Louisiana
Ochsner Health leads in U.S. News rankings with numerous accolades for its Louisiana hospitals
For the 13th consecutive year, Ochsner Medical Center – New Orleans has been named by U.S. News & World Report as the Best Hospital in Louisiana and the No. 1 hospital in the New Orleans metro area. The ranking includes Ochsner Medical Center – West Bank and Ochsner Baptist. Ochsner Children’s Hospital was similarly honored last year and is the current U.S. News’ best hospital for kids in Louisiana.
U.S. News also named Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center as the best hospital in Southwestern Louisiana for the second straight year. This includes Ochsner Lafayette General Surgical Hospital, Ochsner Lafayette General Orthopedic Hospital and Ochsner Cancer Center of Acadiana. It was also named the No. 4 hospital in Louisiana and the Best Regional Hospital for Equitable Access.
“These rankings show that we take care of our communities at the highest level. We follow established, nationally recognized best practices in every situation and with every patient,” said Tiffany Murdock, MSN, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief nursing officer of Ochsner Health. “I think what sets Ochsner apart is that we have a global view of healthcare. It’s about caring for the patient and their entire family. As a regional destination center that excels in specialty care, patients travel from many other states to Ochsner because of that commitment. That speaks to the level of service we provide.”
U.S. News calculates the Best Hospitals rankings by evaluating each hospital’s performance on objective measures such as risk-adjusted mortality rates, preventable complications and level of nursing care.
Murdock said that ensuring each patient receives the same high level of care starts by hiring people who fit the Ochsner Health culture and are committed to its values of care, respect and meeting patients where they are.
“Their education and skill sets are very important, but the humanity that a person shows is what truly makes a difference,” she said. “We can teach someone the skills they need, but that compassion has to come from within.”
U.S. News also identified several Ochsner Medical Center – New Orleans specialties for being among the best in the country. Six specialties were named among the top 10 percent in the nation for being “high performing” – gastroenterology and GI surgery, geriatrics, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and lung surgery, and urology. Also, 16 of the 20 procedures and conditions U.S. News ranks were designated as “high performing,” including heart surgeries and cardiovascular treatments, multiple types of cancer treatments, as well as care for patients with COPD, kidney failure, receiving hip and knee replacements and recovering from a stroke. This designation puts Ochsner in the top 10-20 percent in the nation for treating patients with these conditions.
Tiffany Murdock, MSN, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief nursing officer of Ochsner Health
Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center also received recognition for being home to seven “high performing” procedures and conditions: congestive heart failure, colon cancer surgery, hip replacement, kidney failure, knee replacement, leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma; and stroke. “High performing” procedures and conditions were also awarded to Slidell Memorial East for kidney failure and pneumonia care and to Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport – Academic Medical Center for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma treatments. The Best Hospitals Specialty rankings and Procedures & Conditions ratings are based on patient outcomes and objective quality measures.
Being recognized for expertise in such a variety of subspecialties speaks to Ochsner’s systemwide programmatic strategy.
“We spend a lot of time thinking about how we grow programs to achieve the best positive results for our patients. To have a successful program, you need people on your teams who are very good at a lot of different things,” said Robert Hart, MD, chief physician executive at Ochsner Health and president of Ochsner Clinic. “It’s not just about one surgeon or one physician who does something really well. It’s a collaborative effort–from front desk staff directing patients to the nurses and medical technicians in the clinic rooms to the food service staff who provide meals to patients and visitors and our environmental services team that keep our hospitals clean and safe. That’s what has made us the number one hospital in the state for so many years. There is a lot of individual effort, but it’s what we create as a whole that sets us apart.”
Dr. Hart added that the Ochsner Health leadership team encourages all departments to continually think about how they can improve quality outcomes and patient experiences, both immediately and in the long term.
Robert Hart, MD, chief physician executive at Ochsner Health and president of Ochsner Clinic
“Innovation is coming from every direction in healthcare now,” Dr. Hart said. “We’re seeing so much growth in areas like augmented intelligence. The Covid pandemic probably advanced telemedicine and virtual medicine 10 years in a matter of months because everyone had to adapt. We look at those advances and ask ourselves how we can keep getting better, what we can learn from these innovations and how we can integrate them into our processes and still continue to provide patient-centered care.”
Even after 13 straight years, Dr. Hart said the recognition as Louisiana’s best hospital never becomes boring or old news for the Ochsner Health team.
“It’s validation for the hard work everyone puts in at Ochsner every day. It’s quite an accomplishment,” he said. “We always want to drive innovation in healthcare and make sure Louisiana is on the forefront of some of the best things happening in healthcare. This U.S. News ranking proves that we have the team and resources to contribute and participate in the most advanced levels of treatment and compassionate care.”
For more information on the U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings, visit health.usnews.com/best-hospitals. To learn more about Ochsner Health and its hospitals across Louisiana, visit www.ochsner.org.
A state lawmaker whose district includes Iberville and nine other parishes will lead the way on the drawing of a new congressional map when the committee convenes Friday.
Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, will chair the hearings to draw a new congressional district map. He currently serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.
On Wednesday, Kleinpeter said he has not worked on any maps. He is letting the committee members and the members of the Senate work on this with staff.
The move will come nine days after the U.S. Supreme Court on a 6-3 vote ruled one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black U.S. House districts unconstitutional.
“We can’t base it on race anymore, so the minority party is the Democrats,” he said. “The Democrats have migrated away from the New Orléans area, so we’re looking at Democrats versus Republicans, so the minority party — the Democrats — which means it’s more favored toward Baton Rouge.”
The move would work in favor of incumbent 6th District Congressman Cleo Fields, who was a candidate for the race which Gov. Jeff Lndry suspended in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.
The ruling stemmed from Louisiana vs. Callais – a consolidation of Robinson vs. Callais – that centered on racial gerrymandering and redistricting in the state of Louisiana following the 2020 United States census. The lead plaintiff, Phillip “Bert” Callais, is a resident of Brusly.
The Supreme Court vote came despite the African American population comprising nearly one-third of the state’s population.
According to the 2020 Census, the Black or African American population in Louisiana was approximately 1,464,023,representing 31.4%of the state’s total population. Louisiana has one of the highest percentages of Black residents in the United States, ranking second behind Mississippi.
The Baton Rouge district would likely be the area to undergo the remap, he said.
It amounts to an intricate balancing act.
“What far-right Republicans don’t understand is that with Congress maps, you have to be within 776, 280 votes – within 50 votes of the other districts,” Kleinpeter said. “It’s not like our legislative maps where you can be off by thousands … when you start changing a precinct, it can run down a rabbit hole chasing this precinct over here and over there.
“We can easily draw a really strong nine Republican and one strong Democrat, so if you start watering districts down you could wind up with a 4-2 map.”
Republicans currently have a two-vote super majority vote.
“But some Republican districts are strong and others are weak,” Kleinpeter said. “If you take 58 percent Democrats and put them in Republican districts, you could end up losing Republicans.
“Drawing congress maps is very difficult – you have the leader of the party, and you have the Speaker of the House you have to protect,” he said. “You don’t want to jeopardize their maps at hole.”
One other issue is looming for the state, Kleinpeter said.
“What people don’t understand is that we will have to do this all over again in five years, after the next census comes out,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll people by that time.”
The 2030 Census will play a key role in the process, but it still requires participation.
“I had plenty of next-door neighbors who didn’t want to fill out their census” he said. “I’m going to push to fill out their census. We miss out on federal money and potentially risk losing a seat. “
Neuty, the iconic Bucktown nutria visits the state capitol, with Myra Lacoste, Denny Lacoste, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, Dennis Lacoste Sr., and Louisiana state Senator J. Cameron Henry Jr. Neuty was an orphan, rescued by the Lacostes. In March 2023, LDWF agents attempted to confiscate the illegal pet.
VIDALIA, La. — Louisiana State Police arrested 18-year-old Gregory Steele early Sunday morning on two counts of vehicular homicide, one count of underage operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, one count vehicular negligent injuring and one count careless operation, according to Concordia Parish Jail records.
Steele, 18, a white male, was arrested in connection with an accident that occurred at approximately 1:54 a.m. on Sunday morning on Minorca Road in Vidalia. Two passengers in the vehicle were killed. Steele and another passenger were able to escape the vehicle.
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