Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center is saving more lives in the Baton Rouge region with the use of a complex medical therapy that is only available at four hospitals in Louisiana.
Last year, Our Lady of the Lake implemented an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program to provide life support to patients with respiratory or heart failure. ECMO allows a patient’s heart and/or lungs to rest when the body does not respond to other medical treatments and the organs cannot properly support normal body functions.
So far, Our Lady of the Lake has successfully used ECMO in a wide range of patient cases, including individuals with heart failure, pneumonia, pulmonary embolisms, Covid, trauma and more.
Advertisement
“Patients who otherwise may have died are able to have their lives sustained here by using ECMO as a bridge to other treatment. I’ve seen many of them ultimately recover and walk out of the hospital, which is amazing,” said Dr. Federico Guillermo De Puy, a cardiologist at Our Lady of the Lake. “ECMO also allows us to perform higher-risk procedures that we would otherwise not be able to offer at this location.”
Advertisement
Dr. Federico Guillermo De Puy, a cardiologist at Our Lady of the Lake
Up to three patients can be on ECMO at any given time at Our Lady of the Lake. Dr. Owen Stell, medical director of the hospital’s ECMO program, said that in some cases, particularly among patients with severe respiratory illnesses, doctors may spend several hours trying other treatments before deciding to use ECMO. However, that decision may be made more quickly among patients with cardiac problems, particularly if they are unstable and not responding to medication.
“This is the highest level of life support you can provide,” Dr. Stell said. “In a lot of cases, people have failing hearts that can’t be maintained with smaller pumps or medications. For patients with respiratory failure, ECMO is used when a ventilator alone isn’t working. I credit the leadership at Our Lady of the Lake with understanding that ECMO is an important service, especially when it comes to keeping patients closer to home.”
A patient can remain on ECMO support for anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Once lab tests and imaging shows improvement, the patient is gradually weaned off of the ECMO support before being removed from it entirely as their heart and lungs are able to work on their own.
Advertisement
By having an ECMO program in Baton Rouge, Our Lady of the Lake is able to treat patients from the capital region, as well as cities like Lafayette that are within driving distance. Dr. Stell said the benefits are twofold, as it eliminates health risks associated with transporting critically ill patients and allows their family members to remain by their bedside without traveling long distances.
Dr. Owen Stell, medical director of the ECMO program at Our Lady of the Lake
Advertisement
Kleinpeter Photography Inc
“These patients are so critical that anything could change at any moment,” he said. “They may also need to be on ECMO for up to a month at a time. If their loved ones had to drive five hours to see them or spend money on a hotel room for several days, that’s an added cost and stress that families don’t need. The fact that we can keep them in Baton Rouge is a huge benefit to them.”
In order to ensure the ECMO program is providing the best possible care, Our Lady of the Lake has provided extensive training to doctors, nurses and therapists who are responsible for working with patients who are in the program. The qualified ECMO team at Our Lady of the Lake has more than 30 years of experience with ECMO management and transport, as well as close affiliations with the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization and the American Society of Extracorporeal Technology.
“Some of us received training about ECMO during our initial training to become a physician. Others learned about it on the job,” Dr. De Puy said. “I think we did a really good job with our nursing staff as far as bringing in highly trained personnel to explain the nuances of the program. It makes me feel proud to be a part of Our Lady of the Lake.”
Louisiana pastor Tony Spell must stay 50 yards from his neighbor’s home unless he’s checking the mail after a protection order was issued against him – as shocking bodycam appears to show him using a homophobic slur to describe his alleged assault victim, just two days after he was arrested.
Spell, 48, is banned from speaking with the neighbor either online and in person, according to the order issued Friday, which has since been reported by The Advocate.
“Mr Spell may walk over and check his mailbox; other than checking his mailbox, he is to be 50 yards away from the protected person’s property,” a note on the order says.
Pastor Tony Spell allegedly assaulted his neighbor’s son after he threatened to kill and rape his wife. WBRZ
Spell, the pastor of Baton Rouge’s Life Tabernacle Church, will appear in court in September after being charged with second degree battery over last month’s assault that unfolded opposite the church.
Advertisement
He claimed Scott Sherwin’s son had threatened to rape and kill his wife before delivering 35 blows.
But two days after the brawl Scott Sherwin reported Spell for allegedly mowing his lawn at 4 a.m., WBRZ reported.
