HJBR Nov/Dec 2023

DIALOGUE 10 NOV / DEC 2023 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE Dianne Hartley, Editor Thank you so much for taking the time to meet today. Con- gratulations on your appointment as LDH secretary. The secretary role seems to have a two- to three-year lifespan since Jindal was secretary in 1996. You’ve been with the department for over 20 years. Were you concerned about taking the head role, and how’s it going? Secretary Stephen Russo No, I really wasn’t concerned about it at all. This is my second stint filling in as secretary. I did fill in back in 2020 between Secretary Gee and Secretary Phillips. During my first tenure, we got hit with the pandemic. COVID-19 was hot and heavy at that time — its most prolific stage — spreading like wildfire. We were having some issues with ventilators and just trying to get our hands around it. This stint has been a little bit better. We still have some initiatives that we’re trying to finalize while Governor Edwards is still in office, trying to leave the office and the department better than where we found it. I think we’re doing an excellent job at that, just from my experience with the depart- ment. It’s really at the best spot it has been since I came on. Of course, I came on when Governor Jindal was the secretary of the department. The department has grown regardless of who has been governor. These last eight years, under Governor Edwards, it has grown by leaps and bounds with Med- icaid expansion, with the help of our pro- vider community, and with the help of us going to what I would call as close to full- time managed care as we can get. It’s been fun. Of course, these last few months here, we’ve had to deal with wildfires and saltwa- ter intrusion on a much grander scale than we’re used to dealing with, so that’s been very challenging. Editor Thank you. That was the next ques- tion; let’s start with the public health emergency happening in New Orleans — saltwater intrusion coming up the Mis- sissippi River, threatening New Orleans’ water source and already impacting com- munities in South Louisiana. What is the latest update, and how has the depart- ment responded to the saltwater intru- sion emergency? Secretary Russo Well, we are working extremely closely with those four parishes down there, working closely with GOHSEP [Governor’s Office of Homeland Secu- rity and Emergency Preparedness] and, of course, theArmy Corps of Engineers. We did get some good news lately from the Army Corps, letting us know that the saltwater wedge has slowed down significantly, and so their timeframe has gotten pushed back, which gives us more time to prepare. Salt- water intrusion, what some people may not realize, is really nothing new for the depart- ment. We deal with it on a pretty yearly basis down in Plaquemines Parish, but this is the first time it has at least been forecasted to go this far north upriver. The most pressing fact is the length of time the Corps projects the saltwater intrusion to occur. That’s really the most pressing concern for us. We’re most concerned about the vulnera- ble populations: infants who are on formula, folks on low-sodium diets, and those with end-stage renal diseases. Then, of course, we are worried about the long-term effects of high levels of chloride in some of the water distribution plants. But other than that, I’ve been really impressed with State Health Officer Joseph Kanter, MD, Chief Engineer AmandaAmes, and Roseanne Pratt with her emergency response team who have just been incredible for the department, as they have been during hurricanes and whatnot since I’ve been with the department. Editor So, what’s the solution for saltwater intrusion? Secretary Russo The solution, at least for the lower parishes with lower water intakes, has been barging in water for drinking. For northern intakes, the plan would be for those parishes to run a pipeline further north so they would be pulling water that could be mixed with their intakes in order to get that salinity as low as they feel com- fortable with. Now, when we’re dealing with our vulnerable populations, of course, it is to have bottled water distribution sites in the affected parishes. We are getting a lot of help frommanaged care entities distributing bottled water down there. For infants, our WIC programs will be The January/February 2023 issue of the Journal outlined the majority of the Louisiana Department of Health’s business plan for this year. Mid-year, Courtney N. Phillips, PhD, the department’s secretary, stepped down and was replaced by long-time LDH veteran Stephen Russo. LDH is the state’s largest agency, and the secretary serves at the discretion of the governor, soon to be Jeff Landry. We had the opportunity to speak with Secretary Russo before the election, discussing the department’s current status, his vision, and a snapshot of the drinking water emergency situation facing southern parishes along the Mississippi River due to saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico.