HJNO Nov/Dec 2021

34 NOV / DEC 2021  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Healthcare Briefs how we do vaccines for respiratory infections. Rather than getting an intramuscular injection, perhaps we should be doing intranasal or inhaled vaccines, which deliver the vaccine directly to the site of infection, where immune protection is needed most.” Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Covington Adds Two Oncologists Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Covington welcomed Genevieve Maronge, MD, and Faizan I. Malik, MD, both medical and hematologist oncol- ogists, to its staff. Maronge completed a residency at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans and a fel- lowship at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She is a graduate of Louisiana State Uni- versity School of Medicine in Shreveport and is board-certified in internal medicine as well as hematology/oncology. Malik earned a medical doctor degree from King Edward Medical University and a Bachelor of Science in Pre-medicine from National Science College in Pakistan. He completed a residency at Abington Jefferson Health in Philadelphia. Malik also completed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore. Ochsner Community Health - Brees Family Center Opens Connectivity Hub Ochsner Community Health - Brees Family Cen- ter is open for in-person provider visits but has also partnered with the Ochsner TeleHealth team to help give care virtually. Less than two weeks after Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana, the Ochsner Community Health - Brees Family Center at 5950 Bullard Ave. in New Orleans East opened its first connectivity hub, offering residents multiple ways to connect with Ochsner’s healthcare system online as they dealt with impacts from the storm. The new connec- tivity hub at this New Orleans East community health center was specifically designed to sup- port telehealth visits for residents who might not otherwise be able to secure virtual healthcare because of limited access to the internet, com- puters or smartphones. Since opening in October 2020, the Ochsner Community Health - Brees Family Center has cared for anywhere from 95 to 115 patients a week. Prior to Hurricane Ida, about 12% of visits were virtual. So far in September, that proportion has climbed to nearly 90% of all visits. As more people return to the area following evacuation from Hurricane Ida, Ochsner Health anticipates the need for this connectivity hub to grow further. Ochsner currently has four Ochsner O Bar loca- tions, one Ochsner retail pharmacy and one com- munity clinic live with access to the virtual visit technology. NeuroMedical Center Expands Northshore Clinics with addition of ShaunM. Kuoni, MD The NeuroMedical Center has announced the expansion of its clinics located in Hammond and Slidell with the association of Shaun M. Kuoni, MD, in the practice of interventional pain man- agement. Kuoni specializes in minimally invasive advanced spine procedures including kypho- plasty, radiofrequency ablation and spinal cord stimulation. Kuoni obtained a medical degree from the Uni- versity of Texas in Houston before completing an anesthesiology residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Kuoni furthered his medical training as a pain med- icine fellow at Vanderbilt. Kuoni is board-eligi- ble in anesthesiology and pain medicine. He has presented his work on advanced interventional techniques at national meetings, co-authored a textbook chapter on chronic pain, served on a national committee for trainees interested in pain medicine and sought additional opportunities to learn advanced procedures from leading inter- ventional pain physicians. “As our community grows eastward, we rec- ognize that we must grow to meet our patient’s needs,” said Benjamin J. Boudreaux, chief exec- utive officer of The NeuroMedical Center Clinic. “In doing that we are very excited to have a phy- sician of Dr. Kuoni’s caliber helping us to pave the way.” Full-ServiceWIC Assistance Available at DePaul Community Health Centers’ Carrollton Location DePaul Community Health Centers is offering full-service women, infants and children (WIC) assistance, including certification and re-certif- cation of services, for Louisiana residents at the healthcare agency’s Carrollton location. The cen- ter, located at 3201 S. Carrollton Ave., offers these services from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. The WIC program provides supplemental foods designed to meet the special nutritional needs of low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and non- breastfeeding postpartum women, as well as infants and children up to five years of age who are at nutritional risk. Pinnacle Medical Joins AVALA Physician Network AVALA announced that Pinnacle Medical Net- work and their team of orthopedic surgeons have joined the AVALA Physician Network. Paul van Deventer, MD, Roderick Chandler, MD, and Jason Rudd, MD, join to build the founda- tion for AVALA Ortho, AVALA’s newest campus location specializing in integrated orthopedics. This team of physicians utilizes AVALA’s Stryker Mako robotics and technology for joint replace- ment surgery. Also joining the AVALA Physician Network, Brent McCarty, MD, and Grayson Terral, MD, establish AVALA Hand. “By forging this partnership with AVALA, our patients have the ability to receive medical ser- vices at one integrated center of care. By com- bining the knowledge and expertise of our ortho- pedic physicians paired with that of the AVALA Physician Network and AVALA’s advanced Shaun M. Kuoni, MD