Health Care

Health Briefs

Lafayette General Medical Center has been selected to be among the first hospitals in the nation to join the EMPower Initiative to enhance maternity care practices and work toward achieving the Baby Friendly USA designation.

Lafayette General Medical Center has been selected to be among the first hospitals in the nation to join the EMPower Initiative to enhance maternity care practices and work toward achieving the Baby Friendly USA designation. EMPower is a hospital-based quality improvement initiative focusing on maternity care practices leading to Baby-Friendly designation. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, EMPower is aimed at increasing breastfeeding rates throughout the U.S. and promoting and supporting optimal breastfeeding practices toward the ultimate goal of improving the public’s health.

Bryan Laperouse

Bryan Laperouse, interim CEO of St. Martin Hospital, has become a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the nation’s leading professional society for health care leaders. Fellow status represents achievement of the highest standard of professional development in health care, with only 7,500 health care executives holding this distinction. Laperouse began at St. Martin Hospital in 2013 as associate administrator responsible for strategic planning, service line development and special projects.

Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center and Louisiana Oncology Associates have finalized a strategic partnership to further advance integrative cancer care in the Southwest region. Effective Aug. 1, Lourdes will operate the current LOA locations and infusion centers in Lafayette, New Iberia, Crowley and Opelousas with physician support. Further development will include additional services at these locations and new centers to be added in the next 8-12 months. Drs. Gene Brierre, Karen Roden, Donald, Dr. James Cole and David Rinaldi will lead clinical development and patient care in the partnership with Lourdes until Dr. Cole’s and Dr. Rinaldi’s retirements later this year. Drs. Charles Wendling Jr. and Techksell McKnight Washington are both joining the practice this summer with additional focus in New Iberia and Opelousas.

LGMC has purchased a new hyperbaric chamber for its Wound Care and Hyperbarics Department. Hyperbaric chambers are large cylinder machines that deliver oxygen-rich atmospheric therapy to patients to speed-up wound healing. This is the department’s third chamber on site. This new chamber, a Sechrist model 4100H/HR, is the largest single-person model available. A hyperbaric chamber delivers 100 percent oxygen under increased atmospheric pressure to the whole body. Increased oxygen delivery to wounds helps them heal by speeding up growth of new blood vessels.