“He’s doing this to intimidate my victim son,” Sherwin claimed in bodycam video seen by The Post.
“Do you cut your grass at 4 in the morning?” he asked the responding officer.
“You gotta get him to stop man,” the furious dad said.
Advertisement
Sherwin claimed his family was unable to sleep – alleging Spell was carrying out “psychological warfare.”
An enraged Sherwin then swore at his neighbor, allegedly flipping him off, according to the bodycam.
Tony Spell kneeling and holding a goat. Tony Spell / Facebook
“I was asleep when this started at four in the morning,” Sherwin stressed, aggressively pointing at his phone.
The cop then went over to Spell, who was sitting on his lawnmower, before asking for his name.
“Everybody in the world knows my name,” Spell brazenly replied to the cop.
Advertisement
Spell, who faces up to eight years in prison if convicted, then labeled Sherwin’s son a “f—-t” and seemed to take pride in the now-viral beatdown.
“He’s just sore because I beat the crap out of his f—-t boy,” he said.
“And he’s next if he comes over here and harasses these boys,” Spell said, speaking while a group of teens gathered nearby.
He has been embroiled in a rivalry with his neighbor. Tony Spell
Spell then started his lawnmower up and told the boys “get to work,” essentially ordering them to clear off.
Spell strongly defended his actions after being released from jail over the assault.
Advertisement
“Number one, I’m a husband, number two, I’m a father, and number three, I’m a pastor who shepherds his flock,” he said. “I will not allow a man to murder my children when I’m gone,” he told reporters.
He revealed what Sherwin’s son allegedly said, which prompted the beatdown.
“He said, ‘Tony, I’m going to rape your wife, I’m going to rape all your grandchildren, and the next time you go out of town, I’m going to kill them,’” Spell said.
He addressed the altercation to his congregation and compared it to “domestic terrorism.” He also cited a Bible passage from Mark 16:18, WAFB reported.
Advertisement
“In my name, they shall lay hands on the sick. And they shall recover,” he said.
“So today, I fulfilled the scripture. I laid hands on the sick. I don’t know how much recovery they’re going to have, but I laid hands on the sick.”
Spell has been in a longstanding feud with Sherwin; the pastor filed a lawsuit during the pandemic in 2020 over surveillance cameras that were installed.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Spell was ticketed for holding in-person church services, defying Louisiana’s social distancing restrictions.
Spell claimed the cameras were installed to monitor him.
Advertisement
In April 2020, Spell was accused of attacking a protester outside his church. Police alleged that Spell backed his church bus in the direction of the protester, who was identified as Trey Bennett, according to news station WAFB-TV.
He was arrested for aggravated assault but never formally charged.
A new study from researchers at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, and the Metamor Institute found that metabolic and bariatric surgery can be delivered safely and effectively for adolescents and young adults living with severe obesity, leading to significant weight loss and improvements in obesity-related health conditions.
Published in Obesity Surgery, the study examined outcomes from 76 patients ages 10 to 25 who underwent bariatric surgery through a Louisiana-based program at the Metamor Institute between January 2020 and March 2025. Researchers evaluated safety outcomes as well as longer-term health improvements associated with surgical obesity treatment.
The study found that patients achieved an average total body weight loss of 29%-32% maintained over one to five years. Among patients with available follow-up data, 94% experienced remission of type 2 diabetes, 67% showed improvement in hypertension and dyslipidemia and 64% experienced improvement in gastroesophageal reflux disease. Surgical complications remained low, with only 5% of patients experiencing complications within 30 days of surgery.
Advertisement
Researchers noted that these outcomes were likely supported by a comprehensive, multidisciplinary care model that included experienced surgeons, nutritional guidance, behavioral support and coordinated medical follow-up. The study population represented a broad cross-section of Louisiana patients, with nearly 75% covered by Medicaid, highlighting the importance of ensuring access to effective obesity treatment options across socioeconomic backgrounds.
The findings support current American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations that adolescents age 13 and older with severe obesity and related health risks be evaluated for metabolic and bariatric surgery as part of comprehensive, evidence-based obesity care.
Meta Platforms Inc. has committed to spending an additional $40 billion on its sprawling data center campus in Louisiana, pushing its total expected investment beyond $250 billion for the site as it continues to grow its artificial intelligence computing footprint.
