Louisiana revokes licenses for nursing homes that sent residents to warehouse during Ida

Louisiana health officials said they revoked licenses for nursing homes that sent their residents to warehouses during Hurricane Ida. 

The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) said that the seven nursing homes that lost their licenses also had their Medicaid provider agreements terminated, according to a statement by the agency.

The state health department announced on Saturday that it closed the facilities. 

The seven nursing homes, which were owned by Bob Dean, evacuated 800 of their residents to a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse two days prior to Hurricane Ida making landfall, according to Nola.com. 

Videos circulated on the internet showing the warehouse floor being covered in floodwater, and nurses at the warehouse detailed experiences of residents lying on single mattress beds and asking to be changed.

This resulted in the deaths of seven nursing home residents, and a dozen others were hospitalized, Nola.com reported. 

“All of these nursing facilities clearly failed to execute their emergency preparedness plans to provide essential care and services to their residents,” LDH Secretary Courtney Phillips said in a statement. 

“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,” Phillips added.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell (D) said that “accountability will be across the board” after five people were found dead in senior apartment complexes in Ida’s aftermath.

This story was updated at 7:12 p.m. to correct the name of the nursing homes’ owner.