The West Jefferson Medical Center (West Jefferson) is a 419-bed community hospital located in Marrero, Louisiana, United States. It is located 15 minutes from Downtown New Orleans in a region known as the Westbank. Established in 1956, West Jefferson Medical Center is situated near vast industrial and maritime corridors [1] and offers a full set of medical services in the Westbank region of Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Charles Parishes. The hospital is a part of the LCMC Health System.
Following World War II, Jefferson Parish experienced exponential population growth, doubling from 1940 to 1950, and then doubling again from 1950 to 1960. [2] In 1956, there were no hospitals in Jefferson Parish and the hospitals in neighboring New Orleans were only accessible from the West Bank by ferry across the Mississippi River.
In early 1956, a group of West Bank physicians were appointed to a private committee that were joined by a committee selected by the Jefferson Parish Policy Jury. [3] From this committee, the Police Jury formed the Board of Commissioners of the Jefferson Hospital Service District No. 1, which was tasked to explore options for developing and financing a new hospital that was to be established on the Westbank. After much research and discussion, consultants recommended criteria for a hospital to serve the ever-growing Westbank population with up to 63% of the funds would come from the Hill-Burton Act combined with 37% through locally matching funds. [4]
A public bond referendum seeking approval for the sale of $1.5 million in bonds was voted upon and approved on September 25, 1956. The bonds would be repaid through a 1-mill property tax assessment collected over 10 years from owners in West Jefferson. The U.S. Government was to provide $1.2 million towards the project through the Hill-Burton Act. [5]
With funding in place, the Board sought a plot of land that was located between the city of Westwego and the Harvey Canal and would provide between 10 and 20 acres for development. [6] In February 1957, a 20-acre portion of land from the Hope Haven institute was purchased through the Archdiocese of New Orleans for the price of $156,290. [2] [7]
The hospital project was publicly solicited for bids, and a construction contract was signed with Keller Construction Corporation in September 1958 for $2,170,000. Construction began was completed by April, 1960. A formal dedication ceremony was held on April 3, with Msgr. Paul J. Gaudin, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church (Marrero). Officially opened as "West Jefferson General Hospital," its first patients were admitted on April 18, 1960.[ citation needed ]
During the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, WJMC and East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie served as the main trauma centers for New Orleans due to severe damage to the city's main trauma center, the now-shuttered Charity Hospital, which was one of two constituent hospitals of the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans. WJMC was chosen due to its proximity; the nearest Level I trauma center at that time was in Shreveport. [8]
West Jefferson also played a major role in treating oil rig workers who were injured in the Deepwater Horizon Explosion on April 20, 2010. Two of the injured men were brought to the ER by ambulance around 3:20 a.m., and the other two were flown in by helicopter around 5:45 a.m. All four workers were treated and released by 11:15 on April 21, 2010. [9] [10] [11]
In May 2010, as the massive spill was still trying to be contained, West Jefferson treated a total of 11 oil spill workers who were complaining of illnesses they attributed to cleaning up oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. [12] Seven workers were hospitalized on May 26 after complaining of dizziness, severe headaches, shortness of breath, nausea and skin irritations while working on boats off the Louisiana coast. Two days later, 2 more workers were brought to the ER by helicopter, and the following day 2 oil spill workers walked into the ER complaining of similar symptoms. [13]
West Jefferson doctors believe the likely cause of the symptoms is exposure to some type of chemical irritant coupled with heat-related illnesses. The workers told doctors they believe the dispersants being sprayed to break up the oil made them sick.
On May 31, 2010, WJMC set up a 12-cot medical first-aid tent in Grand Isle to help treat people working on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The tent was set up on the Jefferson Parish Emergency Management compound. It was open daily from 12:30pm to 7:00pm, and was staffed by a nurse practitioner and the support of two EMT's. [14]
Jefferson Parish is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 440,781. Its parish seat is Gretna, its largest community is Metairie, and its largest incorporated city is Kenner. Jefferson Parish is included in the Greater New Orleans area.
Avondale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 4,582 in 2020. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner metropolitan statistical area.
