[StBernard] Medical Files, Pills Found In Abandoned St. Bernard Nursing Home

[Westley Annis]

Medical Files, Pills Found In Abandoned St. Bernard Nursing Home 


by Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News

Posted on March 8, 2010 at 6:19 PM

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CHALMETTE, La. - It is a building that senior citizens once called home, but
neighbors say it is now a hazard.

Nearly five years ago, Hurricane Katrina flooded the Huntington Place Senior
Community in the 3800 block of De La Ronde Drive in Chalmette. Yet,
residents said what they found inside the abandoned building put people at
risk for identity theft and more.

All it took was a rambunctious dog named Baby, to bring her owner to the
abandoned senior living center near their home.

"Our dog had gotten loose. She usually comes running through the field right
here, but we didn't see her. So, we tried checking the building. She was
running through the building at the time," said Nicholas, the dog's owner,
who asked that we not use his last name.

When Nicholas and his friend, Christian, went into the building to get the
dog out, they stumbled upon several filing cabinets, filled with medical
records of the senior citizens who once lived in the facility.

"I thought they would actually burn it or get rid of it," Nicholas said.
"But after five years of it still being here, I could still read everything
in the files."

In the files were patient names, birthdates, addresses, medical information
and social security numbers-- all clearly legible and left behind in the
gutted building.

"I just don't think it's right to have all that just laying out in the open
like this," said Christian, a Chalmette resident.

It is not just medical records that have been left in the building, but also
strewn on the building floor were pills-- most of them still left unopened,
in their original packaging. The building were syringes and an old cart
containing medical supplies and more pills. Some of the packaging indicated
the pills were Zyprexa, an anti-psychotic drug used to treat bipolar
disorder and schizophrenia. All of it is in an unsecured building where
anyone could get in through either broken windows or missing doors.

"Kids play out here all the time, and if they wander off, they could get
seriously hurt up in here," Christian said.

Eyewitness News brought its findings to the attention of St. Bernard Parish
President Craig Taffaro.

"I made a stopover at the building this afternoon. There was a
representative of the owner actually addressing those issues," Taffaro said.
"That's always of concern, especially in any medical facility, in terms of
having any confidential records or substances that could be harmful to
someone. Obviously, that's an unacceptable situation for any building to
have."

Taffaro also said there are citations, fines and an $11,000 lien against the
property. Eyewitness News tried to contact the owner of the property, but
was unable to. Taffaro said the building was originally released for
demolition in June of last year.

"We researched what the hold up is, since it was released from our office,"
Taffaro said. "Between the contractor and the monitoring agency, there was
an issue of whether or not it was actually released because it was released
by signature and not by e-mail."

Taffaro said the issue surrounding the release was cleared up and that the
building should be demolished within the next 30 days.