Nurses’ sickout sparks hospital investigation

Two administrators put on paid leave.
Marsha Shuler, Advocate, July 7, 2006

Two top administrators are on leave while the state health agency investigates operations at the state-run psychiatric hospital in Mandeville.

The probe followed a one-day sick-out by nurses and nurses aides to protest conditions at Southeast Louisiana Hospital, the president of a volunteer group said Thursday.

The unrest has occurred as Southeast added patients in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which knocked out psychiatric hospitals in the New Orleans area. Some psychiatric staff from LSU’s charity hospital also moved from New Orleans to the St. Tammany Parish facility. ... Nurses