Summer 2012

SPECIAL EDITION

memorial

Medical Milestones

Summer 2012

Sixty Years and Stronger Than Ever

Reflections Page 4

Memorial Timeline Page 10

Physician Spotlight Page 12

MARK YOUR CALENDAR ~10 . 6 . 12~

There are a limited number of guest rooms available under the LCMH room block for an overnight stay at L’Auberge. Please call Hotel Reservations at 1-866-580-7444 and use the LCMH Group Code #FNDN1 to receive the special discounted rate of $149. Rooms are available for Friday, October 5th and/or Saturday, October 6th, 2012 only.

2

memorial

Medical Milestones Reflections of a Leader

Page 4

4

Digital diagnosis

Patient Stories 6 Specializing in Saving Lives

Memorial: A History

8

Vision becomes Reality

Timeline

10

60 Years of Milestones

Physician Spotlight 12

Page 8

Edgar McCanless, MD Memorial’s Longest Serving Physician

Shirley Moore 14 Memorial’s Longest Serving Employee

Mission: Education 16 Memorial’s Role in Medicine Education

1968 18 The Birth of the Auxiliary

Page 12

Articles by: Matt Felder

LCMH Communications Manager

Photos by: Lindsey Janies Photography Historical Photos: McNeese State University Archives

3

Page 18

Page 14

“While I came here as a consequence of Katrina, I’ve fallen in love with the city. As I say all the time, this is the best hospital I’ve had the opportunity to lead in my 26 years as a CEO.” Larry Graham

PHYSICIAN REFERRAL • 1-800-494-LCMH (5264)

4

Reflections of a Leader I have been in the healthcare industry for almost three decades, serving as a chief executive officer (CEO) for 26 years. To me, it’s the best job there is.

As a person relatively unfamiliar with Lake Charles, it was fate and Mother Nature that brought me to the lake area in 2006. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans with a devastating blow. Methodist Hospital, the hospital I was running at the time, ended up with four feet of water in it. It was eventually closed and I was left in search of a new beginning.

While I came here as a consequence of Katrina, I’ve fallen in love with the city. As I say all the time, this is the best hospital I’ve had the opportunity to lead in my 26 years as a CEO. What makes Lake Charles Memorial so special are the more than 250 physicians and 1,800 employees that work together to provide the best medical care in southwest Louisiana.

The physicians and medical staff are extremely well trained at the same top flight medical schools that the nation’s “big city” doctors are trained. They choose to return to Lake Charles because they are either from here and/or enjoy the quality of life southwest Louisiana has to offer.

Memorial is here for this community whether we have 1,000 patients or 10,000 patients. Not every service that we have needs to be profitable for us to provide that service. We offer these unprofitable services because they would not exist without us and patients would have to travel to other cities for care. Good examples of this are our Pediatric ICU and Adolescent Psych Unit. If we don’t, who will is the question. Our mission is to serve our community’s healthcare needs.

We are governed by a board of directors made up of local businessmen and women and physicians. Because we are locally owned and not part of a healthcare corporation, every penny we generate stays here in Lake Charles. It gives us the ability to invest everything back in our hospital.

Our recent investments have been in the expansion of services, adding state-of-the-art equipment, new operating rooms and a higher number of physicians and specialists. In short, Memorial has every piece of diagnostic and treatment equipment and the physicians and hospital staff needed in a community hospital and then some.

Memorial is the trauma center for southwest Louisiana and a premier place to teach future doctors, nurses and other ancillary staff such as radiology technologists and medical lab technologists. Just about every medical emergency and issue can be handled within our hospital walls.

We’ve had our tough years in the past, but today we are thriving thanks in large part to you and the Lake Charles community.

The thing I love most about serving with you at Memorial is that I/we get to help people. I hear stories everyday about somebody that had a wonderful experience here and if we weren’t here, things might have been different. We are your hospital, built to fulfill your need for top quality healthcare. We’ve been here for 60 years; we’re going to be here for another 60 years…stronger than ever.

We are Memorial, Everything Your Health Care Should Be

5

Meet Deanna Rogers.

A Living, Breathing Miracle Miss Deanna’s zest for life shines bright, even though her chronic lung issues make it hard to draw breath.

She places her faith with Jesus and her health with Lake Charles Memorial. Each breath is a precious gift from both -- which accounts for her joy.

Deanna Rogers, a former Sunday morning gospel singer whose cardiac and chronic pulmonary issues forced her to give up her role in her church choir after a tracheotomy, has the kind of attitude that puts life in perspective.

