HJBR Mar/Apr 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  MAR / APR 2020 13 Olinde  Our hospital was built in 1969 by the Sisters of St. Joseph, who managed the hospital for the first ten years. In the mid 1980s, with the change to the diagnos- tic related group methodology system of Medicare reimbursement, PCGH encoun- tered financial distress, and the hospital almost closed its doors. PCGH has fully recovered from that difficult period due to strong parish support, as well as positive changes in reimbursement methodologies. In the last ten years, we have seen a large shift in demand from inpatient to outpa- tient services. In response to this, we have changed our operations to accommodate the needs of our community. We have more than tripled the capacity of our emergency department to meet the increased volume and higher acuity of emergency patients. “In the last ten years, we have seen a large shift in demand from inpatient to outpatient services. In response to this, we have changed our operations to accommodate the needs of our community.” Because demand for laboratory, radiology, and therapy services has increased dramati- cally over the years, we have substantially increased the square footage of these areas, and hired additional staff. Even with these changes, we still are at full capacity for many of our outpatient services. Editor How has Pointe Coupee General uti- lized technology to improve care? Olinde  We are very pleased with our Ochsner partnership for the provision of telestroke services. Our emergency depart- ment provides over 50 telestroke consults a year through this arrangement. The emer- gency physicians have the ability to consult immediately with Ochsner vascular neurol- ogists 24 hours a day using the telemedicine