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OCTOBER 2021 • VOLUME 4 • ISSUE 10
TABLE OF CONTENTS 04 05 06
GOVERNMENT UPDATE
Officials push for state, federal resources to bring temporary homes to Lafourche and Terrebonne
OIL AND GAS UPDATE
Locals wait long hours for fuel post-Ida; Port Fourchon sees hope in Ida’s aftermath
FROM THE TOP Jennifer Armand
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TIP OF THE BUCKET
Bayou Community Foundation comes to the aid of our community.
LOCAL HOSPITALS WEATHER THE STORM Terrebonne General Health System and Thibodaux Regional Health System updates
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MOVERS & SHAKERS Headlines and Accolades
PUBLISHER
Brian Rushing ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Mary Downer Ditch EDITORIAL Drew Miller CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Heidi Guidry CONTRIBUTING WRITER
CREATIVE Lauren Pontiff GRAPHIC DESIGNER
ADVERTISING Beth Ann Tabor
WE ARE RESILIENT
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ave you ever looked closely at the Louisiana state flag? Sure, we all know there is a pelican in a nest with some babies, right? But do you know what the image is referred to as or what it represents? The Pelican in her Piety. The Pelican in her Piety has long been referenced as a symbol of self-sacrifice and charity. The image features the mother pelican tearing from her own flesh and body to feed her young. Sacrificing herself to care for others. Our state flag, which was last modified in 2010, features three distinct drops of blood, bright red against the pelican’s snowy white feathers. What better representation of the people of our state, of our parishes, than this? So many times as I handed out food and water, our people passed on certain things to be able to give to another with a greater need. Story after story has come from the bayou communities of individuals who pass on a blessing that they themselves so obviously needed to another that they have deemed less fortunate. What other community other than ours would give so selflessly to help others? Day after day, we have picked ourselves up, just to help our neighbors who are in need. As I write this column on 9/29, we are EXACTLY one month from Hurricane Ida’s landfall. I am sitting in my backyard, working from home, to the rhythmic
DIGITAL MARKETING Carlie Johnson
sounds of hammers as nearby roofs in my neighborhood are replaced. My area was lucky; we got power back relatively quickly, along with the internet. I am fully and almost painfully aware of how blessed my family is in the wake of such a monstrous event. As associate publisher for Rushing Media, I also oversee the production of another print publication, Point of Vue magazine and our parent company, The Times of Houma-Thibodaux. It has been through our work with The Times that we have been able to tell so many stories and provide much needed information to the bayou communities. Our staff spent many long days in these communities, telling your stories, then setting aside the notebook and camera to lend a hand in serving food or handing out supplies. I am endlessly proud of our team for the work they have done this last month, setting aside their own worries to help those in need. This issue was both hard and wonderful to put together. To see the devastation first hand was heartbreaking. To hear the stories of resilience and neighbors helping neighbors brought joy to my heart. May we always remain #BayouStrong.
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MARY DITCH
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE Michelle Ortego
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OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
GOVERNMENT UPDATE | BY DREW MILLER
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t press time, about a month since Hurricane Ida ravaged southeast Louisiana, thousands of citizens in the Terrebonne-Lafourche area find themselves without a permanent residence — whether their apartment complex has been deemed uninhabitable or Ida’s overpowering winds completely ripped apart their home’s structure. Officials have requested help from state and federal agencies to provide temporary housing for families devastated by Ida, which they feel can’t come soon enough. “Temporary housing, to me right now, is the most critical issue we have,” said State Representative Tanner Magee. “Every local official has been doing everything they can to try and push FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) to approve our requests...We can’t afford to be six months down the road with no temporary housing plan.” Local officials have expressed their concerns working with FEMA, saying that the agency isn’t moving fast enough. “FEMA is just