Mamou’s Savoy Medical Center becomes part of larger network

By: NICKOLAS FONTENOT
Staff Reporter

Savoy Medical Center in Mamou is now part of a much larger health care community.
It was announced on June 4, 2015 that CHRISTUS Health Louisiana and Ochsner Health System initiated their mission-driven partnership to form a strategic alliance in which people could have better access to health care, reducing health care cost, and improving the quality of health care received.
The partnership means that Savoy Medical Center will now be part of a larger health network.
“Together, as part of the Ochsner Health Network, the two organizations will build upon their unique strengths and effectively collaborate as partners, to improve the overall health care available to Louisiana communities they, both serve today and to meet the needs of new communities across the state,” Nancy R. Hellyer said in a statement. “Improved patient care includes (but is not limited to) the ability to be treated at multiple facilities which would be located closer to their home. Representatives from CHRISTUS Health Facilities and Ochsner Health Services have ‘...a partnership that will create greater opportunities for alignment through the formation of a comprehensive clinically integrated network of physicians, and create a more efficient situation to align the resources the companies already offer, jointly make decisions as to what resources are needed to both start new programs, and improve the effectiveness of existing programs and services.’”
Savoy Medical Center will not undergo a name change or a change in administration due to it’s partnership with this larger entity. Also, there will there be no changes to the facility as a direct result of this partnership. However, patients at Savoy Medical Center can now seek diagnosis and treatment under the care of expert physicians who are normally inaccessible to people from small towns.
According to a press release, this partnership will allow the Mamou community to have access to comprehensive clinically-integrated network of physicians and hospital providers throughout Louisiana which will have a much larger network for local physician referrals and second opinions.
It will also allow officials to broaden the scope of Medicare Advantage products to the communities that are served. This collaboration will help to expand current technology to build a telemedicine program so that Louisiana can acquire “TeleStroke” and “TeleNICU”; which would eventually provide additional flexibility for doctors, who are currently required to stay on call for these purposes.
Julie Hollingsworth, who is the Director of Marketing for CHRISTUS Health, states that, “You’ll see our teams focused on creating greater access to rural areas by offering comprehensive telemedicine programs so that services like “TeleStroke” and “TeleNICU” are available no matter where you are geographically located. We plan to launch patient-focused initiatives to improve chronic diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes which are so prevalent throughout Louisiana. We will work to provide options that empower employers to deliver on site health and wellness programs because we know it’s tough for working moms and dads to take time off work to go to the doctor. We plan to push medicine forward in Louisiana by partnering on clinical studies to ensure patients have access to advanced options.”
According to Jarryd Raynes of Christus Health Louisiana, there are some things about the merger that the citizens of smaller communities should know. The first is that this agreement between the two hospitals is not a purchase agreement. Each organization will retain its unique identity and operational oversight. Secondly, this is not a network with the aim of funneling patients to one facility or doctor. Patients will remain under the treatment of their own physician. Thirdly, the partnership is certainly not a “health care superpower” forming across the state. Patients will not see any noticeable difference in the hospital itself, but will see a difference in the time it takes to receive a more accurate and complete diagnosis so that the best course of treatment can be initiated.
“As most people know, Ochner Health Systems and Christus Health are both nationally known, multi-billion dollar corporations,” Raynes said. “They each have their own systems of doctors and experts that can now provide their diagnosis and health recommendations for patients at rural hospitals.”