HJBR Mar/Apr 2020

48 MAR / APR 2020  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE   Hospital Rounds make a real difference in health outcomes for this vulnerable group of women and their infants,” said Barbara Griffith, MD, president & CEO of Woman’s Hospital. “We are grateful for the sup- port of United Health and are excited to enter into the next chapter of our battle against opi- oid addiction.” In addition to the grant from United Health, Woman’s Hospital was one of two hospitals in the state selected by the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) to participate in the NOWS Pilot Project, helping the state create a plan to improve outcomes associated with neonatal opioid with- drawal syndrome (NOWS). The Center for Medi- care and Medicaid Services also selected Loui- siana as one of 10 states to participate in the Maternal Opioid Misuse (MOM) model program. Woman’s will be the care delivery partner working with LDH to address gaps in the care of pregnant and postpartum Medicaid members with opioid use disorder. “In our new partnership with LDH, we will be providing an even greater level of care coordi- nation, along with a longer time frame of treat- ment for our patients,” added Griffith. “And with expanded outreach efforts to physicians and com- munity partners, we can begin helping women as soon as they know they are pregnant.” n Internal Medicine in internal medicine and rheu- matology. Dr. Grewal is a member of the Ameri- can College of Rheumatology. Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group Rheuma- tology is located at 7777 Hennessy Blvd., Ste. 501. Woman’s Hospital Updates State Legislators on GRACE ProgramSuccess The GRACE Program at Woman’s Hospital has helped more than 80 pregnant women with opi- oid use disorder since it launched in 2018, and the hospital plans to grow its work addressing the opioid crisis through new grants and programs in the coming years. Members of the Louisiana Legislative Wom- en’s Caucus visited Woman’s Hospital for a tour of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and to learn more about how GRACE has helped Louisi- ana women overcome addiction. GRACE, which stands for Guiding Recovery and Creating Empowerment, is a care coordination program that connects pregnant women with opioid use disorder to treatment and support resources in the community. Funded by a grant from the United Health Foundation, it is the only program of its kind in Louisiana and one of few in the nation.  “The GRACE Program has shown that we can Griffith, MD, president & CEO of Woman’s Hos- pital. “We are so proud of our dedicated staff who continually look for ways to improve the health of our area’s women and infants. Woman’s also has received the Guardian of Excellence Award from Press Ganey for being a national leader in patient experience for five years in a row. Recent initiatives at Woman’s that have led to better outcomes for patients include expand- ing care coordination for high-risk pregnan- cies, launching the pregnancy nurse naviga- tor program to support expectant mothers, and decreasing wait times in the Assessment Center. Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group Rheumatology Welcomes NewPhysician Harman Grewal, MD, has joined Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group Rheumatology. Gre- wal joins rheumatologists Dr. Bobby Dupre, Dr. Jen Erbil, Dr. Khanh Ho, and Dr. Sean Shan- non in providing treatment of musculoskele- tal disease and systemic autoimmune condi- tions which commonly affect joints, muscles, and bones causing pain, swelling, stiffness, and deformity. Common diseases treated include osteoarthritis, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, ten- dinitis, and lupus. Grewal received her medical degree from Medical University of the Americas in St. Kitts & Nevis, West Indies. She completed a resi- dency in internal medicine and fellowship in rheumatology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She is board-certified by the American Board of Harman Grewal, MD FIRST BABY OF NEW YEAR BORN AT WOMAN’S HOSPITAL Proud parents Chasity Lathers and Montrail Tony welcomed baby girl Jherzie at 3:23 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2020 -- the first baby of the new year born at Woman’s Hospital. The mom-to-be was scheduled to be induced on Jan. 3, but baby Jherzie had other plans. Mom and baby are doing well and looking forward to celebrating her birthday with each new year.