The Louisiana House of Representatives unanimously voted to allow nursing homes to continue to operate even if their emergency preparedness and evacuation plans fail to meet state standards.
The House Bill gets rid of a provision to state law – added just last year – that forces the state to automatically shut down a nursing home if state officials reject its emergency plan. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Joseph Stagni (R-Kenner), said nursing homes need more flexibility than the current law allows.
However, state health officials also said they wouldn’t hesitate to shut down nursing homes that have significant problems with their evacuation plans if the bill passes in the Senate. Instead, the agency would use the flexibility offered by the bill to resolve “minor” issues with the evacuation proposals, Kevin Litten, press secretary at Louisiana Department of Health, told the Louisiana Illuminator.
“If a nursing home receives a rejection letter and cannot adequately resolve its issues and, therefore, is not able to ensure patient health and safety in the event of a storm and evacuation, LDH would issue a license revocation notice,” he said.
A report developed by the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Special Committee found that 17 states, including Louisiana, failed to meet emergency preparedness standards, many due to staffing shortages.
Many lawmakers cautioned these states of the consequences of lacking adequate plans during weather-related emergencies, with nursing homes being particularly vulnerable. “This report should serve as a warning sign — as we experience more frequent and catastrophic climate disasters, long-term care facilities must be better prepared to protect residents living there,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.).
Meanwhile, in hurricane-prone Louisiana, the owner of seven nursing homes was arrested in 2022 on felony charges in connection with the death of residents who were evacuated to a warehouse before Hurricane Ida.
The areas where these facilities were located faced significant flooding and power outages as a result of the hurricane.
More than 800 residents were put in a single warehouse – subjected to inhumane conditions involving mattresses sitting in standing water – and seven eventually died.
A joint investigation by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigations found that the owner had allegedly refused to move residents out of the warehouse after the hurricane, billingMedicaid for dates his residents were not receiving proper care, among other charges.
In wake of this scandal, Louisiana imposed new nursing homes evacuation rules, which may be on the way out.
Companies featured in this article:
