HJNO May/Jun 2025

36 MAY / JUN 2025  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Healthcare Briefs services for children and families across the Houma community, now with seamless access to the specialized services and expertise available from Manning Family Children’s. Pediatricians Kimberley Barner, MD, Bernard Ferrer, MD, and Alisha Totina, MD, will con- tinue to serve, along with nurse practitioner Matt Hebert, FNP-C, now under the Manning Family Children’s name. The clinic is located at 569 Enterprise Drive in Houma. Houma Pediatrics, Thibodaux Pediatrics JoinManning Family Children’s Manning Family Children’s announced that two practices will be joining its pediatric primary care team in March — Houma Pediatrics and Thibodaux Pediatrics. Between the two Acadi- ana locations, a team of five providers will be join- ing the Manning Family Children’s medical staff. Pediatricians Kenneth Cruse, MD, and Henry Peltier, MD, and their team will continue to see patients from their two clinic locations, which will adopt Manning Family Children’s branding in March as the two locations officially transition. The pediatricians will be joined by their team of nurse practitioners, Micah Callais, FNP-C, Beth Lagarde, FNP-C, and Jennifer Rodrigue, CPNP. The pediatricians at Manning Family Children’s offer primary care services from 16 locations throughout Southeast Louisiana. The Thibodaux Pediatrics location is 604 N Aca- dia Road, #200, and the Houma Pediatrics loca- tion is 5040 W Main St. LDHRecognizes 35 Birthing Hospitals Achieving LA Birth Ready Designation The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) and the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collabora- tive (LaPQC) are announcing 35 birthing hospitals that have achieved the 2025 Louisiana Birth Ready or Birth Ready+ Designation. This recognition is awarded to hospitals that have committed to quality improvement practices aimed at improv- ing birth outcomes for mothers in Louisiana. “The Department of Health is committed to improving maternal health outcomes in Louisi- ana, and working together moves us one step closer to positive change,” said Louisiana Sur- geon General Ralph Abraham. “I applaud these hospitals for their dedication and willingness to put in the hard work to achieve Birth Ready and Birth Ready+ Designation because our mothers deserve the support.” The Birth Ready Designation, launched by the LaPQC in 2021, has seen growing participation each year. In 2021, 27 facilities achieved the Lou- isiana Birth Ready Designation. Today, 35 of Loui- siana’s 46 birthing hospitals are designated. Nota- bly, Opelousas General Health System, Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, and Willis- Knighton Bossier Health Center have earned the Birth Ready Designation for the first time during this cycle. Birth Ready Designation is earned by birthing hospitals that must meet standards across five key areas, including the implementation of pol- icies and procedures to enhance recognition and response to clinical causes of severe mater- nal morbidity and promoting patient partner- ship. Hospitals that have achieved the Louisiana Birth Ready+ Designation have exceeded these requirements and reached a higher level of com- pliance. This year, one hospital advanced from Louisiana Birth Ready to Louisiana Birth Ready+. All hospitals that receive this designation have demonstrated significant efforts to implement evidence-based practices that improve care. Hospitals granted this honor undergo a thorough application and review process by the LaPQC Birth Ready Designation Committee. Many desig- nated hospitals have been collaborating with the LaPQC for years to improve outcomes for moth- ers and newborns throughout the state. “Birthing hospitals across Louisiana are work- ing diligently to ensure safe and patient-cen- tered care for Louisiana families,” said Veronica Gillispie-Bell, MD, medical director of the LaPQC. “Improving care for mothers in Louisiana is one of the Department’s top priorities. Birthing hos- pitals achieving designation have demonstrated achievement in reaching that goal.” Birth Ready Designation The following Louisiana birthing hospitals have achieved Birth Ready Designation: • Baton Rouge General Hospital. • CHRISTUS Shreveport Bossier – Highland Medical Center. • CHRISTUS Ochsner Lake Area Hospital. • CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital. • Iberia Medical Center. • Lake Charles Memorial Hospital for Women. • Lakeside Hospital LCMC Health. • Ochsner American Legion Hospital. • Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge. • Ochsner Medical Center – West Bank. • Opelousas General Health System*. • Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center*. • Slidell Memorial Hospital. • St. Francis Medical Center. • Terrebonne General Health System. • Thibodaux Regional Health System. • West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital. • Willis-Knighton Bossier Health Center*. • Willis-Knighton South and the Center for Women’s Health. *indicates a newly designated Birth Ready Facility Birth Ready+ Designation The following Louisiana birthing hospitals have achieved Birth Ready+ Designation: • East Jefferson General Hospital. • Lakeview Regional Medical Center. • Lane Regional Medical Center. • North Oaks Medical Center. • Ochsner Baptist – A Campus of Ochsner Medical Center. • Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center. • Ochsner LSU Health – St. Mary Medical Center. • Ochsner LSU Health Monroe Medical Center**. • Ochsner Medical Center – Kenner. • Ochsner St. Anne Hospital. • Our Lady of the Angels Hospital. • Rapides Regional Medical Center. • St. Tammany Health System. • Touro Infirmary LCMC Health. • West Jefferson Medical Center. • Woman’s Hospital. **indicates a facility that enhanced its Birth Ready Designation to Birth Ready+ Thibodaux Regional Health SystemWelcomes Sireesha Upadhrasta, MD Thibodaux Regional Health System announced the addition of Sireesha Upadhrasta, MD,