Louisiana Health Care Review (LHCR) recently announced the company has changed its name to eQHealth Solutions. The new name supports the Louisiana-based company’s growth into other markets, as well as underscores its key strength of providing effective and high quality health care solutions.

 

In addition to Louisiana Health Care Review, the company is known as HealthSystems of Mississippi and HealthSystems of Illinois in those respective states. But, because so many clients and business associates are familiar with these companies, eQHealth will continue to do business under these names in their respective markets.

 

NEW IBERIA — Improving efficiency, quality and customer service is the focus of Terry Napper, the newest member to join the award-winning Dauterive Hospital leadership team.

 

Napper recently accepted a position as Ancillary Services Director, a new position created to oversee the Radiology, Laboratory and Respiratory departments.

 

Dauterive Hospital is proud to have a team of more than 400 gifted professionals dedicated to providing high quality, cost effective health care to Teche Area residents from Registration and Radiology to the cafeteria and the bedside, said Alan Fabian, Chief Executive Officer for Dauterive Hospital.

 

Napper, a Nashville, Tenn. native, earned a bachelor’s degree in health care services from Southern Illinois University in 1985 before going on to earn a Master of Business Administration degree from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif. in 1989. He served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years as a hospital corpsman, then moved to New Orleans, where he served as Radiology Director at the Oschner Clinic Foundation.

 

HAMMOND — Four Hammond residents recently received promotions within North Oaks Health System.

 

 Sherry Collura was promoted to Patient Safety Director from Coordinator, a position she has held for 11 years.

 

Prior to this experience, she worked in the health system’s Legal Services Department for 3 years.

 

Collura earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from William Carey College in Hattiesburg, Miss. and is certified in Hazard Control Management and as a Healthcare Safety Professional. Professionally, she belongs to the American Society of Risk Managers.

 

Former Case Management Director Sherri Hayes was promoted to Assistant Vice President of Case Management.

 

Hayes began her 15-year North Oaks career as Case Management Coordinator in 1994. 

 

Hayes earned an associate’s degree in nursing from the University of New York and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. She is certified in case management and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in health care administration from the University of Phoenix with campuses in Metairie and Baton Rouge.

 

Eileen Johnson was promoted to Director from Coordinator of Employee Wellness.

 

Johnson was employed with North Oaks from 1972 to 1979 and rejoined the health system in 1985. Since that time, she has worked in a variety of roles, including Health Educator, Certified Diabetes Educator and Emergency Department Staff Nurse.

 

She is a nursing graduate of Our Lady of the Lake College and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Southeastern Louisiana University. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in health arts from the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill. 

 

Pam Vaccaro has been promoted to Director of Infection Prevention from Coordinator, a position she has held for 25 years.

 

She is a nursing graduate of Our Lady of the Lake School of Nursing and has served on the national board of the Association of Infection Control Practitioners for 6 years. Currently, she is an active member of the National Certification Board of Infection Control and Prevention and has accepted the position of president-elect of the Greater New Orleans Chapter of the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

 

BATON ROUGE – Baton Rouge General Medical Center’s School of Nursing announced the graduation of 39 nursing candidates for the Class of 2009 at ceremonies at Broadmoor United Methodist Church Dec. 11.

 

Jose’ Milano, RN, a former graduate of the General’s School of Nursing, provided the commencement address and Lori Minsky, MSN, RN, delivered the Faculty Address. Rev. Lusinda Warren provided the invocation and benediction.

 

Baton Rouge General’s School of Nursing operates a two-year RN program and accepts approximately 40 candidates each year. For further information about the school or for a program application, contact Baton Rouge General Medical Center’s School of Nursing at 225-387-7623.

 

The graduates, their hometowns and their awards are as follows:

 