slow,” Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson said. “It’s the federal government bureaucracy at its best.” Chaisson said FEMA initially told him 30 to 60 days before the parish would see any units arrive. However, at press time, he did note that FEMA got the ball rolling of surveying areas in the parish to place the temporary housing units. “We’ve identified large tracts of land — trailer parks, RV camper spots — that we can put these things into, depending on what type of housing they decide to bring in, whether it’s the FEMA trailers; RV campers; what they call direct housing, which is the modular units. So we gave them several different options and several different parcels of property that could be used,” Chaisson said. A FEMA spokesperson told Bayou Business Monthly that for residents to get more expeditious housing assistance, they should apply for the various other FEMA programs that offer financial help. While waiting for FEMA, officials were also in talks with the state to bring in emergency housing sooner. Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove, at press time, was working with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) to bring 1,500 travel trailers to the parish, with reimbursement coming from FEMA at a later date. The trailers were to be set up on the property of residents who lost their homes, he said, as they rebuild. The parish president said the first 40 trailers would go to members of the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office and Houma Police Department who lost their houses during Ida. “We’ve located an area that we’re going to set up a little law enforcement park, I guess you could say,” Dove said. “We’ll get our officers who lost their houses a spot where they can live with their families.” Terrebonne Parish officials asked residents to contact their local councilperson to be added to the list for the travel trailers. According to Councilman Darrin Guidry, homeowners or renters do not have to qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid to receive the trailers. When Chaisson spoke with Bayou Business Monthly, he was headed into a meeting with state officials, expecting to hear a plan from GOHSEP on how many mobile trailers Lafourche would receive. “We’re working on those parallel paths together so we can try to try to get something moving,” he said. Now being widely considered as a humanitarian crisis, the housing situation in Terrebonne and Lafourche has overwhelming estimates. “We figure based on the overflights that about 10% of the homes are pretty well damaged, either non-livable or barely livable. We have about 40,000 households in the parish, so that’s about 10,000 homes.” According to Magee, a Red Cross survey of 70 percent of Terrebonne Parish said at least 13,000 homes were destroyed or sustained significant damage. The state requested around 30,000 temporary housing structures for Lafourche and Terrebonne, he said. State Senator Michael “Big Mike” Fesi called it devastating to see residents living in makeshift tents and to hear their stories. For him, it’s almost like it’s another country. “We are in the United States of America,” he said, “and it seems like we could respond a lot quicker to what’s happening.”
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OIL & GAS |
BY DREW MILLER
A BLESSING
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riday after the storm, a line of cars stretched as far as the eye can see while Ida survivors waited for the Jester’s Court Too gas station in Mathews to turn the pumps on. “This is a blessing,” said Gheens native Debbie Freeman when she was finally able to fuel her gray Ford Focus, which was 59 miles to empty. “In order to travel and try and take care of all my family’s houses, I need gas to get there.” Although the convenience store took significant damage, Jester’s was one of the first gas stations to start pumping in the area in the days following the storm. April and Eric Ougel were returning to their home in Larose after evacuating and noticed the row of cars. So, they pulled into the line; however, they were later told the gas station had run out of fuel. To assure they would get gas, they got in line the next day at 2:30 a.m., almost six hours before the location started pumping. Waiting hours to fill up a vehicle or gas can wasn’t uncommon after Hurricane Ida passed through the Bayou Region furiously, and there were several factors as to why. “Production offshore was completely shut down; then you had refineries that were impacted by the storm. A third of the nation’s fuel comes from Louisiana refineries,” said Chett Chiasson, Executive Director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission (GLPC). “And we [Port Fourchon] couldn’t get everything back up and running fast enough.”