Despite what others may consider a burden, Deanna counts her blessings. In spirit, she still sings God’s praises and that of her pulmonologist Dr. Manley Jordan.

Even after all she has been through, Deanna remains resolutely positive, saying, “Maybe I can’t sing any more, but I am glad to be alive! Every day I thank Jesus for my life, and for Memorial Hospital.”

From asthma to pulmonary fibrosis, Memorial Hospital’s pulmonary specialists provide care like no other.

To learn more, visit www.lcmh.com/pulmonary.

6

Patient Stories

Meet Mia and Heidi Leblanc Future Ballerina. Astronaut. Mother.

Baby Mia suffered from chronic ear infections where pediatric tubes were the best option to keep her healthy. Heidi trusted Memorial Hospital for her baby girl’s surgery -- knowing they provide care like no other. So Mia could get back to being a kid.

Having your child undergo surgery is a heartwrenching experience. Although ear tubes are a common surgical procedure, knowing Ear, Nose, & Throat Specialist Dr. Brad LeBert had the back-up of Memorial Hospital’s only pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in the area, as well as an entire medical staff of board-certified pediatric specialists and nurses, made the experience easier for Mia’s mother, Heidi LeBlanc.

She praised the hospital, saying, “Memorial Hospital took exceptional care of Mia – I’m grateful to have a facility of this caliber nearby.”

Memorial Hospital offers comprehensive and specialized healthcare for infants and children and, with the only PICU in the area and a Level III neonatal intensive-care unit, they really do provide the strongest care for your little ones.

To learn more, visit www.lcmh.com/pediatrics.

For more patient stories and services, visit SixtyStrong.com.

7

Memorial: A History

April 2, 1955 was up and running five days earlier to welcome its first baby.

Margaret Joyce Miller, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joe T. Miller was born at LCMH on October 18, 1952. Mr. Miller was supervisor of construction for the facility.

Lake Charles Memorial Hospital (LCMH) has served the citizens of southwest Louisiana for more than 60 years. Its earliest beginnings started beyond its current location.

Rapid growth following the end of World War II brought the need for additional hospital facilities in Calcasieu Parish. At the same time, the Lake Charles Air Force Base, located east of the city, now known as Chennault International Airport, was deactivated, leaving the base hospital empty.

Memorial grew rapidly in the decades that followed. By 1972, just 20 years after its opening, the hospital had expanded to include accommodations for 211 patients, a pediatric unit, air transport capabilities and a volunteer auxiliary.

Members of the Calcasieu Parish Medical Society petitioned the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury for help obtaining the use of the base hospital, a 75-bed facility that had served military personnel during the war. The request was granted, and the Medical Society selected some of its members to administer the facility.

A 10-story patient tower was added in 1981, again increasing available patient beds and greatly expanding the range of services. To date, the hospital continues to add specialized services, advances in medical technology, and outreach programs in response to community need and in an effort to offer patients the latest innovations in medical treatment.

However, while the parish had use of the facility, it did not get ownership. So, while the base hospital remained in operation under this plan, area doctors and private citizens began work to establish a new, permanent hospital in Lake Charles.

In January 2003, a second campus in southwest Lake Charles, Memorial for Women, opened as a facility dedicated to women’s health. It features the Family Birth Center, Special Care Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and Women’s Specialty Unit.

The record books will tell you that Lake Charles Memorial Hospital officially opened on October 23, 1952 at a 100 bed capacity. Dig a little deeper and you will discover the hospital

The state-of -the-art facility combines comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services, including obstetrics, gynecology, general surgery, incontinence treatment, breast health, menopause, vein

PHYSICIAN REFERRAL • 1-800-494-LCMH (5264)

88

Rapid growth following the end of World War II brought the need for additional hospital facilities in Calcasieu Parish.

and vascular treatment, and the most advanced integrated diagnostics, including digital mammography, laboratory testing, radiology, and ultrasound.

Consistency and community leadership have been key to the success of LCMH. Governed by a board of community leaders, Memorial has had just four CEOs in its entire existence.

Today, Memorial continues to be the largest healthcare provider now serving southwest Louisiana. It consists of a 391-bed acute care complex, which includes the main campus on Oak Park Boulevard, Memorial for Women in south Lake Charles, and a long-term care facility at Extended Care of Southwest Louisiana.

The hospital system also trains the doctors, nurses, and laboratory and radiology technicians of tomorrow. With over 1,800 employees and 250 physicians, the hospital continues to be a pillar of the community, as the largest healthcare system and one of the largest employers in Lake Charles.

