HJBR Jul/Aug 2019

54 JUL / AUG 2019  I  Healthcare Journal of Baton Rouge   Hospital Rounds and interventional procedures and treatments. The Children’s Hospital New Orleans Heart Cen- ter has experienced significant growth in recent months, including the recruitment of Thomas Kimball, MD, who will join Children’s Hospital New Orleans as chief of cardiology in May. Kim- ball joins Children’s Hospital from Cincinnati Chil- dren’s Heart Institute, where he served as medi- cal director of their program, which is consistently ranked in the top five pediatric heart programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report.  Children’s Hospital New Orleans has also recently recruited additional pediatric heart spe- cialists including a perfusionist, two cardiac inten- sivists, and a heart failure specialist from some of the nation’s top children’s hospitals to ensure kids in Louisiana have access to specialized heart care within the state.  “The growth of our Heart Center team has posi- tioned Children’s Hospital New Orleans to expand services across the state,” says John R. Nickens, IV, president and chief executive officer at Children’s Hospital New Orleans. “Creating affiliations and alignments with like-minded institutions such as Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health enhances our ability to eliminate fragmentation and deliver high quality pediatric healthcare services to chil- dren across Louisiana. Sharing of medical exper- tise, specialties, and resources enhances care, while at the same time reducing costs and unnec- essary duplication.” “I applaud the innovation of these two Louisi- ana institutions in coordinating efforts to do what’s best for the children of our state” says Rebekah Gee, MD, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health. “Through this collaboration, children in Louisiana will receive critical heart care closer to home and fewer children will need to leave the state for life saving cardiac care.” Negotiations between the parties will continue as terms are incorporated into formal agreements. Woman’s Hospital Launches Mobile Technology to Enhance Patient Experience As a proven leader in providing positive patient experiences, Woman’s Hospital has implemented a new technology that allows nurses more time to engage with patients, minimizes noise distur- bances and distractions, and promotes a safer Children’s Hospital New Orleans, OLOL Children’s Health Collaborate to Advance Pediatric Surgical Heart Care The two largest providers of pediatric healthcare in Louisiana are joining together to provide fam- ilies even more access to innovative and quality healthcare. Children’s Hospital New Orleans and Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health recently signed a letter of intent to create a regional pedi- atric cardiovascular surgical healthcare delivery network. The parties will align expertise and resources to expand access to specialized pediatric cardio- vascular medical and surgical services in Baton Rouge and across the state. Through the forma- tion of this delivery network, Children’s Hospi- tal New Orleans and Our Lady of the Lake Chil- dren’s Health will build and expand such services as pediatric electrophysiology, interventional car- diac catherization, and cardiac surgery in Baton Rouge for the first time.  “This collaboration allows us to do more together for Louisiana’s children,” said Alston E. Dunbar, III, MD, president, Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health. “This means pediatric heart patients in Louisiana have more access points to highly complex and state-of-the-art procedures. Adding these surgical capabilities and proce- dures to our new children’s hospital means pedi- atric patients with complex cardiovascular condi- tions can receive the highly specialized care they need closer to home.”  Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health, along with affiliated physician partners across Louisi- ana, currently provides pediatric cardiology ser- vices throughout hospitals and satellite clinics in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Monroe, St. Francis- ville, and Hammond. In October, Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health will open a state-of-the-art children’s hospital in Baton Rouge built from the ground up just for kids, and this partnership will fully utilize the new technology and facilities now available in Baton Rouge to provide more surgical Callie Pujol, pictured here, was one of the first patients at Woman’s Hospital to benefit from a new technology aimed at minimizing noise and distractions for moms and babies.