A SENSE OF HOPE
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OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
About 30 miles to the south of Jester’s Court Too, Chiasson, GLPC employees and Sheriff’s Office deputies waited out Hurricane Ida at GLPC’s administrative office in Galliano on August 29. They watched the catastrophic event through the port’s cameras as the water rose and Ida’s 150 mph sustained winds began devastating facilities. But then the storm’s wrath made an appearance at their shelter. “The roof of my office flew off while I was in it,” Chiasson recalled. “Basically, from that point on, we were kind of dodging roof damage and getting to a place where ultimately at the end of it, we were all basically held up in our kitchen area, our lobby area and in our big meeting room. Those were the only three locations in the front of our building that were for the most part undamaged in terms of water...We had several parts of our building that looked like a waterfall.” Seeing what was happening at the port on cameras and witnessing firsthand the destruction in Galliano, Chiasson feared the worst before heading down to Port Fourchon to assess damages. Tuesday after the storm, with La. Highway 1 still inundated and
impassable, Chiasson took a helicopter ride to view the port. He gazed upon some wreckage while flying over; however, it wasn’t the feeling of dread that came over him. “I had a sense of hope because what I saw were damage and some destruction, but what I also saw was every fixed fuel tank, liquid mud tank, methanol tank and water tank all on-location properly fixed,” he said. “That was critically important to see because once I saw that, I knew that with that in place, we can move debris around and get things back up and running in a pretty good time. And that’s ultimately what has happened.” By that Wednesday, contractors began clearing debris off of La. 1. The following day, tenant assessment teams were allowed to enter facilities to evaluate damages, and on Friday, tenants started recovery efforts. Then on Tuesday, nine days after the storm, facilities at Fourchon came online and loaded vessels. A federal emergency survey team also cleared the port’s channels for daylight operation the Friday after the storm. In addition, the nearby South Lafourche Leonard Miller Jr. Airport, owned by GLPC, was operational the day after the storm, which was vital to the region as organizations flew in relief supplies. The first week, Chiasson said, around 90,000 pounds of supplies were brought in. Chiasson said he’s proud of the team effort it took to get the port up and running. “It’s a testament to the people and the commitment on all fronts — public, private, governmental, nongovernmental. Everybody is moving in the same direction, and we all work very well together.” Port Fourchon, which more than 250 companies utilize as a base of operation, being up and running is significant not only to the region but also to the nation. When fully operational, it services over 90 percent of the Gulf of Mexico’s deepwater oil production and supplies 18 percent of the nation’s entire oil supply, and more than 1.5 million barrels of crude oil are transported via pipelines through the port daily. At press time, Chiasson said Port Fourchon is about 50 percent operational as around 500 lineworkers were in the port working to get power restored. “There’s still a lot of things that have to be done. It’s going to be time-consuming. But every day, there’s progress, and we continue to move forward,” Chiasson said. The port commission chief commended the efforts made to build up and strengthen Fourchon since the devastation the 2005 and 2008 hurricanes brought. “We’ve created a resilient port community and a resilient community in general. Yes, we take damage, but you can come back and get things back up and running fairly quickly in the grand scheme of things,” he said. “I think that’s what we’re proud of, but we can’t forget that just because we’re resilient doesn’t mean we don’t need to do to continue to be better and assistance here in our community to continue to build things up and do the things necessary to provide energy to our country.”
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FROM THE TOP |
QUICK QUESTIONS FOR THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BAYOU COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WORK:
OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? Witnessing the
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tremendous generosity of local residents and compassionate people from around the country, and then seeing how this generosity helps so many nonprofits do extraordinary work for the neediest in our community.
WHAT IS THE HARDEST? Making decisions on nonprofit grant requests. Each year, we receive nearly a hundred requests from nonprofits, all to support very important work here in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle. This is especially true now during our Hurricane Ida grants program. With limited funds available, determining where the grants should go and how much is granted is a very difficult job and one we all take very seriously. We wish we could fund them all! WHAT’S ONE LEADERSHIP SKILL YOU FEEL EVERYONE MUST LEARN? Humility. Never assume you know it all, ask for forgiveness when you mess up, and always be eager to learn from others.
CAN YOU REFLECT ON HURRICANE IDA AND HOW THE BAYOU COMMUNITY FOUNDATION WAS ABLE TO HELP THE COMMUNITY? BCF opened the Bayou Recovery Fund for Hurricane Ida Relief on August 27, two days before the Category 4 storm made landfall in south Lafourche and Grand Isle. We knew that our community would experience devastating impacts and we wanted to be ready to help with relief and recovery as soon as possible. As damage reports began to surface, the generosity of individuals, corporations and private foundations began to pour in to the Bayou Recovery Fund. We have been so overwhelmed by the compassion of people around the state and country. As of September 23, BCF has received nearly $5 million in contributions and have awarded over $1.2 million in grants to local nonprofits for critical services in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle. We will be here to support our community’s recovery for the long term and will continue to make grants for recovery and rebuilding in the months and years to come.
