parish
• South Lafourche Nursing and Rehab, Lafourche Parish
• Maison Orleans Healthcare Center, Orleans Parish
• Park Place Healthcare Nursing Home, Jefferson Parish
• West Jefferson Health Care Center, Jefferson Parish
• Maison De Ville Nursing Home, Terrebonne Parish
• Maison Deville Nursing Home of Harvey, Jefferson Parish

LDH Secretary Dr. Courtney N. Phillips made the following statement in regard to the facilities’ closures:

All of these nursing facilities clearly failed to execute their emergency preparedness plans to provide essential care and services to their residents. When issues arose post-storm, we now know the level of care for these residents plummeted; an individual representing himself as the nursing home owner failed to communicate the situation; and then upon hearing reports from others that conditions at the facility had deteriorated our LDH surveyor was expelled from the property and LDH employees were subject to intimidation. Ultimately, lives were lost — these were grandparents, neighbors and friends, and we know families are hurting. We as a Department are taking formal regulatory action.

Dr. Phillips

The notice to the nursing home facilities cited the Louisiana Title XIX Medical Assistance Program (Medicaid). Pursuant to La. R.S. 46:437.11(D)(2), saying “the Secretary may voluntarily terminate a provider agreement immediately if a health care provider is the subject of a sanction or of a criminal, civil, or departmental proceeding.”

The notices continues:

An emergency preparedness plan is more than just a form of paper compliance. The implementation must accomplish the goals it is designed to meet. Some of those goals include the delivery of essential care and services to residents, the procedures for ensuring that all residents have access to licensed nursing staff, and that services are provided, during all phases of the evacuation, including transporting of residents. […] it is clear that the facility failed in this regard.

…the situation at the site was clearly and rapidly deteriorating. While this was going on, the facility’s owner, rather than reaching out for help in regards to the situation from state regulators, was orchestrating a campaign with the goal of preventing a proper assessment of what the situation was at the site via threats, harassment and intimidation. This type of conduct, while also possibly violating the right of the resident to receive adequate and appropriate health care and protective and support services, is clearly demonstrative of indifference to the welfare of the residents.

The press release states that two in-person site visits by Health Standards and an environmental health assessment by OPH Sanitarian prior to Ida’s landfall indicated that, from a facility standpoint, the minimum necessary components to provide ” a safe sheltering for a very short period of time” were met.

There were plans for staffing, foodservice and laundry, potable water, portable toilets, and a working generator appropriately sized for the facility.

According to the press release, conditions at the facility, most importantly care for residents, deteriorated following the storm.

An individual representing himself as the owner of one of these nursing homes allegedly failed to communicate the dire situation and ask for help. When LDH went on-site on August 31 upon receiving concerning reports from third parties, this operator expelled LDH from the property and prevented the completion of the site visit. In addition, over the course of the event, LDH team members were “subject to intimidation.”

On August 31, LDH began planning for the evacuation of all residents in the facility, then, on September 1 and 2, LDH in collaboration with several state agencies and local officials worked around the clock to get all residents to immediate safety.

Louisiana’s State Health Officer ordered that these 7 facilities are prohibited from admitting or repatriating residents.  LDH has made referrals to the Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Inspector General, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Louisiana State Police, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, and Baton Rouge Police Department.

Click here to read the full press release.