Hospital becoming a great benefit

St. Charles Parish is a great place in which to live. And now, it seems, it is becoming a better place in which to get ill.

St. Charles Parish Hospital is making many advances in improving its facilities and emergency care is becoming more available. It is almost described now as a hospital on wheels.

Three new ambulances have recently been added to its emergency response unit fleet and two older units have been upgraded. They include the latest in care for cardiac treatment, which, after all, is one of the major emergency needs of a local hospital. Direct connection between the ambulances and the hospital via laptops will allow almost immediate review of the patients with a cardiologist after pickup. Other information and treatment will also be available en route in the rolling hospital.

Other improvements in patient transportation include the addition of hydraulic stretchers which make it easier to handle patients. Auto-pulse machines are also on board the new ambulances that improve the blood flow for patients with cardiac arrest.

Another major addition is a new clinic within the hospital under partnership with the Cardiovascular Institute of the South. Residents will be able to get important diagnoses and treatments for cardiac diseases right here at home.

The clinic will operate five days a week and will offer services that could maintain good health that has not been available before in St. Charles..

With so many big medical institutions in the metropolitan area in the old days, it was assumed that St. Charles did not need a major medical institution. But nowadays, it appears that St. Charles Hospital is arriving to become an institution that can be an on the spot medical service that can help the health of many. And it will certainly be a great service to our community.