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OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
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oastal Louisiana is in high-gear recovery mode after Hurricane Ida ravished the Bayou Region. The Bayou Community Foundation is helping in huge ways to help Lafourche, Terrebonne, and Grand Isle with funding. Bayou Community Foundation opened the Bayou Recovery Fund fund for Hurricane Ida on Friday, August 27 as the storm approached the coast. The purpose of the fund is to enable the foundation to make grants to local non-profit organizations that are providing critical relief services on the ground in Lafourche, Terrebonne, and Grand Isle. What makes this fund so special, Executive Director Jennifer Armand says, is all of the money that is donated to the recovery fund is spent in the areas to help residents. “That is what is so powerful,” she says, “ it’s being spent here in the area where the storm made landfall and in the areas that have had the greatest impact.” Armand says she is thankful for some much-appreciated help from Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana Executive Director Sara Judson. “It was so fortunate that I had conversations before Sunday with Sara at the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana, and as you know, they dealt with this last year,” Armand says Judson was a tremendous help who was able to tell her what to be prepared for, what to have handy, and what kind of information to start getting out about the recovery fund. It was because she was so prepared that Armand was able to have the application ready before Ida even made landfall. She says she started promoting the fund Sunday afternoon and into Monday. While evacuated, she started finding out from reports from the organization’s network of what was going on back home. “I remember that Monday after,” she says, “literally all day, just taking care of what we needed to do, finding out what was going on, and just promoting the fund and our needs as much as we knew.” She says at first it was a little overwhelming, but everything that Sara told her that would happen, was happening. Although she was prepared, she says they are learning as they go. It also helped to know that they already had a network of local non-profits that they trust and know the work they do since the foundation has been making non-profit grants since 2013. They started to receive donations that very day and inquiries from organizations from across the country who had seen about the bayou region on the news. She says they were all very compassionate, concerned for the area’s well-being, and wanted to help. Armand says they are overwhelmed by the generosity of people from across the country, “Individuals, corporations, private corporations, who
want to help our region and have contributed to the Bayou Recovery Fund, we are now just under $5 million in donations collected. It has just been tremendous and equally, BCF is working very hard to spend the money and to get the money into the hands of the non-profits that are providing such critical work.” Armand describes the grant process as a rolling process that has no deadlines. They make decisions as quickly as they can as soon as they receive requests. They’re anticipating as people get power, as businesses start to get back on their feet, and as schools start to open, that the organization will focus on beginning to rebuild, including forms of more permanent shelter situations along with the restoration of services such as education and public safety. Armand says they also know that nonprofits have been hit hard; maybe their facilities were damaged, or they have other concerns, but she says they are going to be in a position to help nonprofits sustain their programs as well. The first round of grants totaled $449,000 and the second round $700,0000. That brings total efforts, so far, to $1.25 million in grants to local organizations in just four weeks after the storm. The first phase is focused on relief and meeting the immediate emergency needs of the residents such as food, water, ice, and gasoline. The basic essentials have been much needed and Armand says they have been very fortunate to be able to meet those needs not only through the grants, but through the organization’s field distributions in early September that took place in Golden Meadow, East Houma, and Montegut. Among the devastation of the storm is a critical shelter issue. Multiple families are living out of one room, families living in tents, shrimp boats, and makeshift homes. The Bayou Community Foundation is also doing temporary shelter assistance programs through the United Way. The next round of grants will include more distributions as well as some other needs, such as some much-needed equipment for the United Houma Nation. The United Houma Nation was hit hard and Armand says they had a very powerful grant request for a refrigerated truck along with other equipment they will be able to use in relief efforts to aid in rebuilding. Armand also says they are happy to be a part of a local economic development and business recovery conversation that has started among Lafourche and Terrebonne Economic Development leaders and business associations. She says they are a part of that conversation because they know that business recovery is a very important part of the recovery in our region, and they also know that big issues, such
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OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
