7:28 p.m. ET, September 7, 2021
Nurses detail horrific conditions at warehouse that nursing facilities evacuated to during Hurricane Ida
From CNN's Paul P. Murphy
Two nurses who work at facilities that evacuated to a Independence, Louisiana, warehouse say some health care workers spent days trying to keep patients alive while enduring supply shortages, electricity cuts and what they describe as a negligent nursing home administration.
The facility administrator "told us we were going to a medical facility," one nurse told CNN. "They told us we were going to sister facilities out of town. They at no time told us they were going to a warehouse."
The nurse remembers the administrator describing the warehouse as "a medical facility in Independence."
CNN is not naming the nurse, or their facility, because they were not authorized to speak to the press and were fearful they would lose their job.
"We were put in a situation that we did not know, but we handled it," the nurse said.
Natalie Henderson, a nurse at Maison Deville of Houma, said that conditions there were "nasty, very unsanitary."
A review of business licenses by CNN has found that Bob Dean Jr. of Baton Rouge is listed as an executive for all seven of the nursing facilities, in addition to the warehouse.
When questioned about the warehouse by CNN affiliate WVUE, Dean said that, "we only had five deaths within the six days and normally with 850 people, you'll have a couple a day, so we did really good with taking care of people."
Seven nursing home residents died, according to state health officials.
CNN has reached out to Dean and the facilities for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
It all began, the unnamed nurse says, in the early morning hours of August 27 when they received notice that staff and patients were evacuating ahead of Hurricane Ida. Ambulances were used for bed-bound patients, "lift buses" for wheelchair-mobile patients and small buses were used to transport fully mobile patients.
Power outages: After the power went out at the warehouse, the nurse says that while the large generator on-site continued to run, it switched between providing lights and air conditioning, and wall outlet electricity. The nurse says that as a result of that, the warehouse, which had few windows, was frequently plunged into darkness.
Henderson described the warehouse as hot and humid. There were electric fans inside the warehouse initially, she said, but they were later removed because they were perceived to be the reason breakers repeatedly tripped.
The flickering outages also meant that nurses had to pay special attention to what was receiving any electricity at any time. When the lights and air conditioning were on, the unnamed nurse says they eventually realized on their own that meant the wall socket electricity was off. No one had informed them that would be the case, the nurse said.
That nurse said that almost proved deadly, because a number of their patients required concentrated oxygen to stay alive. The only way the nurse says that those in their section realized this was when they noticed patient oxygen saturation levels dropping during their rounds.