The fact that St. Charles Parish Hospital and Ochsner Health System are expanding their partnership in St. Charles Parish is a major news item for our medical system. Under the leadership of CEO Federico Martinez, our local hospital has certainly grown from a two-wing facility to one that can provide a lot more services to the parish on both sides of the river.
The closeness of Ochsner’s main facilities to the boundaries of St. Charles Parish certainly offers some hope that, under such an arrangement, our parish could start to provide even more extensive medical services than were available in the past. And the operation of the local hospital under the management of such a well-thought-of institution in a neighboring parish would offer a lot of hope.
Such a partnership is important. Our own hospital CEO agrees with that assessment, pointing out that a smaller facility such as St. Charles Parish Hospital can benefit from association with a much larger facility that has such an extensive medical background.
“If you don’t believe today is the right day to be entering into a partnership with a larger system to help this hospital address the future, then you really haven’t kept up with healthcare,” Martinez said.
It appears the CEO is on a similar tract with other hospital operators who have been striving to incorporate, in one way or the other, with larger hospitals.
St. Charles Parish is growing and will continue doing so in the future. More industry is expected to settle here, which could bring more need for elaborate medical facilities.
Perhaps there are other ways our parish could provide the growth in medical facilities needed in a progressive parish. But a merger for our hospital with a major institution not far away should certainly be considered for the future growth of our parish.
We should also look for all other ways that our medical needs can be met in the future.
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