Houma Healthcare Worker Injury Lawyer
Nurses, aides, and technicians get hurt at work in ways that rarely look like the “accident” an insurer expects to see: a patient lifts that wrench a lumbar disc over months, a needlestick that turns into a bloodborne exposure question, a fall on a wet hallway during a double shift. Houma healthcare worker injury lawyer representation matters because those facts invite denial arguments about pre-existing conditions, unwitnessed events, and “ordinary wear and tear of the job.” Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers in Terrebonne Parish, the surrounding bayou communities, and across Louisiana and Mississippi.
Healthcare work is physically punishing in a way that is easy to underestimate from the outside. Transferring patients, repositioning bedbound residents, standing through twelve-hour shifts, and responding to combative or confused patients all load the spine, shoulders, and knees. Cases from Houma’s hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, home health agencies, and offshore-support medical providers tend to turn on medical causation, so the strength of the claim often depends on how well the records connect the job to the injury.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Healthcare Worker Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC serves injured workers in Houma and Terrebonne Parish, across South Louisiana, and throughout Mississippi. The firm’s attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. Clients pay nothing up front, the firm advances the costs of the case, and fees are collected only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Consultations are free, phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
The team is led by Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, who has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, both Partners, have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results most relevant to healthcare workers involve the same kinds of injuries this profession produces. The firm obtained a $685,000 settlement for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, along with a $600,000 settlement for a construction worker with a complex back injury, and a $385,000 settlement for a project manager injured in a work-vehicle collision. Clients describe an attorney who stayed with them through the fight with the insurer, which is the part of a contested claim that wears people down.
Injuries and Exposures Common Among Houma Healthcare Workers
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Patient transfers, bed repositioning, and lifting without adequate staffing are the leading causes of lumbar and cervical disc herniations among nurses and aides. Insurers often respond by blaming degenerative disc disease, so the claim depends on medical evidence showing how the job caused or aggravated the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Rotator cuff tears, SLAP tears, and meniscus tears follow pulling, lifting, and twisting with patients, or kneeling and pivoting during emergency care. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries, which is why imaging and treating-physician opinions carry so much weight.
- Slip, Trip, and Fall Fractures: Wet floors, cluttered corridors, and rushed shifts produce broken ankles, wrists, hips, and feet that can require surgical repair and long recovery away from patient care.
- Needlesticks and Bloodborne Exposures: A sharps injury or exposure to infectious disease triggers testing, prophylactic treatment, and follow-up monitoring that should be treated as part of the compensable claim, even when no lasting illness develops.
- Violence From Patients: Emergency departments, behavioral units, and long-term care settings see assaults on staff, causing fractures, head and neck trauma, and psychological injury that employers sometimes dismiss as part of the job.
- Repetitive Strain and Overuse Conditions: Carpal tunnel, tendinitis, and chronic back and shoulder wear develop over months of repeated tasks. These gradual-onset claims face the sharpest causation challenges because there is no single dramatic event to point to.
- Home Health and Travel Injuries: Aides who drive between clients’ homes can be hurt in collisions while working, and may also have a separate injury claim against the at-fault driver in addition to workers’ compensation benefits.
What to Do After a Healthcare Workplace Injury in Terrebonne Parish
Report the injury to your employer promptly and in writing if you can. Louisiana law bars a compensation proceeding unless the employer receives notice within 30 days of the injury, and a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of injury. If the insurer has paid compensation, that filing window may extend to three years from the last payment, but relying on that exception is risky. Name the specific event, the body parts affected, and where it happened, then keep a copy.
Get medical care and be candid with the provider about how the injury happened and that it occurred at work. Healthcare workers often make a particular mistake: treating at their own facility or with coworkers informally, skipping the paperwork, and “toughing it out” through a shift. Those gaps become the insurer’s argument that the injury was minor or happened elsewhere. Write down who witnessed the event, which patient or equipment was involved, whether staffing was short, and any prior complaints about the same hazard, since that context supports your account.
If treatment is denied or delayed, the clock becomes short. A dispute over a denied medical treatment request goes to the Office of Workers’ Compensation through Form 1009, which must be filed within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice of the denial, and the medical director then has 30 calendar days to issue a decision. If you disagree with that decision, you have 45 days from its issuance to file Form 1008. These deadlines run from the notice and the decision, not from when you happened to read them, so missed mail can cost you rights.
Wage disputes and contested claims are heard by a workers’ compensation judge in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which has a district court in Houma. Louisiana lets the worker choose the venue: the parish where the injury occurred, the parish where you lived when hurt, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. A final judgment can be appealed, and the delay generally runs 30 days for an appeal that suspends the judgment or 60 days for one that does not, counted from the day after the judgment was signed or notice was mailed, whichever is later. Terrebonne Parish appeals go to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, and the Louisiana Supreme Court may be asked to review that decision through a writ application filed within 30 days of notice of the judgment.
