HJBR Jan/Feb 2024

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  JAN / FEB 2024 51 vidual sites, and 18 schools of higher edu- cation including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to assist with the recruitment and placement of students. As a result, 30 students are now partic- ipating in the Rural Health Scholars Pro- gram, and 18 physicians are supported by our Louisiana Physician Loan Repayment Program. Furthermore, we partnered with Louisiana universities, including HBCUs and medical schools, to increase diversi- ty within the healthcare delivery system to successfully have 268 students participat- ing in the university mentorship programs, with 184 students enrolled at HBCUs at the end of the fiscal year. These are just a few of the many posi- tive outcomes from our 2023 LDH business plan. Now, we stand at a critical juncture where we can reflect on what we have ac- complished and where we should go from here. As we finalize next year’s business plan, the department looks to continue moving the dial on these issues and continue work- ing to improve the quality of life for resi- dents across the state. n Karen Stubbs is the assistant secretary for LDH’s Of- fice of Behavioral Health. She joined the department in 2013.As head of OBH,Karen leads policy decisions addressing prevention and treatment of mental ill- ness, substance use disorders, and addictive disor- ders. Karen’s career spans leadership roles in the Of- fice of Juvenile Justice and Governor Bobby Jindal’s administration as well as working in the state court system.Karen is an attorney who graduated from the LSU law school. statewide. Louisiana’s Medicaid previously covered tobacco cessation counseling when provided during pregnancy, and to reinforce LDH’s commitment to preventive health- care and the recognition of the time clini- cians devote to providing effective health counseling, we successfully increased cov- erage of tobacco cessation counseling to all Medicaid enrollees. Behavioral health and the mental well- ness of residents has also been a significant focus area for the LDH. This year, we have increased access to crisis call services, and we also increased mental healthcare needs by expanding bed availability to those who need in-patient support. We are also excited about the work done to improve health equity and workforce diversity across the state. We worked with various partners to establish systems and incentives to increase the provision of healthcare in rural and underserved com- munities. A few incentive programs to fur- ther diversity and activity in underserved communities include our Well-Ahead Rural Scholars Program as well as our Louisiana Physician Loan Repayment Program, both of which work to increase access to care and incentivize serving rural communities within our state. We also worked to address the shortage of healthcare professionals in Louisiana. To strengthen the healthcare workforce, our Well-Ahead Louisiana program has agree- ments with 35 healthcare systems, 79 indi- Karen Stubbs Assistant Secretary LDH Office of Behavioral Health OVER THE LAST YEAR, the Louisiana De- partment of Health has worked diligently on the goals set forth in our 2023 Business Plan, working through challenges, obsta- cles, and various state emergencies and ad- ministering various services and programs critical to Louisianans. As many of these projects have involved partnering with pro- viders and partners like you, LDH is excited to share these results, which we hope can be both a source of pride for the progress we have made, as well as give providers an idea of initiatives, goals, benchmarks, and where we can go from here. Together, we developed and achieved 92% of the 253 deliverables and 91% of the 45 goals in the LDH Business Plan FY 2023. We made measurable progress on 18 im- portant initiatives leading to improvements in behavioral, maternal, and dental health services; chronic disease prevention and detection; and workforce development. We began with a commitment to improve health outcomes in pregnancy and through childhood and exceeded our goal of in- creasing participation in Louisiana’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Wom- en, Infants, and Children (WIC) by 5%. WIC participation increased by about 9% over the fiscal year, from34,119 to 37,092. We also promoted breastfeeding among program participants through enhanced WIC center participation and enrolled over 1,800 users to the Pacify breastfeeding app. We made progress on tobacco cessation “Together, we developed and achieved 92% of the 253 deliverables and 91% of the 45 goals in the LDH Business Plan FY 2023.”