Louisiana Department of Health

The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), formerly known as the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, is a state agency of Louisiana, headquartered in Baton Rouge.[1] It is Louisiana's largest state agency with a budget of $15 billion and approximately 6,300 personnel. The agency oversees the health of the population under its current secretary, Dr. Courtney N. Phillips.[2]

Louisiana Department of Health
Agency overview
JurisdictionLouisiana
HeadquartersBaton Rouge, Louisiana
Agency executives
  • Dr. Courtney N. Phillips, Secretary
  • Mark A. Thomas, Deputy Secretary
Websitehttp://ldh.la.gov/
Headquarters of the Louisiana Department of Health

Leadership

Dr. Courtney N. Phillips was appointed secretary[3] in 2020 by Governor John Bel Edwards. Prior to her role as secretary, she served as executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services, which included the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and Texas Department of State Health Services. Before that, she served as chief executive officer of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.[4] She also previously spent 12 years at LDH in a variety of roles, including deputy secretary.

Mark A. Thomas has served as deputy secretary, the chief operating officer of LDH, since 2018. His previous role was assistant secretary of LDH's Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities from 2013 to 2018. The deputy secretary is the coordinator for LDH's Regional Coordinating Councils and oversees the coordination and implementation of the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Mission

The mission of the Louisiana Department of Health is to protect and promote health and to ensure access to medical, preventive and rehabilitative services for all citizens of the state of Louisiana.

Offices of the Louisiana Department of Health

LDH's agencies include:

  • Office of Public Health
    • Monitors food and safe drinking water
    • Fights chronic and communicable disease
    • Ensures readiness for hurricanes, disasters and other threats
    • Manages, analyzes and disseminates public health data
    • Ensures access to vital records for births, deaths, fetal deaths and Orleans Parish marriage records
    • Offers preventive health services
  • Office of Behavioral Health
    • Manages and delivers supports and services for citizens with mental illness and addictive disorders
    • Delivers direct care through hospitalization
    • Oversees behavioral health community-based treatment programs through the human services districts and authorities
  • Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities
    • Single point of entry into the developmental disabilities services system
    • Oversees public and private residential services and other services for people with developmental disabilities
  • Office of Aging and Adult Services
    • Manages and delivers supports and services for senior citizens and people with adult-onset disabilities
    • Provides and enhances services for people in need of long-term care
  • Office of Community Partnerships & Health Equity
    • Operationalizes community engagement and health equity best practices and standards agency wide
  • Healthy Louisiana (Medicaid)
    • Provides medical benefits to low-income individuals and families
    • Expanded under Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2016[5] through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
    • Medicaid expansion has provided nearly 480,000 previously uninsured residents with coverage, dropping the state's uninsured rate to 8.4% in 2017[6]

LDH also plays a role in the State of Louisiana's emergency preparedness network.

Geographic Structure
The nine regions of the Louisiana Department of Health

The Louisiana Department of Health provides public health services and oversight across Louisiana in nine regions.[7]

Region Headquarters Area (Parishes)
1* New Orleans Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard
2 Baton Rouge Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana
3 Houma Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John, St. Mary, Terrebonne
4 Lafayette Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, Vermilion
5 Lake Charles Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis
6 Alexandria Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Rapides, Vernon, Winn
7 Shreveport Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, Webster
8 Monroe Caldwell, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, Union, West Carroll
9 Hammond Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington

*Within the Office of Behavioral Health, Region 1 comprises Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes. An additional Region 10, based in Metairie, serves Jefferson Parish exclusively.

References
  1. "." Louisiana Department of Health. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  2. "Gov. Edwards Announces Dr. Courtney Phillips as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health". Office of the Governor. February 12, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  3. Sam Karlin, Mark Ballard (February 12, 2020). "Texas health leader tapped as next Louisiana Department of Health secretary to replace Rebekah Gee". The Advocate. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  4. Hilburn, Greg (February 13, 2020). "Coming home: Meet the new leader of Louisiana's Department of Health Courtney Phillips". Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  5. [email protected], mark ballard. "Gov. John Bel Edwards issues executive order to expand Medicaid". The Advocate. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  6. "Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2017" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. September 2018.
  7. "Local Government Entities | Department of Health | State of Louisiana". ldh.la.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.