as housing and workforce sustainability, are keys to business recovery, “BCF is happy to be a part of that conversation and we know that we will be focusing on housing and ways that BCF can help with that effort in the very near term.” She says they have identified that housing is a critical need and one that they can help with as much as they can as a funder to help the situation. Bayou Community Foundation will slowly move into recovery and rebuilding after the first phase and Armand says they will be here every step of the way, “BCF is here for Lafourche, Terrebonne, and Grand Isle, and we will remain with our community for however many months, years, or however long it takes to get back on our feet.” Armand says they are thankful for the donors who are not only local but countrywide. The fund started with an initial $1 million contribution from the Mary & Al Danos foundation which gave the organization energy and confidence to start the momentum of relief. She says the donation was tremendous because it’s a family that lives here in South Lafourche who loves the area and wants to see people being taken care of. It was this donation that propelled the organization to get to the mark they are at today. Armand says that whether it’s $50, $5,000, or $1 million, it has all been so important for the cause. “I want to thank all of them,” Armand says. She is proud of the non-profits that have been working hard to deliver needs. She proudly touts that they are working nonstop to meet the needs of residents and wants to thank everyone in the bayou region, “I just want to thank everyone in our bayou region...I’ve heard from people from other parts of the state that have come down to help or to donate, and they remark at how proud these communities are and how we seem to want to take care of each other. They say they have not seen that before.” She recalls comments on how people never witnessed residents who may have lost their homes helping others. “It’s just been phenomenal,” Armand says, “I’m just so proud of our area, this is truly a special and unique place, and I think we see that in good times and in bad.” For Bayou Community Foundation, their ability to operate and use their “bucket,” is their strong suit. One of the founding members, JJ Buquet, initially coined that the foundation is a “bucket” for Lafourche, Terrebonne, and Grand Isle to accept donations and get those donations out as grants to help our communities. Armand noted that she truly thinks the bucket is working in the aftermath of the storm and they are very proud. To donate, visit www.bayoucf.org/disaster-recovery/.
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OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
BY DRE W MI LLE R
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s Hurricane Ida rapidly intensified and set its sights on southeast Louisiana, the staff at Terrebonne General Health System knew they were in for a challenge. “Everybody’s been doing hurricanes here for quite a long time...It’s always challenging when you’re going to be a direct hit. But people know what to do here, and they know their role,” said Phyllis Peoples, President and CEO of Terrebonne General. The first hour of the storm was fine, Peoples said, but then the winds strengthened, and the dangerous Category 4 began to take a toll on the building as water began seeping through. “There was no role delineation here, whether you were a doctor, a nurse, an ancillary department manager, worked in food service or dietary — it was all hands on deck. And people just started getting towels or machinery or whatever it took to mop up all the water that was seeping through,” Peoples remembered. Then, the Terrebonne General administration received a call to see what was happening on the fifth floor. There, windows were blown out, the ceiling was coming apart and water poured into the facility. They couldn’t fathom at the time that the roof had blown off, Peoples said.
But with busted windows and falling ceiling tiles, there was no time to assess the damages thoroughly. Instead, the hospital had to act fast to ensure the patients and employees were safe. “We started moving people to the middle of the rooms, and then we had to move them into the halls. And eventually, we had to transport them down the halls into a whole different wing of the hospital area over the duration of the storm,” Peoples said. “People were nervous; they were concerned. But again, everybody is good at what they do. And we said, ‘We’re all right. We’re going to be okay. We’re just going to weather the storm.’ And we did.” Terrebonne General’s staff and patients made it through to morning light. Yet, the daylight illuminated the hospital’s devasted state and the obstacles still to come. In addition to sustaining major damages, the facility suffered from no running water and minimal electricity, operating on generator power. The decision was made to evacuate all of its patients, a first in the hospital’s nearly 70-year history. “It was a very, very hard decision,” Peoples shared. “But, I rely on my team. We had a lot of bumps and bruises and things that we were dealing with, and I felt we could overcome those.”
“OUR EMPLOYEES ARE AMAZING. OUR LEADERS ARE AMAZING. I HAVE THE UTMOST RESPECT FOR ALL OF THEM. PEOPLE ASK HOW CAN YOU LEAD THROUGH SOMETHING WE’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED. BUT THE REALITY IS YOU DON’T HAVE TO LEAD AMAZING PEOPLE...” General was offering a significant amount of its services, including endocrinology care, pulmonology care, neurology care, internal medicine, pediatric care, COVID testing and vaccinations and outpatient services, among others. In addition, the health system opened its Chauvin Clinic and deployed a mobile medical unit in Dulac to care for some of the communities hit hardest by Ida. Peoples commended the Terrebonne General team, who worked diligently for weeks in the heat and also dealt with damages to their own homes, for their resilience in getting operations running. “Our employees are amazing. Our leaders are amazing. I have the utmost respect for all of them. People ask how can you lead through something we’ve never experienced. But the reality is you don’t have to lead amazing people. You just have to give them an outline of what you hope to accomplish and some common goals, and let them go. And they have done an amazing job of making all this happen,” she said. “And it just shows the pride they have in the community, the organization and in what they do. It’s the Cajun culture, too — nobody’s going to wait for help. We’re going to take care of ourselves, and we’re going to make sure we’re here to serve the community.”
