HJBR Nov/Dec 2020

26 NOV / DEC 2020  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE   Healthcare Briefs Rose Hudson for Rose Hudson to be stepping into the posi- tion as chair. She will help us continue to build a firm foundation for the organization so that we can propel cancer care forward for generations to come.” Steven J. Moore, Steven J. Moore, LLC, will con- tinue to serve as vice chair and Paul R. Thomp- son, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, will continue as secretary-treasurer. Other board members include: Tee Brown, GMFS Mortgage, LLC; Brett Furr, Taylor Porter Attorneys at Law; Jeanne James, community vol- unteer; Rolfe Miller, Miller Group Wealth Strate- gies of Raymond James; Rebecca Nelson, com- munity volunteer; Joseph B. “Beau” Olinde, retired; David T. Perry, Arthur J. Gallaher Risk Management Services, Inc.; Donna Saurage, community volunteer; Todd D. Stevens, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center; and Nathaniel Tannehill, Wampold Hospitality Collection. Louisiana Healthcare Connections Offers Support toMembers Affected by Hurricane Laura Louisiana Healthcare Connections members affected by Hurricane Laura are encouraged to contact Member Services for assistance with health- and healthcare-related issues such as the replacement of medications and medical equipment. “Our goal is to ensure that our members con- tinue to have uninterrupted access to the health- care they need in the wake of Hurricane Laura,” said Stewart Gordon, MD, chief medical officer for Louisiana Healthcare Connections. “We want Low-Income Patients in Primary Care Clinic ProgramLose 5 Percent of BodyWeight Low-income Louisiana patients enrolled in a tailored obesity intervention program lost much more weight than counterparts receiving usual care. Study results were published this week in The New England Journal of Medicine. This pop- ulation, who traditionally face the most barriers to weight loss and the highest levels of obesity, found success in a coaching program delivered directly through their primary care clinics. “It’s hard to lose weight for anyone. Adding any obstacle to treatment, especially poverty, makes that task much more difficult. We wanted to remove as many barriers as possible so we brought an effective program to people where they are, in the primary care clinics where they’re comfortable, and it works,” said Peter Katzmar- zyk, PhD, associate executive director of popu- lation and public health sciences at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Over the past decade, several studies failed to achieve meaningful weight loss among people with obesity through lifestyle modification, or diet and exercise, Katzmarzyk said. The results from the Promoting Successful Weight Loss in Primary Care in Louisiana (PROPEL) study demonstrate the importance of making the program as con- venient for the patient as possible. The PROPEL study enrolled 803 patients from 18 primary care clinics in rural and urban parts of the state. The two-year program randomly divided the patients into two groups: • 452 took part in an “intensive lifestyle intervention.” For six months, patients had weekly in-person or phone sessions with a health coach. The coaches demon- strated appropriate portion sizes and identi- fied portion-controlled foods such as fruits, soups, and frozen entrees. The coaches also worked with patients on coping with stress and increasing physical activity. The patients were given electronic scales and encour- aged to weigh themselves every day. For the remaining 18 months, the patients had monthly in-person or phone sessions. • 351 patients received “usual care,” routine primary care services, and three newsletters per year with articles on the importance of being active, getting enough sleep, house- hold money management, family coping skills, and not smoking. The lifestyle group lost 5 percent of their body weight, compared to 0.5 percent in the usual care group. Pennington Biomedical Executive Director John Kirwan, PhD, said the study has important health implications in the effort to slow the global obe- sity epidemic. “The significance of this study cannot be over- stated. Obesity has been linked to at least 13 deadly cancers and lies at the root of type 2 dia- betes and heart disease and stroke. People with obesity who contract COVID-19 are at much greater risk for serious illness or death,” Kirwan said. “A weight loss of 3% to 5% can generate significant health benefits.” This research is supported by award OB-1402- 10977 from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not nec- essarily represent the official views of the Patient- Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation Elects Rose Hudson to Lead Board Rose Hudson, president and CEO of Louisiana Lottery, was recently elected to serve as chair of the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation board. She will lead the group made up of community leaders elected to manage an endowment for improving the future of cancer care. Hudson has been on the Foundation board since 2019 and served on the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center board for 10 years. Hudson is succeeding J. Gerard “Jerry” Jolly who will continue serving on the board as imme- diate past chair. Jolly, a retired partner of KPMG LLP, has served on the Foundation board since 2013. He has served as chair of the board since 2018. “I want to thank Jerry for his many contributions to the Foundation board over the past several years,” said Todd Stevens, president and CEO of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “He has played an integral part in positioning and securing Mary Bird Perkins as the leading cancer care organiza- tion across the Gulf South. We are also excited