4 nursing home residents dead after “deteriorating conditions” in South La. facility following Ida; residents moved to Alexandria
ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - Over 800 nursing home residents are currently being moved around Louisiana, after being found at a facility with “deteriorating conditions”, leading to the deaths of four of those residents. KALB has learned that some of those residents are at the Alexandria Mega Shelter.
According to LDH, seven nursing homes moved residents to a facility in Tangipahoa Parish ahead of Hurricane Ida.
After the storm made landfall, LDH visited the site upon reports of deteriorating conditions and found “significant concerns”, but “were expelled from the property and prevented from conducting a full assessment on Tuesday.”
Residents came to the facility from the following nursing homes:
- 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 DeVille Nursing Home, Terrebonne Parish
- Maison DeVille Nursing Home of Harvey, Jefferson Parish
LDH has been working to find safe placements for all 843 patients, starting with the most vulnerable. In under 24 hours, 721 residents have been rescued from the facility, and LDH continues to work with other state agencies and local officials to quickly place the others. Upon rescue, 12 individuals were found to be in condition that required hospitalization.
On Thursday morning, KALB was alerted that busloads of nursing home residents were being transported to the Mega Shelter in Alexandria. We had reporters on the scene that were able to confirm that several buses were at the shelter, taking elderly people inside.
LDH says this is a “serious and active investigation.” They said they will be “taking action against these nursing facilities, and will be making appropriate referrals to law enforcement.”
Three of the nursing home residents’ deaths have been classified as storm-related by the coroner. Definitive causes of death have not yet been confirmed.
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