EDITORIAL: Secrecy won't help hold nursing homes accountable for emergency plans

Apr. 13—It was a tragedy and an embarrassment for Louisiana last summer when the state had to swoop in and rescue more than 800 nursing home residents who had been evacuated to a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse in advance of Hurricane Ida.

Generators had failed in the sweltering summer heat, trash was piled everywhere and residents were left lying in their own feces and urine. Fifteen people died in the aftermath.

Bob Dean, known for operating low-rated nursing homes, had moved 843 residents of seven homes to the warehouse.

The Louisiana Health Department knew of the evacuation because nursing homes are required to submit hurricane emergency plans to the state.

There ought to be a law to prevent this sort of thing from happening again, and now Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration has proposed one.

House Bill 993, by state Rep. Joe Stagni, R-Kenner, would require nursing homes to submit an "after-event report" every time they evacuate or have complications while sheltering in place during a natural disaster.

Louisiana is a magnet for powerful storms and every one presents different challenges, so the reports would be useful to the industry, to state regulators and to family members.

But the reports would be exempt from public disclosure, so families looking for a safe place to send their loved ones wouldn't be able to evaluate how well operators protect and care for vulnerable residents when hurricanes strike.

This secrecy is unnecessary, since sensitive details like patient names and medical conditions can be redacted. Yet it's hardly surprising to see Democratic and Republican politicians looking after the interests of the politically powerful nursing home industry, rather than their own constituents.

Who says bipartisanship is dead in Baton Rouge?

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