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Nursing home residents allowed to return to Terrebonne after evacuating for Hurricane Ida

The Courier - 10/12/2021

Oct. 9—After several weeks in limbo, nursing home residents who evacuated before Hurricane Ida are now being allowed to return to Terrebonne.

The Category 4 storm severely damaged Terrebonne General and Leonard J. Chabert medical centers in Houma after making landfall Aug. 29. Since then, Terrebonne had remained without a fully functioning hospital.

That changed Friday when Chabert Medical Center began providing inpatient services for the first time since the hurricane hit. Patients there can now undergo surgeries and medical procedures that include overnight stays.

Until Friday, Thibodaux Regional had been the only hospital in Terrebonne and Lafourche offering those services since the storm hit.

As a result, about 300 nursing home evacuees from Chateau Terrebonne, Heritage Manor and the Oaks of Houma had to stay in other parishes until the state allowed them to return, officials said.

Residents received approval to return from the state Health Department earlier this week, Emergency Preparedness Director Earl Eues said. However, residents had to sign a waiver before being allowed to return because hospitals in Terrebonne were not fully operational.

"The decision for them to come back to Terrebonne Parish was a decision made by the Department of Health," he said. "They cleared residents to come back into the parish. They're able to come back with restrictions placed on them by the Department of Health. The nursing homes had to notify each resident about what the medical infrastructure is here and each resident had to sign paperwork showing they agreed to come back. That was stipulated by the Department of Health."

Missy Domangue McElroy of Houma said her 86-year-old mother-in-law returned Thursday to Chateau Terrebonne after spending weeks at a facility in Leesville.

"She's very happy to be home," McElroy said. "We're hoping to go see her through her window today. I'm also going shopping get her water and snacks she keeps in her room. But, honestly, it's a great feeling of relief she's back. It's been rough. But at least we were getting outside visits and we could go to her window."

Terrebonne officials met with hospital providers, Acadian Ambulance personnel and Department of Health officials to determine the area's access to hospitals, transportation, doctors, professional services and necessary supplies.

Aside from Thibodaux Regional and now Chabert, St. Charles Parish Hospital, Ochsner St. Mary in Morgan City and Assumption Community Hospital in Napoleonville were the nearest medical providers. Each is about 35 miles away from Houma.

Jody DePriest, regional vice president for Pathway South, which manages the Oaks and Heritage Manor, said the staff was elated to have residents return.

More than 200 residents were displaced after the storm, he said.

"We are back," DePriest said in a phone interview Thursday. "We had a very positive result and were able to come back into our facilities. So that was very good news for us. When you see residents come in and they cry because they're happy to see their staff and family members, it's an emotional return. It takes a lot of preparation before a storm comes in to make sure you're ready for a test like that. It's been amazing to get them back. It was hard for them to leave and it's much better for them to come home."

— 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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