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OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
The Terrebonne General team started calling facilities across the state to see who could take in the patients. However, amid the fourth surge of COVID-19, state hospitals were nearly at their limits, and not one could accept all of Terrebonne General’s patients. So, Ochsner Health received 50 of the hospital’s patients, spread across its state facilities. The 70 others were sent to other organizations around the state and in Mississippi. “This is our family; it’s our community. And to admit we couldn’t care for them was very hard for me personally, but it [evacuting] was the right thing to do,” Peoples said. And the Houma hospital wasn’t the only one to evacuate patients in the Bayou Region. Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in east Houma and Ochsner St. Anne in Raceland reportedly evacuated a combined 66 patients due to Ida. After a difficult 24-hour process, consisting of challenging logistics and transporting patients by air and ground, Terrebonne General staff shifted their focus to getting emergency services up and running, knowing the community would need them in the dark days of Ida’s aftermath after almost all of the Houma-Thibodaux area hospitals went down. “We’re the largest regional facility, so for Terrebonne General to go down, you could feel that ripple through the region,” Peoples said. “So, it was a major responsibility for us to say, ‘How do we care for people?’” By the Friday after the storm, following grueling days in the late-summer heat, the hospital was able to get makeshift emergency services up, running operations out of tents. The state set up a field hospital at Terrebonne General the following Monday. Two days later, the hospital offered oncology services so that cancer patients could receive their vital treatments, and from there, the hospital’s employees continued their tireless efforts to get more services operational. At press time, despite the seemingly overwhelming obstacles in its way, Terrebonne
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OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
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fter the storm settled, Thibodaux Regional Health System found itself in an unprecedented situation in modern times — being the only fully-functional hospital in the region. Before that was made apparent, however, the hospital had to jump over its fair share of hurdles during Ida. Although the hospital only sustained minor damages, the storm’s winds suppressed the exhaust systems of one of the facility’s generators, causing it to overheat and for power to temporarily go out in the Critical Care Unit, where 30 patients were being treated. “Essentially, it went dark. Our staff was using cell phones and other devices for lights,” recalled Thibodaux Regional CEO Greg Stock, who was in the unit at the time. Thibodaux Regional staff rushed the Critical Care patients down three flights of stairs — while keeping them breathing with manual resuscitators — to another area of the facility that had power. Stock
says he’s never witnessed anything like it. “I’ve been a CEO since I was 26 years old and seen a lot of things. I’ve never seen people act with such quickness, such a focus and such effectiveness,” he said. “We never lost any of the patients. It was incredible. I think it’s a great testament to our staff, to the culture of our hospital and the way people work together.” The Thibodaux hospital fared well during the storm, considering what other Bayou Region facilities were facing, so it opened its doors to accept patients from other health care providers. “So during that first 24 hours [post-Ida], four of the other hospitals were disabled and not able to provide services. I think one of them had remained with an emergency department, but there’s nothing behind the emergency department — no inpatient or other services,” Stock said.
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Seeing an influx of patients following the storm, still amid a pandemic, the hospital has been packed and had to adapt — downsizing some services to bring in more COVID patients and setting up temporary pediatric services in its wellness center, among other ways. But the doctors and staff members have been able to manage it, Stock noted. “Overall, again, very appreciative and proud of our staff and our doctors for the outstanding job they’ve done,” he said. At press time, Stock said, the hospital was providing almost 100 percent of its services, aiming to bring non-essential surgeries back soon. “It means a lot to us to do these things, to serve in this manner. It’s core to our purpose and our vision: to be a hospital that will be here during difficult times and good times and that people know they can rely on,” Stock said. “We’ve stood up against a lot of pressure and pretty intense changes that occurred very, very fast. We think, we feel and we’ve shown that we can survive and thrive. That’s what it’s about.”