Nurses in the early years of LCMH.

9

Cover Story

Memorial Timeline

1955 • First 1963 • School of October 18, 1952 First baby at Helicopter pad Medical Technology LCMH is built begins

Sixty Years and Stronger Than Ever October 23, 1952 LCMH Officially Opens

June 27, 1957 Hurricane Audrey hits

September 10, 1972 ICU opens

September 29, 1980 LCMH is designated the trauma center for southwest Louisiana

Sixty Years and Stronger Than Ever Sixty Year

1966 Home Health Opens

1977 • First CAT Scanner arrives

1968 • Volunteer Auxiliary begins

10

May 3, 1981 New 10 floor patient tower opens

January 16, 2003 Memorial for Women Opens

2007 • Trilogy Technology comes to Radiation Oncology

1995 • Memorial/ LSUHSC Residency Program begins

rs and Stronger Than Ever October 1, 2002 Hurricane Lili hits

September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike hits

2011 • Cath Lab is expanded & Gastroenterology Center is renovated

Sixty Years and Stronger Than Ever Sixty Years and Stro

September 2005 Hurricane Rita hits. LCMH closes for 13 days

June 2008 • Wound Care Center first to begin Hyperbaric Treatment in Lake Charles

11

2010 Operating Room Renovations

2012 • Electronic Medical Records are up and running

Physician Spotlight Edgar McCanless, MD

LCMH pediatrician since 1957 Edgar McCanless, MD has been a doctor for as long as the doors of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital (LCMH) have been open. He has spent his whole life in pediatrics, the majority of them right here in Lake Charles.

Serving the families of Memorial for 55 years, he is currently the longest tenured staff physician at LCMH. “I always had enjoyed being around children.

When I was in my internship after medical school, I didn’t have any of my own at that time,” Dr. McCanless says. “I particularly liked pediatrics, so I decided to get a residency in that. Then, I went on to child development and child psychiatry for a couple of years.”

The Canton, Georgia native’s life took a winding route to get him to the lake area. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia during the time of the Korean War. Doctors were being drafted and Dr. McCanless was picked, choosing the Air Force. The draft would bring him to Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, where he was put in charge of pediatrics.

“That was a busy place as you could imagine with all the families of the airmen,” Dr. McCanless recalls.

PHYSICIAN REFERRAL • 1-800-494-LCMH (5264)

12

“I hope to continue for another year or two. I really enjoy working and my health is holding up, so I think it’s better than hanging around the house.”

Edgar McCanless, MD

He would spend two years at Barksdale, during a time in which he would meet his wife, Mary. The couple has two children, a son Christopher who is a Baton Rouge doctor and a daughter Ellen, who is working towards an accounting degree at McNeese State University.

After his time in the service was up, a job opening brought them to Lake Charles. Dr. McCanless was hired on at the Lake Charles Medical and Surgical Clinic in 1957. In 1981, he moved over to the Children’s Clinic and has been there ever since.

The good doctor practiced during the days when being a child was just flat dangerous. Diseases we deem common today, were more often times fatal back then.

“It’s been dramatic with what we can do with the different antibiotics that we have now,” Dr. McCanless says with a hint of relief in his voice. “Plus, particularly the increasing help from vaccines and immunizations that have changed the pattern of illness so dramatically. We don’t see the sick and dying children with the common diseases like we did even in those days.”

Dr. McCanless says life as a doctor is not nearly as stressful now as it was in his early years. Emergency room (ER) calls where much more common back in the day, as ERs were not staffed with doctors, just nurses. He recalls making rounds morning and night, having just one day off a week and working lots of weekends. Life is different now with a group of doctors being able to share the load.

Life at Memorial has changed.

Dr. McCanless has watched a small community hospital merge into a regional healthcare leader.

13

Life at Memorial has changed as well. Dr. McCanless has watched a small community hospital merge into a regional healthcare leader. New buildings have sprung up during his tenure, and the number of patients has increased dramatically.

Different specialties have joined the Memorial Health System so every service a patient may need is available right here in Lake Charles.

“The hospital makes it much easier for the doctors when you have all the services and specialties in one place and a nursing staff that is very capable. We have all of that available now here, close at hand,” Dr. McCanless says. “I think the hospital should do well. I’m very proud of the medical group we have here in Lake Charles. I hope to continue for another year or two. I really enjoy working and my health is holding up so I think it’s better than hanging around the house.”

