HJBR May/Jun 2021

34 MAY / JUN 2021  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE   Healthcare Briefs National Association of Community Health Cen- ters (NACHC) formed the Medicaid Telehealth Partnership to increase access to care among Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the partnership, Louisiana Healthcare Connec- tions announced that it has awarded the provid- ers below with a financial grant to help them ramp up their capacity to provide telehealth solutions: • Acadiana Concern for AIDS of Lafayette. • Capitol City Family Health of Baton Rouge. • CommuniHealth Services of Bastrop. • Crescent Care of New Orleans. • Odyssey House of New Orleans. • Southeast Community Health of Zachary. • Start Corporation of Houma. • Iberia Comprehensive of New Iberia. Leveraging the grant, these healthcare provid- ers will purchase new equipment, upgrade infra- structure and provide training, to name a few. The investment will allow the providers to increase their capacity to serve the health needs of Loui- siana residents, creating a safe experience during the pandemic while also improving convenience and accessibility for all persons. While telehealth services saw increased adop- tion in the years before the pandemic, particularly in rural areas, moving in-person healthcare ser- vices to virtual environments quickened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, not all healthcare providers have the resources to rapidly purchase equipment as well as provide the train- ing and technical assistance necessary to manage telehealth platforms. Centene and the NACHC recognized the new needs and worked with these health centers to make an impact locally, espe- cially with traditionally underserved communities. “The past year has drawn attention to the importance of telehealth solutions, as communi- ties struggled to conveniently access healthcare services. This has also shined a light on the strug- gle of people in rural areas with limited healthcare providers,” said Louisiana Healthcare Connec- tions’ Plan President and CEO Jamie Schlottman. “By providing these telehealth grants, we’re not only helping providers respond to the ongoing pandemic; we’re investing in the health of the communities that we live in and serve.” “As our mission is to provide comprehensive healthcare to everyone, ICCHC recognizes the field of healthcare is ever-evolving; therefore, it is important we continuously adapt our practices to better meet the needs of the patients and com- munities we serve, thus allowing us to continue providing them with the comprehensive care they need,” stated Regional Site Director De’Marquis Hamilton. Ron Boudreaux, PhD, Receives LA Psychological Association President’s Award Ron Boudreaux, PhD, is the recipient of the Louisiana Psychological Association President’s Award. Boudreaux, who has end-stage Parkin- son’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia, was rec- ognized on March 29 at St. James Place in Baton Rouge. Close colleagues and family convened to honor Boudreaux who was being honored for his dedi- cated service and career in establishing a com- prehensive system of public mental health ser- vices for children, youth, and families in Louisiana, for which he served as chief psychologist for the Office of Mental Health (OMH). Boudreaux began his public mental health career in the 1970’s as a staff psychologist and program grant lead on the adolescent unit at Central Louisiana State Hospital in Pineville. He subsequently served as the chief executive offi- cer of Green Well Springs Adolescent Hospital in Baton Rouge. In the 1980s, Boudreaux became the director of children’s services for the state Office of Men- tal Health. He later served as the program direc- tor for CASSP – the Child and Adolescent Ser- vice System Program, a federal grant-funded program to transform the traditional commu- nity mental health clinic-based service system to what is now the standard of care (i.e., child and family community-based services and supports offered throughout community settings, includ- ing homes and schools). Boudreaux spearheaded development of innovative services such as child and family teams, home-based crisis intervention programs, case management, and parent respite programs. During this time, he also facilitated the development of a standard definition for the educational exceptionality of emotional/behav- ioral disorder for use by the State Department of Education Bulletin1508 to promote services and supports in schools. In the 1990s, Boudreaux’s efforts to establish a comprehensive system of care for children, youth, and families continued under the Federal Block Grant State Mental Health Plan. He continued to build coalitions to integrate services across the state child-serving agencies, and through advo- cacy groups and the State Mental Health Plan- ning Council. During this time, Boudreaux was promoted to the chief psychologist for state men- tal health system, and provided for policy/proce- dure development and operations command for psychological services across the state. He was active in developing and implementing policies and procedures to divert children from hospital- ization to less restrictive, more effective commu- nity-based care. Boudreaux retired from the OMH after 40 years of public service. Soon afterwards, he under- took specialized training in infant mental health through the Tulane University program, and com- pleted his professional career as a private practi- tioner at Family Focus, a multi-disciplinary early childhood assessment and treatment program in Baton Rouge. Boudreaux now resides at St. James Place Retirement Community in Baton Rouge, enjoying more time with his two children and his five grandchildren. Louisiana Healthcare Connections, Pro Football Hall of Fame Launching COVID-19 Vaccination Awareness Effort Louisiana Healthcare Connections, Cen- tene Corporation, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame have launched a PSA campaign to edu- cate people across the country about the safety and importance of the COVID-19 vaccine, with a particular focus on communities of color. Louisi- ana Healthcare Connections is engaging Louisi- ana residents to encourage them to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when available and help pre- vent the spread of the virus. The 30-second PSA features Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams, who is from New Orleans and was a star player at South- ern University before playing for the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals in the NFL. The 30-second PSA can be viewed at https://youtu.be/jS6BYOh6i4A. To achieve “herd immunity,” roughly 80% of the