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The West Jefferson Medicaid Office reopened this week on the fourth floor of the state office building at 2150 West Bank Expressway in Harvey. This is the same address, but on a different floor, as where the Medicaid office operated from before Hurricane Katrina.
The tragic death of a 17-year-old high school student in Virginia from Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, has brought this bacterium, termed a “superbug” by some, to the forefront of the public health discussion.
Efforts to address the critical nursing shortage in the New Orleans area are paying dividends as more than 400 nurses have committed to continuing their practice in the city, and an additional 200 nurses have applied for funds to move to the region.
Next week, Louisiana citizens can help themselves get ready for the upcoming flu season, as well as help the state prepare to respond to a public health emergency (such as release of a chemical or biological agent).
Dr. William Roger Clark has been named Medical Director for the Department of Health and Hospital’s Emergency Medical Services. The appointment was effective October 1, 2007.
The rural parish of Pointe Coupee will soon have a more advanced electronic network of medical information than most other areas of the state. That’s because funds awarded this week through the federal Department of Health and Human Services are being used to establish a health information technology network in the Pointe Coupee Parish area. The goals of this effort are to improve coordination of care, increase quality of care and provide cost savings to the system.
The Department of Health and Hospitals won three awards from the National Public Health Information Coalition during the organization’s annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland last month.
A new swim advisory has been issued this week for Martin Beach in Cameron Parish. Swim advisories issued previously for Constance, Gulf Breeze, Little Florida, Long and Rutherford beaches in Cameron Parish remain in effect.
For the past four years, the Blanco administration and the Department of Health and Hospitals have worked to increase the reimbursements made to all hospitals throughout Louisiana, including Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge.
In recognition of SIDS Awareness Month (October), the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals - Office of Public Health’s SIDS Awareness Program is presenting statewide demonstrations on safe sleeping positions for babies, tips on healthy behaviors that can decrease the risk of SIDS, educational materials on SIDS and factors that can reduce SIDS deaths.
Louisiana residents living in rural and medically underserved areas of the state will soon have greater access to primary care services due to 14 grant awards that will provide for community health care expansion projects.
Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco announced today that Louisiana has been selected as one of only 15 states to receive a national grant to be used for childhood obesity prevention efforts in schools. The state is being awarded $110,000 as part of the National Governor’s Association’s Healthy Kids, Healthy America award to go toward improving obesity rates among the state’s youth.