Memorial’s Longest Serving Employee Shirley Moore: 45 years of service Shirley Moore has spent her life serving the patients of Lake

Shirley says. “From the information I gathered at other hospitals,

Charles Memorial Hospital (LCMH). Bright-eyed and ready to

we put it together and started a patient escort department.

take on the world, she walked through the doors of Memorial

That’s the way it’s been ever since.”

at only 22-years-old.

Shirley was given the title of supervisor and put in charge of 23 Shirley would clock in for the first time as a Memorial employee

employees. She admits it was a learning experience, having to

on January 2, 1968 and head to the hospital’s laundry room. It

deal with all those people, all those different personalities. Still,

was during a time Memorial was only a three floor hospital and

she wouldn’t change it for the world.

the laundry was located on the first floor.

Today, her department consists of seven employees, but the “It was good. It was hot. I learned a lot of things in there,” Shirley

mission remains the same. Day in and day out, she and her

recalls. “We had to make sure the clothes were washed and

employees work with people who are not feeling their best

properly sterilized. We just had to do everything to make sure

and, in all honesty, would rather be somewhere else.

that there wouldn’t be an infection.”

Shirley admits to getting attached to patients along the way, Shirley would spend the next 15 years in the laundry service,

especially those who frequent the halls of Memorial. She

until it was closed. The hospital made sure every worker would

continues to push herself and those she supervises to give

continue to have a job, so she was moved to the newly created

patients the best experience possible, to treat them like family.

patient escort department.

She will retire in January, 45 years to the day she first began A department calls and requests a patient for a test or

to serve the people of LCMH. Her first order of business in

treatment and Shirley’s department is charged to go to the

retirement will be to complete a life long quest of learning how

patient room with a wheel chair or bed and get the patient and

to swim. Then, the plan is to just relax. Thanking God for each

bring them to the right department.

morning, as she sits on the front porch with her cup of coffee in hand.

“They sent me to various hospitals to see how that was done,”

14

“Memorial gave me the opportunity to grow,” Shirley says. “I have worked under various administrators. Their goal has always been what’s best for the employees and the patients. They know if the employees are happy, the patients will be satisfied. I just love being involved with the people and working with the patients. That is why I am still here.”

15

PHYSICIAN REFERRAL • 1-800-494-LCMH (5264) PHYSICIAN REFERRAL • 1-800-494-LCMH (5264)

As the hospital has grown, so has its educational mission into one of the premier teaching hospitals.

Mission: Education t Nurse education in the early years of LCMH Since the doors of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital (LCMH)

Memorial also partners with Calcasieu Parish schools and

opened in 1952, the hospital has not only served the patients

their Health Occupations Career Program. The program gives

of southwest Louisiana, but it has trained future medical care

interested high school students a taste of the inner workings

givers.

of a hospital.

As the hospital has grown, so has its educational mission into

Students first become familiar with medical terminology and

one of the premier teaching hospitals. Nurses, laboratory

observe various specialties, such as pharmacy, physical therapy

and radiology technicians, pharmacy students, nursing

and dietary during their junior year. As a senior, students refresh

assistants and family medicine doctors all receive training and

their learning with short observations of various disciplines and

certifications through LCMH, according to Anetha “Corky”

then can work on nursing units as a nursing assistant trainee.

Craft, director of education at LCMH.

By the end of their high school careers, students can become a certified nurse’s assistant.

“Nurses in training, both registered and practical, come from colleges all over southwest Louisiana to Memorial for clinical

The LCMH education department also branches out into the

rounds and to receive certifications,” Craft says.

community to teach CPR classes.

In 1963, the School of Medical technology was formed. The

In conjunction with the Louisiana State University Health

Clinical Laboratory Science program is housed in the Pathology

Science Center (LSUHSC), the Memorial/LSUHSC’s Family

Department of LCMH. College seniors or those students with

Medicine Residency Program began in January of 1995 and

a degree in chemistry, microbiology or biology complete a one-

accepted the first class of residents in 1997.

year internship instructing them in clinical laboratory science.

The program includes didactic as well as clinical instruction in

Twenty-four resident physicians staff the Family Medicine

all of the major lab areas.

Clinic, helping to meet the health care needs of southwest

PHYSICIAN REFERRAL • 1-800-494-LCMH (5264)

16

t

t

t

t

t

Dr. Danette Null, faculty physician, (center) and a group of residents making rounds in the hospital.

Louisiana. Dr. Alan LeBato, director of the residency program, says the mission is to promote and provide the highest quality physician education through patient care, utilizing the most up to date educational methods and information systems.

“Residents receive three years of comprehensive study in all major areas of medicine: internal medicine and its subspecialties, pediatrics, surgery and its subspecialties, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, psychiatry and community medicine,” Dr. LeBato says.