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MOVERS AND SHAKERS |
HEADLINES & ACCOLADES
OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
DANOS EMPLOYEES CARE FOR OTHERS
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Headquartered in Gray, LA, Danos has approximately 2,300 employees, with 875 living in the Hurricane Ida disaster area, as declared by FEMA. Nearly 250 (10% of its total employee base) sustained significant storm damage, some with devastating outcomes. Immediately following the storm, Danos employees jumped into action, exemplifying the company’s purpose to “solve big challenges for our communities.” Despite communication challenges, they knew the Danos community was hurting, and they responded the best way they knew how – by showing up and helping. Even before damages could be fully assessed, Danos employees reached out to their teammates to check on their wellbeing and find out about their immediate needs. With company operations spanning the Gulf Coast and South and West Texas, employees from near and far stepped up to provide aid through supplies, time and effort. Many had never even met one another, yet they drove hours—some from as far as Midland, Texas – through treacherous conditions to help their colleagues in need. “I’m so inspired by it,” said CEO Paul Danos. “Our people are giving their time and resources to help one another. It’s a beautiful thing to witness. Many of our teammates were hurting and in despair, and their colleagues arrived on their doorsteps ready to help.” Based out of Danos’ Lafayette office, Operations Manager Brady Hebert organized a team of Danos employees to help deliver critical supplies, clean yards and muck and gut homes of employees who needed assistance. Account Manager Rocky Kiffe said, “My back patio and yard looked
like a war zone. I didn’t know where to start or even how to find the willpower to begin. It was pretty devastating. Then a team of angels showed up in little Larose, LA. In four hours, they accomplished what would have taken me a month! Even one of the owners of the company was helping to pick up debris in my yard. “Want to work for a great company who says they care and actually proves it?” Kiffe added. “Come work for Danos. I hope I never have to work for anyone else for the rest of my life.” Meanwhile, Purchasing Manager Michael Berger and Asset Manager Amanda Worrell organized supplies such as water, fuel and generators, and coordinated distribution to the employees who needed them. Additionally, Danos CARES, an arm of the Danos Foundation, stepped up to help its community through financial assistance. Since the storm, employees and customers have generously donated to CARES to help with storm relief. “There has been an outpouring of support from and for our team. A true demonstration of what caring for one another looks like in action,” said Paul Danos. To date, CARES has given over $120,000 to Danos employees who were impacted by Hurricane Ida. An employee-driven initiative, Danos CARES was created by and is funded by Danos employees through voluntary donations along with a matching donation from the company. Funds are distributed to Danos employees who have needs arising from unexpected events.
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ROUGAROU FEST TO SHIFT GEARS TO ROUGAROU RELIEF
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NEW ORLEANS RESTAURANT SERVES FRESH PO’BOYS, DISTRIBUTES MEAL KITS TO TERREBONNE PARISH FISHING COMMUNITIES Michael Nelson, Executive Chef at GW Fins in New Orleans, has worked with folks from the bayou fishing communities of Terrebonne Parish for several years, preparing fresh seafood caught from southeast Louisiana waters. So, when Hurricane Ida ravaged through such areas as Dularge and Dulac, among others, overturning vessels and decimating homes as a powerful Category 4, he knew those fishermen and their families would require basic life necessities as they recover. “I just felt really bad for a lot of the guys that I know down here personally...Down here, with the amount of destruction, just the infrastructure that’s gotta be rebuilt, it’s just so much of a longer, harder process [than New Orleans] to get life back to normal,” Nelson said. “When I reached out and asked, ‘Hey, is there something we could do?’ They said, ‘Yeah, people need to eat.’ And if there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s feed some people.” The chef organized a massive food donation, with contributions from New Orleans area businesses, including Craig Borges’ New Orleans Seafood Co., Louisiana Seafood Exchange Inc., New Orleans Fish House, Jazzmen Rice, Blue Runner Foods, Coca-Cola, Magic Seasoning Blends, Ben E. Keith Foods, Sysco Louisiana Fresh Produce, Capitol City Produce, Gulf Coast Blenders, JV Foods, Leidenheimer Baking Company, Caire Hotel & Restaurant Supply, Inc., Big Shot and Chisesi Brothers Meat Packing Company. “These are just basically suppliers that we work with on a typical day,” Nelson said. “There wasn’t a single person that I asked that even questioned whether or not they were going to help.” The GW Fins team hauled