A plan that moved 850 frail nursing home patients into a warehouse to weather Hurricane Ida was approved by state health officials, our media partners at The Advocate/Times Picayune report.
The newspapers report that the emergency plan was always to evacuate residents of seven nursing homes to the warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish, documents submitted to the state show.
Emergency evacuation plans for two of the seven facilities obtained by The Times-Picayune | The Advocate described an “alternate care facility” that could hold 700 people in Independence, where residents of River Palms and Maison Orleans Healthcare were to be taken in an emergency.
One page in the document makes clear that the warehouse could be the evacuation site for all seven homes, which along with the warehouse are owned by Baton Rouge businessman Bob Dean, the papers report.
But while the plans were submitted to and approved by the Louisiana Department of Health, it’s not clear how closely they were scrutinized. LDH officials have not commented yet on their knowledge of the plans, the papers report.
To read the entire story,click here.
