• Offices & Administration
• About LDH
• LDH News

LDH News

• September 05, 2014

  Health Officials Confirm Two New West Nile Virus Deaths

  This Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) is urging everyone to Fight the Bite, and protect yourself from mosquito-borne diseases. This comes as DHH confirms two new West Nile virus deaths this week, bringing this year's total to four West Nile virus deaths. The deaths are in Northwest Louisiana and the Capital Area Region. DHH is also reporting 19 new West Nile virus infections, of which six were neuroinvasive disease cases, bringing this year's total to 80 reported infections.

• September 05, 2014

  SECOND OVERSIGHT REPORT: Registration of Foods, Drugs, Cosmetics, and Prophylactic Products

  The Office of Public Health proposes four amendments to Title 51, Part VI Sections 101 and 105 (Manufacturing, Processing, Packing, and Holding of Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics). The first proposed rule change in Section 101 adds definitions relative to product registration. The second proposed rule change corrects some obsolete program and department references 105.A. The third proposed rule change corrects an additional obsolete reference in 105.E and corrects a typographical reference to a nonexistent section “1” of R.S. 40:628. The fourth proposed rule change eliminates the fee schedule and replaces it with section 105.F to indicate that OPH shall charge a fee for product registrations in accordance with R.S. 40:628 and R.S. 40:716.

• September 05, 2014

  SECOND OVERSIGHT REPORT: Health Examinations for Employees, Volunteers and Patients at Certain Medical Facilities

  The state health officer, acting through the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health, is promulgating a proposed rule to update and revise the Louisiana Administrative Code Title 51 (Louisiana Sanitary Code), Part II - “The Control of Diseases,” Chapter 5 - “Health Examination for Employees, Volunteers and Patients at Certain Medical Facilities”, Section 503 – “Mandatory Tuberculosis Testing.” This proposed rule will provide a third alternative to the annual screening testing of employees and volunteers at Louisiana hospitals and nursing homes now required on an annual basis. This third alternative is a simple screening questionnaire, which may be used instead of the other alternatives, i.e. the tuberculin skin test, also known as the Mantoux test, or the blood test, also known as the blood assay test. The initial screening test of an employee, upon initial employment, or volunteer, upon initial acceptance as a volunteer, will remain either the skin test or the blood assay test. The required screening testing of patients remains unchanged.

• September 05, 2014

  NOTICE OF INTENT: LDH OPH Food and Drug Program

  The proposed rule codifies the product registration fee schedule within section 105 of Part VI of Title 51 of the Louisiana Administrative Code raises the per-product fee from $20 to $27, as provided for by Act 125 of the 1st Extraordinary Session of the 2000 Louisiana Legislature.

• September 05, 2014

  September 2014 Legislative Oversight Committee Activity

• September 03, 2014

  State officials, Blue Cross announce payment reforms aimed at improving birth outcomes for Louisiana newborns

  Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) Secretary Kathy H. Kliebert joined officials from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, and other health care leaders today in announcing a payment reform that will help Louisiana newborns have a head start on a healthy life. Effective Sept. 1, 2014, Blue Cross and Louisiana Medicaid will no longer pay for elective, medically unnecessary births of infants before 39 weeks of gestation. The change is expected to reduce the number of early elective deliveries by providers across the state and to reduce the number of costly health complications that lead many infants to have preventable medical challenges.

• September 03, 2014

  RFP For System Point of Entry (SPOE) for Louisiana's Early Intervention System

  The purpose of this RFP is to solicit proposals from qualified proposers who will operate a SPOE office in one or more of the ten (10) DHH/OCDD “regions” which can be identified at http://www.dhh.la.gov/assets/docs/OrgCharts/LGE_DstrctAthrtyMap_14.pdf. The SPOEs shall be responsible for initial Support Coordination, the eligibility determination and enrollment process for each referred child and family into the EarlySteps program, and the completion of the initial Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for each eligible child and family in EarlySteps Louisiana’s IDEA-Part C system. After eligibility is established, ongoing service coordination shall be provided by Family Support Coordinators (FSC) with enrolled Family Support Coordination agencies. The FSC agencies continually update the SPOE with information to enter into the data system. The SPOE shall be the only entity responsible for day-to-day maintenance of the child’s electronic record in the Early Intervention Data System (EIDS).

• August 29, 2014

  Health Officials Confirm Nine New West Nile Virus Cases this Week; 61 Total Cases this Year

  This week, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) confirmed nine new cases of West Nile virus, of which five were neuroinvasive disease cases, bringing this year's total to 61 reported infections. Louisiana continues to have the nation's second highest number of West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease cases.

• August 29, 2014

  1st Quarter LDH Litigation Disclosure Report

  Petitions filed June 2014 through August 2014 where the Department of Health and Hospitals is named as plaintiff.

• August 27, 2014

  DHH Testing Confirms Presence of Naegleria Fowleri Ameba in St. John Water District 1 Water System

  Today, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) announced that its testing confirmed the presence of the Naegleria fowleri ameba in the St. John Water District 1 water system. This water system serves 12,577 people in the towns of Reserve, Garyville and Mt. Airy. There are no known cases of illness related to the ameba in St. John the Baptist Parish or elsewhere in the state currently.

• August 22, 2014

  Health Officials Confirm 10 New West Nile Virus Cases this Week; 52 Total Cases this Year

  With the increasing numbers of West Nile virus cases in the state, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) is urging residents to be vigilant and protect themselves from mosquitoes. This week, DHH confirmed 10 new cases of West Nile virus, of which seven were neuroinvasive disease cases, bringing this year's total to 52 reported infections. Prior to these new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's August 19, 2014 weekly West Nile Virus report, Louisiana had the second highest number of West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease cases.

• August 19, 2014

  West Nile Update

  The goal of the surveillance for West Nile Infections in Humans is to describe the disease burden of the West Nile infection on the human population.