Gretna is the second-largest city in, and parish seat of, Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Gretna lies on the west bank of the Mississippi River, just east and across the river from uptown New Orleans. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner metropolitan statistical area. The population was 17,814 at the 2020 U.S. census.
Harvey is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. Harvey is on the south side of the Mississippi River, within the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner metropolitan statistical area. The majority-minority population was 20,348 at the 2010 census, down from 22,226 at the 2000 census. The 2020 census determined 22,236 people lived in the CDP.
Kenner is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the most populous city in Jefferson Parish, and is the largest incorporated suburban city of New Orleans. The population was 66,448 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth-most populous city in Louisiana.
Marrero is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. Marrero is on the south side of the Mississippi River, within the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner metropolitan statistical area. The population was 32,382 at the 2020 U.S. census.
Terrytown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is on the "Westbank" of the Mississippi River. It is a suburb within the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner metropolitan statistical area. The population was 23,319 at the 2010 census, and 25,278 in 2020.
U.S. Highway 90 Business is a business route of U.S. Highway 90 located in and near New Orleans, Louisiana. It runs 14.25 miles (22.93 km) in a general east–west direction from US 90 in Avondale to a junction with Interstate 10 (I-10) and US 90 in the New Orleans Central Business District.
The Academy of Our Lady is a private high school for girls on the west bank of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.
William Harold Nungesser is an American politician serving as the 54th lieutenant governor of Louisiana since 2016. A member of the Republican Party, Nungesser is also the former president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission, having been re-elected to a second four-year term in the 2010 general election in which he topped two opponents with more than 71 percent of the vote. His second term as parish president began on January 1, 2011, and ended four years later.
Carl Joseph Barbier is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was an environmental disaster which began on April 20, 2010, off the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico. Caused in the aftermath of a blowout and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, the United States federal government estimated the total discharge at 4.9 MMbbl. After several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on 19 September 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated that the well site was still leaking. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is regarded as one of the largest environmental disasters in world history.
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion was an April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about 40 miles (64 km) southeast off the Louisiana coast. The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and the deaths of 11 workers; 17 others were injured. The same blowout that caused the explosion also caused an oil well fire and a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in United States history.
The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling is a bipartisan presidential commission, established by Executive Order 13543 signed by Barack Obama on May 21, 2010, that is "tasked with providing recommendations on how the United States can prevent and mitigate the impact of any future spills that result from offshore drilling." It came about as a result of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The first public hearings, held on July 12 and 13, 2010 in New Orleans, included scheduled testimony from Federal government officials and representatives of BP on the status of the spill and clean-up efforts, as well as from local officials, community leaders, and scientists on the economic, cultural and ecological impacts of the oil spill on Gulf Coast communities and ecosystems.
Following is a Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for May 2010.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been described as the worst environmental disaster in the United States, releasing about 4.9 million barrels of crude oil making it the largest marine oil spill. Both the spill and the cleanup efforts had effects on the environment.
The Health consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are health effects related to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. An oil discharge continued for 84 days, resulting in the largest oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, estimated at approximately 206 million gallons. The spill exposed thousands of area residents and cleanup workers to risks associated with oil fumes, particulate matter from Controlled burns, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was discovered on the afternoon of 22 April 2010 when a large oil slick began to spread at the former rig site. According to the Flow Rate Technical Group, the leak amounted to about 4.9 million barrels of oil, exceeding the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill as the largest ever to originate in U.S.-controlled waters and the 1979 Ixtoc I oil spill as the largest spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has challenged this calculation saying that it is overestimated as it includes over 810,000 barrels of oil which was collected before it could enter the Gulf waters.
The GuLF Study, or Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study, is a five-year research project examining the human-health consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010. The spill followed an explosion on a drilling rig leased by BP, the British oil company, and led to the release of over four million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, 48 miles off the coast of Louisiana in the United States.
The Chandeleur Sound is a sound that lies between mainland Louisiana and the Chandeleur Islands in Saint Bernard Parish. It is situated east of Breton Sound and south of Mississippi Sound. It was formed by the mixing of the Gulf of Mexico and the waters of the Mississippi River, protected by the Islands.
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