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LDH News

• December 11, 2008

  National and State Health Policy Experts Laud Governor's Proposed Health Care Overhaul

  In a week that Louisiana was ranked by several studies as having the lowest-performing health care system in the nation, including citations as having the highest number of avoidable hospitalizations, over-utilized emergency departments and among the highest rates of death in the nation and with among the highest costs, several Louisiana-based and national health care experts are supporting Louisiana Health First, a broad effort to overhaul the state’s health care system for the poor and uninsured.

• December 10, 2008

  La. Report Card Underlines Need for Health Care Reform

  A national medical specialty organization says Louisiana’s health care system is well prepared for disasters, but in poor shape for its public preventive health care, access to emergency care and health quality.

• December 09, 2008

  La. Gets Perfect Score in Public Health Emergency Preparedness

  A national health organization says Louisiana is better prepared now more than ever for a hurricane, bioterrorism, or any other health emergency. In its sixth annual report, “Trust for America’s Health” gives Louisiana a perfect score of 10 out of 10 for health emergency preparedness. This is a significant improvement over the past two years: Louisiana received an eight out of 10 last year and a six out of 10 in 2006 for emergency readiness.

• November 24, 2008

  State to Require Reporting of Carbon Monoxide Exposure or Poisoning

  The Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) is now requiring that cases of carbon monoxide exposure or poisoning must be reported to the State Health Officer within five businesses days.

• November 19, 2008

  First Lady Partners with Shots for Tots

  First Lady Supriya Jindal announced today her partnership with the Shots for Tots outreach campaign. The effort, called “Every Child by Two,” is an aggressive media campaign to raise awareness among caregivers on the benefits of immunizations and the dangers of leaving children unvaccinated.

• November 18, 2008

  La. Rural and Underserved Areas Receive Health Care Funds

  The Department of Health and Hospitals awarded 14 grants of up to $75,000 to health care providers in rural and medically underserved areas in the state for community health care service expansion projects.

• November 14, 2008

  Governor Jindal and LDH Secretary Levine Announce

  BATON ROUGE - Governor Bobby Jindal and DHH Secretary Alan Levine today announced details on “Louisiana Health First,” an initiative to improve the health of the people in our state and create a financially sustainable system of quality health care. The initiative focuses on expanding health insurance coverage for our working poor and offering Medicaid consumers choices on insurance coverage rather than languishing in a government-imposed one-size-fits-all system. This initiative also works to reduce fraud and system abuse, ensure that providers are more involved in patient care, make the new charity hospital a competitive academic institution in New Orleans, reward providers for better health outcomes, and increase transparency in the Medicaid system by making performance measures available on the Internet.

• November 14, 2008

  Governor Jindal and LDH Secretary Levine Announce Louisiana Health First

  Governor Bobby Jindal and DHH Secretary Alan Levine today announced details on “Louisiana Health First,” an initiative to improve the health of the people in our state and create a financially sustainable system of quality health care.

• November 07, 2008

  DHH Proposes Licensure Rules for Pediatric Day Health Care Facilities

  The Department of Health and Hospitals today proposed regulations for implementation of a new option for treatment of children with intensive special health care needs - Pediatric Day Health Care Facilities. Pediatric Day Health Care Facilities provide parents and caregivers with children under the age of 21 an option for intensive medical services and supervision while parents work.

• November 07, 2008

  Louisiana Prepares for a Pandemic Flu Outbreak

  While Louisiana’s citizens prepare for seasonal flu, the state’s health care experts and medical professionals are preparing for a pandemic flu outbreak. It has been almost 40 years since the last pandemic flu outbreak swept the globe, killing more than one million people worldwide. However, health experts predict a worldwide influenza outbreak in the very near future, making planning critical.

• November 03, 2008

  Insect Foggers Linked to Health Problems in Louisiana

  A recent report from the CDC has highlighted Louisiana as a state with documented cases of illnesses and injuries resulting from the improper use of total release foggers, more commonly referred to as bug bombs or insect foggers.

• October 21, 2008

  Free Bowling Offered to Encourage Smokers to Quit

  The Department of Health and Hospitals’ Tobacco Control Program, the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco Free Living and Lafayette Lanes will host Become An EX® Night on Oct. 24, 2008 to promote smoking cessation through the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation’s Become An EX® program.