Office of the Secretary

The Louisiana departments of Health and Hospitals and Environmental Quality are urging residents as well as oil spill response workers and volunteers to take the proper steps to protect their health from possible exposure to chemical, physical and biological hazards caused by the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Statement from DHH Secretary Alan Levine on Oyster Safety

The Louisiana departments of Health and Hospitals, and Wildlife and Fisheries announced today they will be closing select fishing areas and oyster harvesting beds as a precautionary response to the oil spill in the Gulf.

Statement by DHH and DEQ on Reports of Petroleum Odor in Onshore Communities.

Governor Bobby Jindal held a press conference today following a meeting with the Unified Command Group to give an update on the state’s actions in response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier in the day, Governor Jindal visited the Coast Guard Command Center in Houma for a briefing on the oil spill and then he joined Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry and BP executives for a flyover of the oil spill area in the Gulf. At the press conference, Governor Jindal emphasized the state’s continued monitoring of the oil spill in the Gulf and preparations for any potential effects on Louisiana’s coastline in the coming days.

Today, Governor Bobby Jindal announced the appointment of Damion Cummins to the Medicaid Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee.

Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced today that Louisiana’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud is showing results for taxpayers.

BATON ROUGE—Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced today that Louisiana’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud is showing results for taxpayers.

NEW ORLEANS—Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals’ Secretary Alan Levine today celebrated the opening of two new community-based outpatient mental health care clinics for children, adolescents and their families in the Greater New Orleans area. Levine joined local and state officials in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at one of the new clinics, the Midtown Clinic in New Orleans, to mark another milestone in the state’s creation of a robust, community-based mental health system statewide.

BATON ROUGE – Today, Governor Bobby Jindal announced four nominees to the New Orleans Academic Medical Center Initial Corporation Board, marking the next step forward toward creating the new Academic Medical Center in New Orleans. In August 2009, Governor Jindal joined LSU System President John Lombardi, Tulane President Scott Cowen, Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) Secretary Alan Levine and other New Orleans officials to announce an agreement of the governance structure.