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• Jindal adviser: LSU privatization deals on track

  May 23, 2013 4:00 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Gov. Bobby Jindal's top budget architect says the state will have enough money to cover the costs of privatizing all but one of the 10 LSU-run hospitals. Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols says all deals will be completed next month. Nichols was addressing questions raised by the... more »

• State health department hires inspector general

  May 15, 2013 5:01 PM

  BATON ROUGE - The state Department of Health and Hospitals has hired a new inspector general to review spending and fight fraud. The hiring of William Root, announced Wednesday, comes after Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration canceled a nearly $200 million Medicaid contract whose award is being investigated by state and... more »

• Audit: $42M in layoff costs for LSU privatization

  May 13, 2013 10:12 AM

  BATON ROUGE - A new audit says Gov. Bobby Jindal's push to privatize all but one of the LSU-run hospitals across south Louisiana would cost the state $42 million for layoff costs. The analysis by Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera's office says privatization of six hospitals in the LSU Health Care... more »

• DHH: Hospice program to stay open, get reforms Play Video

  January 23, 2013 4:40 PM

  BATON ROUGE - State health officials announced late this afternoon that the Medicaid Hospice Program would not end on Feb. 1 as scheduled. Secretary Bruce Greenstein with the Dept. Of Health and Hospitals said enough money from existing grants had been found to keep the program going until reforms... more »

• LSU seeking agreements with private health firms

  October 11, 2012 4:05 PM

  BATON ROUGE - A week after $152 million in cuts were levied across the LSU public hospitals, Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein says no new formal arrangements have yet been reached with private hospitals to pick up the care. But he and LSU hospitals chief Frank Opelka said Thursday... more »

• DHH: 53 new West Nile cases, 3 deaths Play Video

  August 24, 2012 4:20 PM

  BATON ROUGE - The state Department of Health and Hospitals said three more people died this week from the West Nile Virus, and 53 new cases were reported. That brings the year's total deaths to nine, the most in recent years according to DHH. The most was in 2002,... more »

• DHH highlights benefits of breastfeeding

  August 1, 2012 3:02 PM

  BATON ROUGE - The Department of Health and Hospitals released a number of reasons why more mothers in Louisiana should breastfeed their children as part of National Breastfeeding Month awareness. According to DHH, Louisiana's rate of infants who are ever breastfed is 53.5 percent, well below the national average... more »

• LSU comes up with temporary fix to limit cuts

  July 27, 2012 4:25 PM

  BATON ROUGE - LSU health care leaders say they will use patchwork funding to keep their safety net hospitals open and lessen the blow of budget cuts that threatened to shutter facilities. Plans outlined to the university governing board Friday will cut about $50 million from public hospitals and clinics,... more »

• La. health secretary says cuts expected by Friday

  July 10, 2012 6:29 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein says he expects to announce by Friday how he'll divvy up $859 million in cuts to Louisiana's Medicaid program. The cut is tied to a congressional reduction in Louisiana's federal Medicaid financing rate. Greenstein didn't offer details Tuesday about what will... more »

• LSU officials: Jindal budget would cut hospitals

  March 27, 2012 2:27 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Leaders of LSU's public hospital system say Gov. Bobby Jindal's budget overestimates the money the hospitals and clinic network will generate next year and they'd have to make cuts to compensate for the multimillion-dollar gap. The university hospital officials told the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that... more »

• Layoffs to begin at 7 LSU hospitals

  January 18, 2012 6:48 AM

  BATON ROUGE - Notices of impending layoffs have gone out to employees of seven LSU public hospitals as system executives prepare to implement $29 million in Jindal administration budget cuts. The Advocate reports the notice from hospital system chief executive officer Roxane Townsend says layoffs would be effective March 5.... more »

• DCFS Daycare licensing database

  November 29, 2011 5:26 PM

  BATON ROUGE - The Department of Children and Family Services keeps a database of licensed daycare facilities on their website. The database also lists complaints and all licensing checks done by DCFS. Click here to go to the database. more »

• DHH confirms new case of West Nile virus

  September 16, 2011 4:00 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Health officials reported today another case of West Nile virus had been found in western Louisiana, bringing the year's total up to nine reported cases so far. According to Department of Health and Hospitals spokesperson Lisa Faust, the new case was reported in Calcasieu Parish and... more »

• Link to new DHH restaurant inspection website

  August 8, 2011 6:01 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Today, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein demonstrated the Department's new food safety website, which features the sanitary inspection reports of the nearly 34,000 Louisiana retail food establishments DHH permits and inspects. You can find the website by going to EatSafe.LA.gov ,... more »

• DHH chief's former employer tapped for $34M contract

  June 8, 2011 2:22 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Under intense pressure from state senators, Louisiana Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein has acknowledged that his department wants to hire his former employer for a $34 million state Medicaid contract. Greenstein announced the recommended selection of CNSI on Wednesday before the Senate and Governmental Affairs... more »

• Hospitals, nursing homes brace for possible flooding

  May 11, 2011 4:44 PM

  MORGAN CITY - Hospitals and nursing homes in 17 parishes have submitted emergency plans with the state in case an evacuation is ordered due to rising water from the Mississippi River. In Morgan City, workers spent the day filling Hesco baskets with dirt. Governor Jindal said during an afternoon... more »

• Flu activity still on the rise in Louisiana

  February 11, 2011 3:11 PM

  BATON ROUGE – Flu activity has recently spiked in Louisiana, according to the state Department of Health and Hospitals. Flu symptoms made up 20-percent of all doctor visits in the state last week, up from 12-percent the previous week. The most activity was in north and central Louisiana, as well... more »

• CATS cuts could affect BR businesses

  January 18, 2011 10:23 PM

  BATON ROUGE- Users of Baton Rouge's transit system say if major changes are made to routes and services, they could get fired. And business owners argue, the city can't run without a bus service. Employers and employees say you may not ride the bus, but many people who work... more »

• Latest Medicaid shortfall won't prompt cuts

  January 3, 2011 6:04 PM

  BATON ROUGE - The state health department will reshuffle dollars within its budget to fill a new $19 million shortfall that has emerged in the state's Medicaid program, without making new budget cuts. The department also plans to reverse cuts to the Medicaid rates paid to hospitals for taking care... more »

• DHH reopens two coastal areas for oyster harvesting

  December 6, 2010 4:59 PM

  BATON ROUGE - The state Department of Health and Hospitals has cleared two more sections of the state's coastline for oyster harvesting, after they were closed due to the BP oil spill. Harvest areas 9 and 10, which are west of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, were originally... more »

• New case of West Nile Virus reported in Ascension Parish

  November 5, 2010 10:44 AM

  BATON ROUGE – A new human case of West Nile Virus has been confirmed in Louisiana, this time in Ascension Parish. The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said the case is also the most severe form of West Nile infection, called neuroinvasive. It typically results in a swelling of... more »

• Groups fight La. Gov. Jindal's Medicaid plan

  October 19, 2010 6:29 AM

  Hospitals, emergency responders, physicians and other medical providers have stepped up their opposition to the Jindal administration's planned restructuring of the state's Medicaid program. The Louisiana Ambulance Alliance, Louisiana Hospital Association, Louisiana State Medical Society and other groups announced the organization of the Coalition to Protect Louisiana's Healthcare to challenge... more »

• Two new cases of West Nile in Baton Rouge area

  October 15, 2010 12:49 PM

  State health officials have confirmed two more people have contracted West Nile Virus in the Baton Rouge area. According to the Department of Health and Hospitals, the two new cases are from East Baton Rogue and West Baton Rouge parishes. The case in East Baton Rouge is the most severe... more »

• DHH reopens Terrebonne oyster harvesting area

  October 14, 2010 4:46 PM

  Louisiana health officials are reopening an oyster harvesting area in Terrebonne Parish, after it was closed in response to the Gulf oil spill. The Department of Health and Hospitals announced today that oyster harvesting Area 19 is being reopened just before sunrise Friday, after it had been deemed safe by... more »

• Hispanic worker in New Roads dies from rabies

  August 24, 2010 11:45 AM

  The Department of Health and Hospitals has confirmed that a Hispanic field worker who contracted rabies while still in Mexico has died from the illness. Lisa Faust with DHH said the worker died over the weekend after he fell ill in New Roads, and was transferred from a hospital... more »