Jodi Lane Alonzo, Baton Rouge

Karla Alcala, Baton Rouge

National Collegiate Nursing Award Nominee

Haley Bacile, Ponchatoula

Kristi Booker, Walker

Nicole Elizabeth Brenn, Gonzales

Monica Buckhalter, Denham Springs

Brandi S. Bunch, Ethel

Dori T. Colletti, Denham Springs

Angelle N. Collins, St. Amant

Louisiana Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Recipient

Garnie Belvin Eggars Award

Catherine Dawn Coxe, Baton Rouge

Todd Denham, Baker

John Easterly, Baton Rouge

Louisiana Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Recipient

Kim Yvonne Foster, Mount Airy

Lindsey Boyd Gaspard, Gonzales

Excellence in Nursing of Children Award

Francis Gaude-Ruiz, Baton Rouge

Ashley Stanley Germany, Denham Springs

Louisiana Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Recipient

Michalyn Hebert, Port Allen

Ashley Himel, Gonzales

Amanda Firmin Jewell, Livonia

Adrienne Kazan, Baton Rouge

Excellence in Management in Nursing Award

Julie Knight, Livingston

Rebecca Landry, Tickfaw

Excellence in Adult Health Nursing Award

National Collegiate Nursing Award Nominee

Miranda Lear, Denham Springs

Lacey LeBlanc, Walker

Jeanne Marie Leger, Greenwell Springs

Brittany Maurin, Ponchatoula

Stephanie McClendon, Baton Rouge

Excellence in Mental Health Nursing Award

Esther Brooks Morgan, Baton Rouge

Maternal-Newborn Nursing Course Award

Katie E. Musso, Baton Rouge

President of 2009 Class

Keri Lefort Scholarship

Faculty Award for Student Excellence

Kelly Logan Oubre, Denham Springs

Grace Hough Award

Nancy T. Phan, Baton Rouge

Heidi M. Picard, Baton Rouge

National Collegiate Nursing Award Nominee

Rebekah Schmieder, Greenwell Springs

Debra T. Slayton, Denham Springs

Amanda L. Smith, Prairieville

National Collegiate Nursing Award Nominee

Excellence in Critical Care Nursing Award

Student Award for Excellence

Amy Thomassie, Slaughter

Sarah Elizabeth Townsend, Baton Rouge

Hollie Wallette, Zachary

Downtown Kiwanis Scholarship Award

National Collegiate Nursing Award Nominee

Scholastic Achievement Award

 

baton rouge — Baton Rouge Rehabilitation Hospital, LLC has reached an agreement to acquire an 80-bed HealthSouth inpatient rehabilitation hospital, located in United Plaza in Baton Rouge. Upon closing, which is expected to occur later this month, Baton Rouge Rehabilitation Hospital will assume responsibility for day-to-day operations and acquire the 88,000-square foot facility.

 

The parties will work cooperatively to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for patients and staff at the rehabilitation hospital and ensure that there are no interruptions to patient care. It is anticipated that substantially all of the staff will be offered the opportunity to remain with the hospital.

 

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

 

Baton Rouge Rehabilitation Hospital will operate as a full-service inpatient rehabilitation hospital, serving patients with inpatient and outpatient physical rehabilitation care and treatment needs. The hospital will accept most insurance plans.

 

Baton Rouge Rehabilitation Hospital, LLC is owned by affiliates of Baton Rouge Orthopaedic Clinic and General Health System.

 

METAIRIE — For the third consecutive year, the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Company approved a dividend for all LAMMICO policyholders in Louisiana and Arkansas. The announcement affects close to 6,000 policyholders, who will receive a 10 percent dividend of a policyholder’s written premium.

 

“We declare this third dividend with confidence while maintaining a surplus level that ensures the reliable payment of claims over any cycle,” said Thomas H. Grimstad, M.D., LAMMICO’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Even in these uncertain economic times, LAMMICO will keep its focus on our policyholders by providing innovative products, strong defense and advocacy.”

 

The total dividend declared is approximately $5.1-million.

 

Lafayette — OncoLogics, Inc. is one of five cancer programs selected to participate in the Association of Community Cancer Centers’ (ACCC’s) Prostate Cancer “Best Practices” Project. As part of this prestigious program, OncoLogics will participate in on-site education involving processes and structures to create model community-based prostate-specific cancer programs used to initiate and grow successful prostate cancer programs throughout the nation.

 

“The need for education and support for prostate cancer care is clearly unmet in many communities throughout Louisiana and across the nation,” said Dr. Maitland DeLand, CEO of OncoLogics, Inc. “ACCC’s new Prostate Cancer Project is designed to promote successful community-based prostate-specific cancer programs.”

 

As part of ACCC’s Prostate Cancer “Best Practices” Project, information about the prostate cancer program at OncoLogics, Inc., will be shared with cancer centers across the United States.

 

Prostate cancer is unique in that there are equally effective, mutually exclusive treatment options. Increasingly, men diagnosed with prostate cancer are seeking out programs that provide disease-specific information regarding treatment options that focus on the unique issues surrounding the disease. However, many men still believe there may be only one option available to them locally, when there may in fact be more than ten treatment options and some open clinical trials, which may be appropriate for their diagnosis. ACCC’s project seeks to provide cancer centers across the country with the success factors necessary to develop an effective, targeted prostate cancer program in their community, so patients understand all the options available to them.

 

In addition to OncoLogics, Inc., the other four participants in the program include: Florida Hospital Cancer Institute in Orlando; Good Samaritan Hospital, San Jose, Calif.; Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta, Ga.; and Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, Tallahassee, Fla.

 

BATON ROUGE – Edward Jeffries, MD, has been named chief medical officer for First Care Physicians. In this role, Dr. Jeffries will oversee medical administration activities and provide leadership for quality assessment/quality improvement and patient safety.

 

Dr. Jeffries is a Diplomat of the American Board of Family Practice and has practiced family medicine for more than 30 years with Baton Rouge Family Medical Center, an affiliate of First Care Physicians.

 

He is a graduate of Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans and is a member of the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Louisiana State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association.

 

Dr. Jeffries has previously served as President of the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians. He has also previously served as the General’s Chief of Family Medicine and as a member of the Board of Trustees for General Health System. He is a member of the American College of Physician Executives and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Additionally, he is a consultant in the field of medical practice management.

 

Dr. Jeffries is a board-certified family practice physician, previously working with Baton Rouge Family, a First Care Physician practice. He formerly served as a medical practice consultant and owned his own private practice for than 30 years.

 

He is currently a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Medical Association, Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians, and Louisiana State Medical Society.