The Louisiana Department of Health is taking formal action against seven nursing homes that the state alleges failed to properly evacuate hundreds of nursing home residents as Hurricane Ida approached. LDH executive counsel, Stephen Russo.
Cut13 (11) “…to their residents.”
And as such, Russo says the licenses of all seven facilities are being revoked and their Medicaid provider agreements have been terminated.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Louisiana which serves the greater New Orleans area says they’ve been extremely busy post-Ida both with receiving donations and distributing food. Second Harvest Spokesperson Jay Vise says they are helping people in some of the most hurricane-impacted areas of southeast Louisiana.
Many displaced Ida residents are waiting on the approval of DSNAP or the disaster supplemental nutrition assistance program. Department of Children and Family Services Secretary Marketa Garner Walters says for DSNAP to go into effect it is designed to unfold in a sequence due to lack of power and accessibility. The first stage is points of distribution sites for food.
The second stage includes distributing household products from their various partners.
Senator Kennedy says that as storm victims deal with short-term problems such as power outages and no internet, housing will be a long-term setback for many.
Kennedy says the state’s congressional delegation is together with Governor Edwards on doing a stand-alone bill to provide supplemental disaster housing relief for south Louisiana and those in the northeast hit hard by Ida.