HJNO Jul/Aug 2023

64 JUL / AUG 2023  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS Hospital Rounds Children’s Hospital NewOrleans’ ThriveKids ProgramPartners with NOLA Public Schools For the 2023-2024 school year, NOLA Public Schools and Children’s Hospital New Orleans’ ThriveKids Student Wellness Program will partner to bring health services directly to kids in schools to address the mental and physical well-being of children. This partnership, which was made possible with support from the City of New Orleans and New Orleans Health Department, will have a significant impact on the mental health challenges and vio- lence that are affecting young people and their ability to succeed at school. Functioning like a student health department, this partnership will proactively work to improve pediatric outcomes — mentally, medically, and academically. Children’s Hospital’s ThriveKids pro- gram will provide a multidisciplinary team of more than 30 mental health and medical experts who will work across NOLA Public Schools to provide a combination of direct clinical services and care management. All students are eligible to benefit from the program, while high-need target schools will receive intensive services. Terrebonne General Health System Introduces Mobile CARE Clinic Terrebonne General Health System held a rib- bon-cutting ceremony on May 4 to introduce their new initiative, the Mobile CARE Clinic. The Mobile CARE Clinic is furnished with the latest medical equipment and staffed with expe- rienced healthcare professionals who will pro- vide preventive care, health promotion, and education. The goal is to help reduce the risk of illness or impairment with provider appointments, health and wellness visits, screenings, and immu- nizations, along with providing education and resources about managing chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer as well as lifestyle changes such as weight and nutritional management and smok- ing cessation. Ochsner Health Advances PrecisionMedicine, Universal Genomic Testing for Chemotherapy Ochsner Health is becoming one of the first hos- pital systems to standardize genomic testing, sig- nificantly advancing ways in which care teams can treat cancer patients. This change helps provid- ers determine individualized treatment by under- standing how patients will react to certain drugs, thereby lowering risk of adverse side effects, improving patient experience, and bettering patient outcomes. Pharmacogenomics, or PGx, testing guides phy- sicians how patients metabolize certain drugs and warns of possible side effects so they may adjust dosage in a way that provides individual- ized, personalized treatment. After a Louisiana law requiring insurance companies pay for the test- ing went into effect last year, Ochsner made it a required test for cancer patients receiving two types of chemotherapy drugs — 5-fluorouracil and capecitabine. The testing is now available at Ochsner's Baton Rouge and New Orleans regions and in Northern Louisiana locations. It will become a systemwide practice in coming months. “We are leading the nation in this area,” said Marc Matrana, MD, MS, FACP, Ochsner Health’s system medical director for precision medicine and endowed professor of experimental thera- peutics. “This is something unique Ochsner is at the forefront of, that is preventing hospitalization and saving lives. We’ve built this in a very thought- ful way, from advocating for new laws around reim- bursement to integrating safety stops into the electronic medical record, that will serve as an example to the rest of the world.” LakeviewHospital Names Ben Richaud as NewCEO Lakeview Hospital, now part of LCMC Health, announced the appointment of Benjamin “Ben” Richaud, MSHA, MBA as its new CEO. With more than 10 years of experience in health- care management, Richaud has a background in hospital operations, strategic planning, and finan- cial management. He has served in various leader- ship positions throughout his career, including his most recent role as CEO of Baptist Medical Cen- ter in San Antonio. Richaud holds a Master of Science in healthcare administration and a Master of Business Adminis- tration from the University of Alabama at Birming- ham. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in com- munication from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Terrebonne General Health System held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 4 to introduce their new initiative, the Mobile CARE Clinic. Ben Richaud, MSHA, MBA