HLS 22RS-391 ORIGINAL
2022 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 62
BY REPRESENTATIVE ECHOLS
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: Requests the La. Department of Health to develop a
proposal for a statewide hospital coordination plan for use in disasters and other
emergency situations
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to develop a proposal for a
3 statewide hospital coordination plan and patient transfer strategy for use in disasters
4 and other emergency situations and to report the proposal to the House Committee
5 on Health and Welfare and the House Select Committee on Homeland Security.
6 WHEREAS, on March 11, 2020, the date on which global health authorities
7recognized the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic, the governor of this state,
8through Proclamation No. 25 JBE 2020, declared a state of public health emergency in
9accordance with the Louisiana Health Emergency Powers Act, R.S. 29:760 et seq.; and
10 WHEREAS, this state of public health emergency in response to COVID-19 was
11routinely renewed and would run continuously for over two years, finally expiring on March
1216, 2022; and
13 WHEREAS, throughout these two years, gubernatorial proclamations declaring and
14renewing Louisiana's COVID-19 public health emergency set forth a wide variety of
15protocols and mandates for the public and private sectors alike which were designed to
16respond to and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in this state; however, no such
17proclamation encompassed a statewide hospital coordination plan or patient transfer
18strategy; and
19 WHEREAS, other states have recognized the critical necessity of having a statewide
20hospital coordination plan in place; and
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HR NO. 62
1 WHEREAS, a notable example of such a plan is Colorado's, which that state
2implemented pursuant to Executive Order No. D 2021 135; and
3 WHEREAS, administrators of rural hospitals in certain regions of Louisiana have
4reported that during the state's first surge of COVID infections in 2020, they were instructed
5by health officials to prepare to accept large numbers of COVID patients from other regions;
6that they emptied their beds in order to do so; and that no COVID patients were ever
7transferred to them; and
8 WHEREAS, many of these same rural hospitals have reported that similar events
9transpired during the state's preparation for and response to the hurricanes that impacted our
10state in 2020 and 2021, as the hospitals were again instructed by health officials to make bed
11capacity available for transferred patients, did so, and received no transferred patients; and
12 WHEREAS, hospitals are an indispensable part of our state's emergency response
13infrastructure; and
14 WHEREAS, because the Louisiana Department of Health is the lead agency for our
15state's public health and medical services emergency support function during disaster and
16emergency periods (known commonly and classified by the state emergency operations plan
17as ESF-8), it is appropriate to call upon this agency to lead the development of a statewide
18hospital coordination plan and patient transfer strategy.
19 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
20Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health
21to develop a proposal for a statewide hospital coordination plan and patient transfer strategy
22for use in disasters and other emergency situations.
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in developing the proposal called for in this
24Resolution, the Louisiana Department of Health shall engage, collaborate with, and obtain
25information and guidance from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
26Preparedness and the Louisiana Emergency Response Network.
27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Department of Health shall submit
28the proposal called for in this Resolution to the House Committee on Health and Welfare,
29the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, and the David R. Poynter Legislative
30Research Library on or before December 1, 2022.
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HR NO. 62
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
2secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, the director of the Governor's Office of
3Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, and the executive director of the
4Louisiana Emergency Response Network.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 62 Original 2022 Regular Session Echols
Urges and requests the La. Department of Health (LDH) to develop a proposal for a
statewide hospital coordination plan and patient transfer strategy for use in disasters and
other emergency situations. Requires LDH to submit the proposal to the House Committee
on Health and Welfare and the House Select Committee on Homeland Security on or before
Dec. 1, 2022.
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