Benefits Available When a Healthcare Job Injures You
Louisiana workers’ compensation covers reasonable and necessary medical treatment, including surgery, therapy, medication, and specialist care, along with wage replacement while you cannot work. Weekly compensation rates are capped by a maximum set annually from the statewide average weekly wage, and the rate that applies is fixed by your date of accident rather than adjusted later. Permanent injuries carry additional benefits, and catastrophic injury and death claims carry more.
Many healthcare workers return to work in a lighter role at lower pay, which is where supplemental earnings benefits matter. When an injured employee cannot earn at least 90 percent of the pre-injury wage, supplemental earnings benefits pay two-thirds of the difference between the earlier wage and what the worker earns or is able to earn. Those benefits can continue until release to full duty, a return to pre-injury earnings, or the 520-week maximum, with temporary total disability weeks counting toward that limit. A nurse who can no longer lift and moves to a lower-paying desk position is exactly the situation this benefit exists for, though insurers frequently challenge the numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Healthcare Worker Injuries
Am I covered if I was hurt lifting a patient and have a history of back problems?
Yes, a prior condition does not automatically end a claim. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated the problem, benefits may still be owed. Insurers raise this argument constantly, and the response is strong medical evidence connecting the work event to the change in your condition.
How soon must I report a workplace injury in Louisiana?
Report it right away. Louisiana bars a compensation proceeding unless the employer was given notice within 30 days of the injury. A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of injury, with possible extensions when compensation has been paid.
Do I need a lawyer for a healthcare worker injury claim?
Not every claim requires one, but if benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or you expect a long absence from work, an attorney can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers protecting its interests, and you should have someone protecting yours.
How much does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of your case, and fees are collected only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Louisiana and Mississippi both protect workers from retaliation for filing a compensation claim. If you were let go, demoted, or had your hours cut after reporting an injury, mention it in your consultation so the situation can be reviewed.
What happens if the insurer denies the treatment my doctor recommends?
You can dispute the denial through the Office of Workers’ Compensation by filing Form 1009 within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice. The medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. Missing that short window can seriously weaken your position, so act quickly.
I was assaulted by a patient. Is that covered?
An injury suffered in the course of your duties is generally part of a compensation claim, regardless of whether a patient caused it. Psychological injury tied to a physical event may also be part of the case, depending on the medical evidence.
What if I was hurt in a car wreck while driving between home health clients?
You may have a workers’ compensation claim and a separate personal injury claim against the at-fault driver. The two need to be coordinated, because a settlement in one can affect the other. Louisiana’s tort deadline for injuries on or after July 1, 2024 is two years, and a fault share of 51 percent or more can bar recovery for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026.
What if I only got a needlestick and tested negative?
Testing, preventive treatment, and follow-up monitoring after an exposure are still tied to a work incident. Report it, document it, and keep your records, because follow-up testing can continue for months and an unreported exposure is hard to prove later.
I am a nurse who can no longer do bedside work. What happens to my income?
If you return at reduced pay, supplemental earnings benefits may cover part of the difference, and permanent disability benefits may apply depending on your medical restrictions. The 520-week cap on supplemental earnings benefits counts weeks of temporary total disability as well.
Can I bring a claim if I was working in Mississippi but live near Houma?
Possibly. Mississippi requires injured workers to report within 30 days and generally gives two years to file with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. The firm handles claims in both states, so the right forum can be determined from where the injury happened and the employment relationship.
Serving Houma Healthcare Workers and Terrebonne Parish Communities
Our work for injured healthcare workers begins in Houma and extends through the rest of Terrebonne Parish, including Gray, Bayou Cane, Schriever, Chauvin, Montegut, Dulac, Cocodrie, and Gibson. We also represent workers in neighboring Lafourche Parish, including Thibodaux, Raceland, and Lockport, and in nearby Assumption and St. Mary Parishes. Across South Louisiana, the firm serves workers in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Lake Charles, as well as north Louisiana communities such as Shreveport.
The firm’s reach also covers Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, and the Delta. Healthcare workers in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home health agencies in any of those places can bring a claim through the firm.
Speak With a Houma Healthcare Worker Injury Attorney
If a work injury has put your job, your income, or your medical care at risk, a Houma healthcare worker injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened and tell you where your claim stands. Consultations are free, no fee is owed unless benefits are recovered, and phones are answered 24 hours a day. Call the firm today to talk through your injury and your next move.