• DHH supervisor suspended in ongoing investigation

  August 20, 2010 10:32 AM

  A supervisor with the Department of Health and Hospitals has been placed on administrative leave as part of an ongoing investigation, according to an agency officials. Chief Engineer Karen Irion, who is a supervisor in the Office of Public Health, was placed on leave with pay Wednesday according to... more »

• Woman's Hospital exec to lead American Hospital Association

  July 28, 2010 9:27 AM

  The president and CEO of Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge was elected to a seat that will make her the American Hospital Association's top elected officer and spokeswoman in 2012. The hospital announced that Teri Fontenot is the group's chair-elect designate. That means she will become the chair-elect... more »

• 12,000 Minnesota nurses plan 1-day walkout

  June 10, 2010 5:55 AM

  More than 12,000 Minneapolis-area nurses are hitting the picket lines for a one-day strike in a dispute over staffing levels and pension benefits. The 14 hospitals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area say they've hired enough well-qualified replacement nurses to operate safely during the strike. Health care costs have been skyrocketing... more »

• 2 rural hospitals to merge

  April 6, 2010 7:39 AM

  Ville Platte Medical Center and Acadian Medical Center of Eunice, which last year announced plans to merge, will make it official when they become two campuses of the newly created Mercy Regional Medical Center. The Daily World reports that Alan Daugherty, who had served as chief executive officer of the... more »

• La. hospitals reach 2nd organ donor goal

  February 25, 2010 8:21 AM

  Hospitals throughout Louisiana have met their goal of 200,000 new organ donors, so the Louisiana Hospital Association has set a third benchmark. President Bill Holman hopes to add another 50,000 people to the registry by the time the LHA meets in July. That would make a quarter-million new names on... more »

• Compare Louisiana hospitals online

  February 2, 2010 4:45 PM

  You can now go online and compare cost and quality of hospitals and health care facilities in Louisiana. The state health department and Gov. Bobby Jindal launched a new website today that will allow you to compare the costs and quality of hospitals, nursing homes and health plans within... more »

• State mental health program to end

  January 5, 2010 4:40 PM

  State budget cuts are forcing the closure of Gateway House. It is a transitional program designed to help patients who have been discharged from the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System in Jackson. There are currently 27 patients in the program and 16 full-time employees who provide care for them. ... more »

• Hand washing police

  November 3, 2009 8:14 PM

  Doctors and nurses and other medical workers at hospitals in Maryland will have the hand washing police looking over the shoulder to gather information about what staff needs to do a better job. The state created teams of staff members at hospitals to secretly monitor their collegues for a statewide... more »

• State to release swine flu plans

  October 9, 2009 9:54 AM

  The Louisiana Department of Health and Hosptials will hold a news conference at 11:00 am to discuss its H-1-N-1 vaccination plans. Distribution, availability and the ordering process for the vaccines will be topics of the meeting. more »

• Not all hospitals want swine flu vaccine spray

  October 8, 2009 10:56 AM

  Some hospitals in Mississippi and other states passed up the government's offer for the swine flu nasal spray for health care workers, choosing to wait for the injectable vaccine. Many cited usage restrictions on the spray, and the slim possibility it could transmit the virus to patients and others... more »

• Registration needed to give H1N1 vaccine

  September 30, 2009 5:49 AM

  The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals wants to remind doctors, hospitals, health departments and certified pharmacists that if they want to give swine flu vaccines, they must register with the state by 5 p.m. Friday. Louisiana expects to get the first shipment of H1N1 vaccine in mid-October. You can... more »

• La. gets $362M debt notice

  September 15, 2009 3:59 PM

  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana has received a $362 million debt collection notice from Washington. Federal health officials formally notified Louisiana on Tuesday that the state's charity hospitals were overpaid federal health care dollars in the mid-1990s. Now, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wants to... more »

• Swine Flu Death

  September 12, 2009 9:58 AM

  A North Louisiana resident is the seventh person in the state to die from the H1N1 virus, or swine flu. That's according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. DHH would only say the person was a male, living in the Shreveport area. No other details have been released.... more »