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Hundreds of nursing home residents to remain evacuated until Houma hospitals come back online

The Courier - 9/22/2021

Sep. 22—Hundreds of nursing home residents in Terrebonne Parish remain in limbo after evacuating ahead of Hurricane Ida.

The Category 4 storm severely damaged Terrebonne General Health System and Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma after making landfall Aug. 29. Since then, Terrebonne has remained without a fully functioning hospital.

Because there are no medical facilities in Terrebonne that provide overnight stays, about 300 nursing home residents remain evacuated in other parishes, Parish President Gordy Dove said.

"We don't have overnight health care in Terrebonne General or Chabert," Dove said. "They can't keep patients and perform the health care they need. So, we would have to transport them to Thibodaux Regional. The problem with that is that Thibodaux is also taking care of St. Anne and Lady of the Sea."

Both of the latter facilities also shut down after Ida damaged them, leaving Thibodaux Regional the lone fully functioning hospital in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

The displaced nursing home residents will be returned to their respective residences when the state Department of Health and Hospitals, Terrebonne General and Chabert feel that it's safe for them to do so, Dove said.

"We want the elderly to come back and be with their families here in Terrebonne Parish," he said. "We just want to make sure that arrangements are being made by these nursing homes so they will be able to transport them if something happens. I'm asking the Department of Health and Hospitals to make a decision on that so we can get these people back home in Terrebonne where they belong."

Though Dove did not provide a definitive timeline for the residents to return he said the two Houma hospitals will be more operational in about two weeks.

"They won't be finished, of course, but they will be more operational from what I understand," he said. "They are coming around pretty quick and both have electricity. I just want to make sure these nursing home residents are safe when they come home health care wise."

Houma resident Michael Delaune said his mother is currently out of town but is confident that she is in good hands.

"The nursing home keeps me informed on her condition," Delaune said. "The Oaks of Houma has done a great job with their residents by moving them to safe place for the hurricane."

Missy Domangue McElroy of Houma said her 86-year-old mother-in-law was evacuated out of Chateau Terrebonne shortly before the hurricane.

"While I understand the need for a hospital to be open, I also know the residents are homesick," she said. "It's been weeks since they have evacuated. One lady messaged me that her mom has dementia and doesn't do well without seeing family. They really haven't gotten any news on how she is doing. My mother-in-law is in a wheelchair. There is no way I could lift her to tend to her needs. It's time to bring our family back."

— Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 448-7639 or at dan.copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanVCopp.

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