thousands of meal kits containing ingredients to make red beans and rice to the bayou area. Each kit could feed ten people, Nelson said. They distributed them at Holy Family Catholic Church in Dulac on Tuesday and Dularge Recreation Center on Wednesday. Additionally, GW Fins prepared shrimp po’boys with a side of french fries at each location, serving 1,500-plus meals to locals over the two days. “We had a line of almost two miles of cars,” Nelson said of the first distribution event. “I don’t really get enough time to interact with everybody the way I would like. But, I had people reach out to the restaurant through social media, just being really appreciative of us coming all the way down here and showing up when they really needed it.” “All I’m here to do is just make some great food like I do every day. And I just know they’re going to love it and appreciate it no matter what,” the chef said as he sliced some fully-dressed freshly made po’boys to serve. Shawny Burgard, a lifelong resident of the Dularge-Theriot area and one of the volunteers who turned Dularge Recreation Center into a vital distribution hub in the days following the storm, said she appreciates restaurants such as GW Fins that use seafood caught by local fishermen giving back. “It’s amazing,” she said. “[Nelson] is about the bayous and helping others and using fresh Louisiana seafood.” Shrimp consumers may take for granted the amount of work it takes to bring seafood to the plate, Nelson said. “They might assume a lot of this shrimp is farm-raised. But this wild shrimp that’s so amazing in Louisiana — somebody has to go out there every day in a boat and catch this stuff,” he said. “So, whatever we can do to get these guys back on their feet and back on the water, that’s what we want to do.”
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OCTOBER 2021 | BAYOU BUSINESS MONTHLY
The tenth annual Rougarou Fest will not take place as originally planned this year. Efforts will instead be focused on helping our community to recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ida through our newly developed Rougarou Relief program. The Rougarou Fest and the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center have partnered with the Helio Foundation to raise over $500,000 to assist in recovery efforts. Our first program began just days after the storm. We have been providing $400 mini-grants to community members most impacted by the hurricane. Thus far we have distributed over $100,000 directly into the hands of our residents through referrals from community leaders. Many businesses and concerned citizens have been integral in our ability to raise these funds including the Greater New Orleans Foundation, Hancock Whitney Bank, Mosquito Supper Club, and Mimosa Handcrafted. “The outpouring of support we have received from around the state, the country and the world has been uplifting, but our people are still hurting. We know we have a long journey ahead of us, and we are committed to helping our community every step of the way,” Raegan Creppell, Executive Director, Helio Foundation. Our next efforts will be to support our independent commercial fishermen with damaged vessels and our teachers that have lost their educational materials due to damage in their classrooms. We are also working to help expedite temporary housing for those of our residents most in need through a network of concerned citizens contacting legislators and helping to organize media attention on the issue. In late October, we will take our Rougarou Relief on the road to our bayou communities. Through the support of our sponsors like People’s Drugs, we will cook some of our most popular dishes to share for free with bayou residents to provide a little comfort during such a difficult time. That schedule with locations will be announced as soon as it is developed. “Our bayou communities are the heartbeat of the Rougarou Fest. Our folklore, our food, our music, our family, our volunteers, our sense of community, all come from the bayou. We will do everything we can to help our people heal from the trauma caused by this storm, and that heartbeat will once again grow strong,” Jonathan Foret, Executive Director, South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center.
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Rebuilding Stronger
Terrebonne General Health System is committed to rebuilding stronger to serve the bayou region. Although our facility received catastrophic damage due to Hurricane Ida, and had to evacuate patients, we have remained committed to serving our community. Emergency Services were restored in a matter of days, and we are now able to provide essential healthcare services including cancer care, cardiology and obstetrics. Our team is working around the clock to restore our physical buildings, but we are more than bricks and mortar. We are hearts united in continuing to provide exceptional healthcare with compassion. Like our community, we are resilient, and remain ready to serve when you need us.
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For the latest updates visit tghealthsystem.com