Owner of nursing homes evacuated to warehouse during Ida cut from federal healthcare

Ashley White
Lafayette Daily Advertiser

The man who owned the Louisiana nursing homes that were evacuated to a warehouse where at least seven people died can no longer participate in federal health care programs. 

Inspector General Christi A. Grimm announced Monday that Bob Dean Jr. was excluded from participation because of "his ownership interest" in the seven homes that were previously excluded by the inspector general's office, according to a news release. 

"Improving nursing home performance and the care they provide is my number one priority,” Grimm said in a statement 

“When those facilities and their owners fail to protect our most vulnerable populations, OIG will not hesitate to implement its powerful exclusion tool to safeguard HHS (the Department of Health and Human Services) programs and the people they serve.” 

Photos included in a class-action lawsuit show conditions at an Independence, Louisiana, warehouse where more than 800 nursing home residents were evacuated during Hurricane Ida.

The Louisiana Department of Health revoked the facilities' licenses after nursing home residents were evacuated to a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse during Hurricane Ida. The Associated Press reported that 15 residents died after the evacuation, though some may not be related to the storm or warehouse, and LDH called the conditions unsafe and inhumane.

More:What to know about nursing home evacuation to Independence, lawsuit

The facilities laid off more than 800 people after that, but in the notice, the facilities called the revocation of the licenses "temporary," and said the decision was being appealed. 

class-action lawsuit also has been filed against Dean, alleging that the nursing home residents "called out to the representatives of defendants for food, water, medicine, and to be relieved of their soiled diapers, clothes and bed linens (for those who were provided linens) but their calls went unanswered."

The seven facilities that evacuated patients to the Independence, Louisiana, warehouse were located in Orleans, Lafourche, Terrebonne and Jefferson parishes. 

Evacuations:Who’s responsible for Louisiana’s nursing home evacuation plans? Officials won’t say.

About the lawsuit:As conditions at warehouse worsened during Ida, staff made toilets from buckets

Before Hurricane Ida made landfall, the facilities evacuated more than 800 residents to the warehouse. It was ill-equipped for the number of people it housed and there weren't enough staff to care for residents, according to a lawsuit. 

Mattresses were laid on the floor, just inches from each other, a problem that was exacerbated when rainwater leaked into one of the warehouse's buildings. 

The Louisiana Department of Health removed nearly 850 nursing home residents from this warehouse in Independence after nursing home owner Bob Dean transferred people there during Hurricane Ida.

Dean's attorney, John McLindon, since said the initial reports about conditions at the warehouse and Dean’s handling of the evacuation “have been greatly exaggerated.”

Who is Bob Dean Jr?:Past business ventures, past scrutiny for nursing home deaths

911 calls:Nursing home evacuees called 911 from fetid warehouse where 4 died

The facility's generators and oxygen equipment were failing, according to the OIG's release. 

There were at least 30 calls made to local officials from the facility about building conditions, food supply and myriad medical complaints. One woman who called 911 told officials she was kidnapped.

Officials with the department of health made multiple visits to the site but Dean threatened them. They later returned with law enforcement officials and removed residents. 

Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi