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North Oaks Clinic Building ribbon cutting participants included: (first
row, from left) North Oaks Board of Commissioners Member Dr. Ann Carruth;
Ponchatoula Mayor Bob Zabbia (retired North Oaks Board of Commissioners
member); Hammond Mayor Mayson Foster; North Oaks Board of Commissioners
members Blake Daniels, A.J. Bodker (Vice Chairman), Guy Recotta Jr. (Chairman);
Internist Jay Kumar, MD; Orthopaedic Surgeon Bryan Dudoussat, MD; Internists
Charles Ducombs, MD, Susan Zacharia, MD, and William Plunkett, MD; (second
row, from left) ENT & Sinus Specialist Jeffrey LaCour, MD; Orthopaedic
Surgeon Brian Ladner, MD; North Oaks Medical Center Chief of Staff Jason
Reina, MD; ENT & Allergy Specialist Jacques Peltier, MD; Psychiatrist
Michelle Barnum, MD; North Oaks Senior Vice President of Operations Michael
Watkins, Assistant Vice President of the Physician Group Sarah Mitchell,
Operations Decision Support Analyst Marquette Pegler, President/CEO James
E. Cathey Jr.; OB/GYN Jeremy Irwin, MD; Hammond Chamber of Commerce Executive
Director Charlotte Banks; and OB/GYNs Marya Porter,MD, and Deborah Shuman, MD.
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[Hammond, LA.]—The North Oaks Health System Board of Commissioners, Administration
and Staff hosted a grand opening on Jan. 26 for a new Clinic Building
that represents a $15 million community investment.
The 4-story, 82,000-square-foot building is located at 15813 Paul Vega,
MD, Drive adjacent to the Diagnostic Center on the North Oaks Medical
Center campus in Hammond. The building was designed by WHLC Architecture
and constructed by The Lemoine Company, both of Baton Rouge, with a focus
on convenience, quality and expertise. The layout supports care coordination
among an exceptional team of physicians and convenient access to advanced
diagnostic testing and imaging services when needed.
“As a hospital service district, North Oaks reinvests every penny
we make into expanding or improving the health care services we offer,”
explains North Oaks Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer Michele
Sutton, FACHE. “The opening of the North Oaks Clinic Building and
the physicians who staff it are another demonstration of our commitment
to providing our region with the medical expertise that our patients deserve.”
The grand opening celebration culminates 3 years of work to bring the
project from concept to completion during the same timeframe that North
Oaks launched an aggressive recruitment plan to grow the Medical Staff
from 190 to 400 physicians by 2021.
More than 20 physicians currently or will soon practice in the new facility,
including: Drs. Bryan Dudoussat, J. Gregory Kinnett, Brian Ladner and
Judson Penton of North Oaks Orthopaedic Specialty Center; Drs. Jaime Edwards,
Jeremy Irwin, Marya Porter, Deborah Shuman and Thuc Tran of Magnolia Obstetrics
& Gynecology; Dr. Arvind Yertha of North Oaks Pulmonology; Drs. Albert
Diket, Mark Newman, Marshall St. Amant, Charles Steadman and Ted Veillon
of North Oaks Perinatology Clinic; Drs. Charles Ducombs, Jay Kumar, William
Plunkett and Susan Zacharia of Northshore Internal Medicine Associates;
Drs. Jeffrey LaCour and Jacques Peltier of North Oaks ENT & Allergy
Clinic; Dr. Carl Gauthier of North Oaks Rheumatology Clinic; and Dr. Patricio
Espinosa of North Oaks Neurology. Other clinics and physicians opening
or relocating to the new building in the near future are: Dr. Michelle
Barnum of New Leaf Psychiatry & Counseling Center, Dr. David Masel
of North Oaks Neurosurgery Clinic, and Dr. Ellsworth Jack Remson of North
Oaks Physiatry Clinic.
And there is space to spare. “We did not just build for today. We
have the opportunity to accommodate additional physicians in the facility
before it is totally occupied,” affirms Sutton.
The event kicked off with a ribbon cutting program in the building’s
first floor lobby hosted by Sutton. Dr. Rodney Taylor, pastor of Natalbany
Baptist Church offered the invocation. Megan Baiamonte, Christopher and
Courtney Beach, Kaitlyn Loyd and Zachary Trahan of the Hammond High Magnet
School U.S. Army Junior ROTC, under the direction of First Sgt. Warner
Gale, carried out the Presentation of Colors and Pledge of Allegiance.
Rev. Samuel Brown, senior pastor of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church and Mt.
Vernon Baptist Church in Hammond, led the benediction. Program remarks
were offered by North Oaks Board of Commissioners Chairman Guy Recotta
Jr. and President/CEO James E. Cathey Jr.
“The opening of this facility puts us a step closer to building
the network that we envision to better meet the health care needs of this
region, so stand by—there is more to come,” states Guy Recotta
Jr., Chairman of North Oaks Board of Commissioners.
North Oaks President/CEO James E. Cathey Jr. concurs, “We feel very
strongly that it is our responsibility to provide our region with the
highest quality care possible in the most coordinated patient care environment
available.”
Following the ribbon cutting, guests enjoyed tours of the new building,
a complimentary health fair next door in the Diagnostic Center, as well
as refreshments and door prize drawings. Health fair screenings included
blood pressure checks, carpal tunnel evaluations, as well as pulmonary
function and pulse oximetry testing. Demos of robotic surgery technology
and the use of deep brain stimulation to control tremors and symptoms
of obsessive compulsive disorder were provided, along with information
to build awareness of the warning signs of stroke and appropriate response.
For more information about the new North Oaks Clinic Building or North
Oaks Physician Group, call (985) 230-7850.