Office of the Secretary

DHH’s 2012 business plan, “Leading Transformation: Our FY 2012 Priorities for a Healthier Louisiana.” The plan, developed over the course of several months, outlines the Department’s priorities for fiscal year 2012 and sets out detailed goals and deliverables to meet each of the those goals.

For the second consecutive year, Louisiana scored a perfect 100 on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) evaluation of the state's public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities. Louisiana and seven other states scored 100 two years in a row. Louisiana's public health laboratories also received exemplary marks. The CDC's "Public Health Preparedness: 2011 State-by-State Update on Laboratory Capabilities and Response Readiness Planning" report released today evaluates the state over a three-year period, from 2007-2010.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH), Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) are working with local officials in Washington and St. Tammany parishes to conduct a new round of precautionary testing of a sample of private water wells along the Pearl River. Temple Inland agreed to support the state’s request to begin precautionary testing earlier today.

Attached is presentation given by DHH Secretary, Bruce D. Greenstein to Louisiana Senate Finance Committee on June 8, 2011.

DHH Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein and Medicaid Medical Director Dr. Rodney Wise issued the following update to Medicaid providers today regarding the hormone progesterone, commonly known as 17P, which, despite its proven effectiveness in dramatically reducing the risk of a repeat premature birth, has recently been priced at a rate that may keep it out of reach for many Louisiana mothers.