The residents train under the supervision of qualified family physician faculty members and

consultants in private practice.

subspecialty physicians. Training and clinical rounds are provided within the LCMH system.

July 2012 began the fifteenth year of operation, producing 79 graduates over the years that understand and recognize the pivotal role family physicians have

The family medicine residents provide services in

in directing comprehensive health care for all ages.

Memorial’s ER department, the pediatric service, the general surgery service, and the OB-GYN

The entire education mission of LCMH has been developed to prepare today’s

service areas in a private hospital setting with

physicians, nurses and technicians for today’s healthcare needs.

17

k

8 6 19

k Volunteers Come to Memorial

k Virginia Turner is one of the most dedicated workers you will ever meet. She wakes each day, heads to work at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital (LCMH) and puts in her eight hours. Though there is no paycheck coming every two weeks, Virginia is a volunteer.

“I had a friend that invited me to come. I had always wanted to try volunteering and that’s how I got started,” Virginia says of that fateful day eight years ago. “I’m a retired school teacher. I like to be with people and I wanted to give back to my community. I like serving other people. I enjoy it.

Virginia is one of 65 members of the Volunteer Auxiliary at LCMH. The Auxiliary was established in 1968 with an inaugural 50 active members. Through the decades, the Volunteer Auxiliary has provided selfless service and aid to hospital employees and patients alike.

Virginia is not the type of person to spend retirement rocking the years away. In 2011, she was named Volunteer

Find out more at www.lcmh.com/volunteer

of the Year, logging 2,000 hours. Fellow Auxiliary member Betty Brown started volunteering at the hospital in the fall of 1998.

PHYSICIAN REFERRAL • 1-800-494-LCMH (5264)

18

“I think it’s a very good organization,” Betty says of the Auxiliary.

The generosity of these volunteers does not end at the hospital

“After you have been here so long it’s kind of like an extended family.

doors. The Auxiliary has also donated $41,000 since 1988 to the

If somebody is sick, you know about it. If somebody passes away,

Aileen and Hazel Dyer Scholarship Fund. The fund is for a medical

we go to the funeral as a group. You get to know each other pretty

scholarship that was established as a memorial. Three $1,500

well, especially the ones you work with.”

scholarships are awarded to McNeese State University students each semester.

Betty’s husband of 45 years, Myron, also volunteers at the hospital “I do it because I like it, not because I want to get paid for it,” Brown

choosing to work in a waiting room.

says. “I think it would help a lot of people, especially if they are The volunteers provide many services around the hospital including

sitting at home with nothing to do. If they would volunteer, it would

running the gift shop, manning the front desk, keeping the waiting

give them something to look forward to even if they did it just once

rooms stocked with magazines, and even preparing beautiful flower

a week.”

arrangements for patients and visitors.

The Volunteer Auxiliary is open to anyone age 18 and over of all backgrounds and abilities. For more information, contact Volunteer

“They are very loving people. They care about others and that’s the

Services at 337-494-3213 or www.lcmh.com/volunteer.

number one thing,” says Sherry Schofield, director of volunteer services at LCMH. “They come up here hoping they can do

k

something to help someone else and they find out they, in return, receive more than the person they’re helping. It gives them a sense of feeling worthy.”

The Auxiliary donates all proceeds from the hospital gift shop to purchase equipment for Memorial. This year, the Auxiliary wrote a check for $110,000. Last year, it was for $100,000. The Auxiliary has donated a whopping $1.77 million to LCMH since 1968.

“They are very loving people. They care about others and that’s the number one thing.”

Sherry Schofield Director of Volunteer Services

Richard Ott • Memorial’s Front Desk 19

1701 Oak Park Boulevard Lake Charles, La 70601 337-494-3000

Healthcare – with APP-titude Access Lake Charles Memorial Health System’s website...anytime...anywhere. Go to www.lcmh. com using your mobile device and automatically connect to our mobile site. A new shortcut/ bookmark app will appear on the screen when logging in via any iPhone, iPad or android device.

You don’t have to search an app store - just log on, download the app and save it to your mobile device’s home page. Now, finding the most highly trained physicians, the latest services and cutting edge health news just got easier. Medical milestones in your own backyard. That’s why LCMH...Lake

we’re the healthcare leader in southwest Louisiana.

We are Memorial.

www.lcmh.com Fan us at facebook.com/LakeCharlesMemorial Tweet us at Memorial Hospital@LCMHS

Smart Phones. Smart Healthcare.