AMENDED AND RESTORED RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD
OF COMMISSIONERS OF LOWER CAMERON PARISH HOSPITAL SERVICE
DISTRICT AND CERTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY
This Amended and Restated Resolution replaces the June 23, 2021, Resolution and Certificate of Emergency: WHEREAS, pursuant to LSA-RS 46:1051, the Lower Cameron Parish Hospital Service District (the “District”) has beenestablished by the Police Jury of Cameron Parish to provide essential healthcare services to residents of the District in.cluding essential emergency room services;
WHEREAS, among the objects and purposes of the District, as established by, LSA-RS 46:1052, includes the own.ership and operation of a hospital for the person suffering from illness or disabilities that require that the patients receivehospital care and to administer other activities related to rendering care to the sick and injured or the promotion of healthwhich may be justified by the facilities, personnel, funds, and other requirements available;
WHEREAS, on August 27, 2020, Hurricane Laura, the tenth strongest storm to hit the United States mainland, came on shore in Cameron Parish with a ten (10) foot storm surge causing severe damage to property and thirty-three (33)deaths in the area;
WHEREAS, Hurricane Laura caused millions of dollars of damages to the District’s hospital facilities located in Creole,Louisiana, including not only making the hospital’s in-patient program inoperable, but also severely damaging its capa.bility for providing essential and life-saving emergency room services through its 24 hour, 7 days per week physician staffed emergency department;
WHEREAS, the District has aggressively pursued insurance proceeds to repair its facilities on an expedited basisand after months of unexpected delays, recently received an assurance of adequate funds to partially repair the hospitaland for the reopening of the essential emergency room and ten (10) of the hospital’s twenty-five (25) beds and infor.mation on the expected granting of a waiver by the Louisiana Department of Health’s (“LDH”) allowing such servicesto resume in a 10 bed rather than the 25 bed main campus in Creole, La. as required by current law;
WHEREAS, the District has been able to provide only non-emergent care to residents of the Parish in a tent providedby FEMA since its facility was damaged, which has created significant risk to the health and well-being of not only of District residents but also out of town workers who are repairing homes and facilities;
WHEREAS, numerous emergency federal and state declarations support efforts by the District to aggressively pursue,on an emergency basis, all methods available to immediately reopen essential hospital services including its all-importantemergency department to render care to district residents, especially in light of the COVID-19 crisis. Said declarationsinclude, among others:
• On August 21, 2020, Governor Edwards issued an emergency declaration in advance of the potential land fall of Hur.ricane Laura;
•
On August 23, 2020, Governor Edwards requested a Federal Declaration of a State of Emergency which was approved by President Trump;
•
On August 28, 2020, Governor Edwards requested expedited disaster relief;
•
On August 28, 2020, President Trump approved Louisiana’s major declaration request;
•
On March 11, 2020, Governor Edwards issued a Proclamation declaring that the State of Louisiana was experencing a public health emergency regarding COVID-19 infection;
•
On June 22, 2021, Governor Edwards extended the prior emergency declaration due to COVID-19being a public health emergency.
WHEREAS, the District has concluded that in an exercise of its discretion that it must hereby declare and certify anextreme emergency and an emergency pursuant to LSA-RS 38:2212 to immediately, without the formality of public bid, to procure the services required to make repairs to resume essential services at the Creole facility to avoid injury to thepublic for lack of access to the all-important emergency department, including its CT scan and stat lab services;
WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners of Lower Cameron Parish Hospital Service District hereby declares andcertifies an extreme emergency and an emergency its intention to negotiate a repair agreement as provided in LSA-RS38:2212 (P) that will allow it to take immediate action to repair its essential hospital facility for restoration of such essentialservices without following the formality of the provisions of the Public Bid Law;
WHEREAS, in electing to declare and certify an extreme emergency and an emergency, the District has considered information obtained from the clinical staff of the hospital including, the following limitations on services available at the temporary medical tent clinic known as “Western Shelter.” These include: no lab capabilities, no x-ray capabilities,limited advanced cardiac life support, no medical gas system (i.e., no oxygen, pressurized air, or vacuum suction), no controlled medication/medication dispensing units, limited patient privacy, poor ventilation and poor sanitation;
WHEREAS, based upon these clinical medical assessments the District also concluded that only a hospital and itsemergency department can meet the critically important needs of the Creole community and the remainder of LowerCameron Parish, because (1) there are no facilities within fifty (50) minutes that can provide essential emergencyroom services, a time period known as the “golden hour” in terms of providing trauma and cardiac arrest medical treat.ment, and (2) an available emergency room locally will avoid unnecessary EMS transfers as lower priority emergenciescan be triaged to the Creole facility therefore those ambulance services can be used for more emergent cases that re.quire a two (2) hour transport trip to Lake Charles; and
WHEREAS, based upon these clinical medical assessments, failure to take this action will inhibit the District frombeing able to timely address increased cases of Opiate overdoses like those experienced in the past few years requiringOpiate reversal such as Narcan in a timely manner to sustain life, a marked number of anaphylactic reactions requiringEpinephrine administration for critical stabilization, (3) multiple subdural bleads requiring urgent radiological confirma.tions and medication stabilization with emergency transfers to tertiary facilities and advanced cardiac life support andstabilization and other time sensitive situations that would not survive transit times.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioner’s hereby declares and certifies an extreme emergency and an emergency as defined in LSA-RS 38:2212 and authorizes its Chairman Timothy DuPont to expedite the procurement of the services required for the immediate repairs required to reopen the Creole campus with 10 li.censed beds and a full service emergency department and further to publish notice of this action in the official journal within ten (10) days of this date and hereby authorizes Board Chair Timothy DuPont to take all further actions necessary and appropriate to return these essential healthcare services to full operation on an expedited basis;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board, hereby ratifies all prior actions in connection therewith.
CERTIFICATE
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of a resolution duly and legally adopted by the Board of Commissioners on this 21st day of July, 2021, and that said resolutions have not been rescinded, modified, or recalled, and remain in full force and effect.
/s/ Timothy Dupont, Chairman of the Board
/s/ Margaret Jones, Secretary/Treasurer
AU 7 (Runs: 8/5 & 8/12)