Tagged: public health

Dr. Fredro Knight has been appointed medical director for St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection District 4, which operates in the Mandeville area.

The Times-Picayune reports he will oversee all aspects of the districts emergency medical services.

Knight currently is emergency department director at the Louisiana Heart Hospital in Lacombe and the LSU Bogalusa Medical Center.

He also is medical director for St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection District 1 in Slidell.

Louisiana's health department has recalled oysters from one Cameron Parish harvest area and has closed it to shellfish harvesting because nine people got stomach illness after eating oysters gathered there.

The Department of Health and Hospitals order Friday recalls all oysters harvested in West Cove off of south Calcasieu Lake since Dec. 28, including shucked, frozen, breaded, post-harvest processed and oysters for the half shell market.

Louisiana's Office of Public Health is going statewide with a plan that officials say cut past-due restaurant and retail food inspections by at least one-third during a nine-parish pilot that began in February.

Assistant Secretary J.T. Lane said Thursday that he's making other changes to fix problems noted in a highly critical state audit released last month.

The audit said his office gave permits to restaurants that failed to correct violations and didn't meet its own standards — such as inspecting restaurants four times a year.

A groundbreaking will be held at 2 p.m., marking the start of a new full-service hospital for New Orleans East. It’s a major step forward in Hurricane Katrina recovery.