Hospitals in Lafourche open

Electricity was restored relatively quickly at Lafourche Parish’s hospitals last week. Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, Ochsner’s St. Anne General Hospital and Lady of the Sea General Hospital are all back in operation.

Both TRMC and Ochsner’s St. Anne remained open throughout last week’s storm, powering the sites on generator power, as Hurricane Gustav crossed the Tri-parishes.

“We never left,” Ochsner’s St. Anne CEO/Administrator Milton Bourgeois Jr. said. “We housed over 200 employees, their families and pets. We currently house National Guard troops and we have also been housing FEMA representatives.”

As a precautionary measure, the hospital did transport patients to Ochsner’s main campus and other sites to ensure treatment was uninterrupted.

With power restored, Bourgeois said workers had begun repairing the minor damage Gustav caused.

“We have roof damage on one of our elevators and windows blew out of some of our non-hurricane-proof windows,” he said. “We were in the process of hurricane-proofing all of the windows anyway. We also lost a roof on the rehab clinic behind us, but we weren’t using that building yet.”

Ochsner’s St. Anne is fully functional, Bourgeois said. The only service still not back online is dialysis.

No indication was given as to when it will be available.

TRMC CEO Greg Stock said power was restored Thursday night at the facility. With most patients having been moved prior to Gustav’s arrival, the hospital has served as a shelter for first responders and hospital staff.

“We transported a large number of inpatients as a precaution,” he said. “We planned carefully and for years so we knew what to do. With so many area hospitals, we took in a lot of patients with special needs. I owe a great thanks to Acadian Ambulance and our voluntary MASH team, which came in from Lafayette and helped us improve the flow of the emergency department.”

All of TRMC’s services are up and running, Stock said. “Inpatient, outpatient, rehab, the Cancer Center, dialysis; it’s all working,” he said. “Our command staff and doctors prepared for everything with a plan. It worked out. We never went out of service.”