HJBR Jul/Aug 2019

Healthcare Journal of Baton Rouge I  JUL / AUG 2019 59 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com their nursing education. These nurses were hon- ored for their commitment to the highest nursing standards and providing exceptional patient care. St. Martin Hospital Receives Grant to Expand After-hours Primary Care Access St. Martin Hospital, a non-profit critical access hospital located in Breaux Bridge, has received a one-year grant from Louisiana Healthcare Con- nections that will enable the facility to provide expanded after-hours and weekend access to primary care services via its walk-in community health clinic. “St. Martin Hospital is committed to serving our Medicaid population in a clinic setting that provides the necessary care management,” says St. Martin Hospital CEO Karen Wyble, RN, MSN, MHA, MBA. “In order to meet the needs of our families, we must provide accessibility to care, which involves 24/7 coverage. Louisiana Health- care Connections has partnered with St. Martin Hospital’s Community Health Clinic with grant funding to assist with the costs of providing fam- ily nurse practitioners, allowing us to extend hours of services. Our goal is to shift our non-emergent Medicaid families out of the emergency rooms to the appropriate clinic setting for care manage- ment, 24/7.” The communities served by the St. Martin Par- ish facility include medically underserved, low income, and minority populations, according to a 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment, making the increased availability of primary care services an important need for the parish. “St. Martin Hospital shares our commitment to reducing non-emergent use of the Emergency Room by increasing access to high quality pri- mary care,” says Joseph Tidwell, vice president of network and contracting for Louisiana Healthcare Connections. “We are pleased to partner with St. Martin Hospital in making these services more readily available to Medicaid enrollees.” North Oaks Medical Center Recertified as Primary Stroke Center The Joint Commission has recertified North Oaks Medical Center as a primary stroke center. Recertification follows a rigorous on-site review in December of 2018 and validates the continu- ation of certification first earned five years ago in 2014. The Joint Commission conducts a recertifi- cation survey every two years. With recertification, North Oaks Medical Cen- ter has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval®. North Oaks also has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers, for using best practices in providing prompt stroke intervention and care and for improving patient outcomes. “North Oaks Medical Center has thoroughly demonstrated the greatest level of commitment to the care of stroke patients through its recer- tification as a Primary Stroke Center,” said Pat- rick Phelan, who is executive director of hospital business development for The Joint Commis- sion. “We commend the hospital as a leader in stroke care.” Hospital staff have cared for 1,769 stroke patients since becoming a primary stroke cen- ter in 2015. Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, said, “We congratulate North Oaks Medical Center for achieving this designation. By adhering to this very specific set of treatment guidelines, North Oaks has clearly made it a pri- ority to deliver high quality care to all patients affected by stroke.” “We are pleased to receive recertification from The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association,” said Michele Sutton, president and chief executive officer of North Oaks Health System. “Recertifi- cation validates the exceptional stroke care our team provides and our commitment to advanc- ing stroke care even further.” One way that the hospital has continued to advance stroke care in the region is through utili- zation of a minimally invasive interventional radi- ology technique called intracranial mechanical thrombectomy since February of 2018. North Oaks is the only Northshore hospital using the procedure to help victims of ischemic strokes, the most common type, regain movement, language, and other abilities. To date, 13 patients have been treated with the procedure. When an ischemic stroke occurs, the blood supply to the brain is blocked by a blood clot or BRG Hosts Roundtable Focused on Beginning of Bluebonnet Campus Baton Rouge General (BRG) hosted a roundtable sharing the never-before-told story about the beginning of its Bluebonnet campus 25 years ago. The discussion was moderated by, from left, Dan Bornè, and featured Hardy Swyers, Princeton Bardwell, Former BRG CEO Tom Sawyer, and Mike Wampold.