Parish officials debate what to do about Legacy

Parish officials debated what to do about St. Mary’s most serious COVID-19 hot spot, the Legacy of Franklin nursing facility.

Parish Coroner Eric Melancon’s answer was: Not much more than is being done now. And he spoke against closing the nursing home or increasing the number of tests.

Melancon told Parish Council members Wednesday that the Coroner's Office has seen 21 COVID-related deaths in the last two weeks, more than the 17 reported at noon Wednesday by the Louisiana Office of Public Health. Nine of the fatalities were among Legacy of Franklin residents.

Forty-two Legacy residents and 13 staff members have tested positive, Melancon said. OPH statistics say St. Mary has a total of 162 COVID-19 positives.

Nine Legacy of Franklin residents have been hospitalized, and five tests are pending.

The biggest needs are for personal protective equipment for the staff, and for more staff members, Melancon said.

Melancon has been in touch with the Governor’s Office to seek more PPE and with local physicians to find people who can work at Legacy.

All of which led Councilman Craig Mathews to ask whether the council has the power to close Legacy. The coroner didn’t like that idea because public health authorities would have to find places for the COVID-19 residents and the facility itself would have to be dealt with.

Medical personnel will probably be dealing with the situation at Legacy for four to six weeks, Melancon said.

“I don’t believe that’s a resolution at all ...,” Mathews said.

“I believe this could have been prevented, and I believe there should be some accountability.”

Melancon told reporters Tuesday that he believes an asymptomatic staff member brought the virus into Legacy. The other three St. Mary nursing homes have no known COVID-19 cases.

Legacy had 116 residents and 90 employees before the COVID-19 cases emerged.

Councilwoman Kristi Prejeant Rink, a Morgan City physician who practices at Ochsner St. Mary, said hospital experience shows the only way to contain asymptomatic carriers is broad testing.

Rink wanted to know who has legal authority to require testing of everyone at Legacy.

“This can get a lot worse than where we are right now,” Rink said. “I think the only way to adequately contain this is to test everyone at the facility.”

Rink directed her question to Homeland Security Director David Naquin or Parish Attorney Eric Duplantis. But Melancon stepped in, saying the incubation period for COVID-19 is four to seven days. So for broader testing to be effective, each person would have to be tested seven consecutive days.

“To test everyone would be a waste of time and a waste of money ... ,” Melancon said. “We just don’t have the tests. We can argue about it all day and all night, but it’s not going to change that.”

Rink said she disagrees that it’s a waste of money. If it was, hospitals wouldn't be doing widespread testing, she said.

“Right now we’re being very reactive, and we need to be proactive,” Rink said.

“You’re talking about almost 200 tests a day for seven days,” Melancon said. “We don’t have 1,400 tests to give.”