Business Report [August 2026] by Baton Rouge Business Report

AUGUST 2026 • BUSINESSREPORT.COM

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STANDARD Lifetime Achievement honoree Edgar Silvey helped position The Baton Rouge Clinic to become the first independent multispecialty clinic selected for the Mayo Clinic Care Network.

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OF CARE Meet the leaders, organizations and innovators improving health across the Capital Region.

TRUST IS EVERYTHING Whether you’re cheering on Sam Leavitt and LSU Football in Death Valley or conquering your own health goals, the same spirit that drives the Tigers drives FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake to deliver best-in-class care Louisiana trusts — for every fan, every family and every community. As Championship Health Partners, LSU and the Lake are advancing health, sports performance, education and research to transform healthcare for Louisiana and the Gulf South.

FMOLHealth.org/LSU

• Please respond by e-mail or phone with your approval or minor revisions. • AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received within 24 hrs from receipt of this proof. A shorter timeframe will apply for tight deadlines. • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees. Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Melara Enterprises, LLC. 2023. 2026. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700

Giving generously can do more than help those in need. You can be rewarded by making your contributions to charity from a retirement account. When you use your tax qualified IRA to donate to a 501c(3) charity, the withdrawal is not taxable as ordinary income. This can greatly help to reduce your overall taxable income for the year.

HOW CAN I LOWER MY TAXIBLE INCOME?

WHO QUALIFIES?

Individuals with Required Minimum Distributions (those over age 73). A required minimum distribution is a calculated mandatory amount that you must withdrawal from your Traditional, SEP, Simple, or Employer plan upon reaching age 73. If not taken a penalty could be imposed. By giving to a charity straight from these retirement accounts, you can help to avoid this penalty.

HOW MUCH CAN I DONATE?

$111,000 There is a contribution limit of $100,000.

IS A QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTION RIGHT FOR YOU?

GIVE OUR OFFICE A CALL TO LEARN MORE!

Securities offered through LPL Financial. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through New Edge Advisors, a registered investment advisor. New Edge Advisors and Goss Wealth Management are separate entities from LPL Financial. CMAX 1-05297690

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

CONTE NTS

23 News

AUGUST 2026 • BUSINESSREPORT.COM

67 Stable, but ...

Despite retail strength, public perception haunts the Mall of Louisiana following a deadly shooting.

71 Louisiana’s Data Privacy Act is coming

A HIGH

STANDARD OF CARE

Lifetime Achievement honoree Edgar Silvey helped position The Baton Rouge Clinic to become the first independent multispecialty clinic selected for the Mayo Clinic Care Network.

Meet the leaders, organizations and innovators improving health across the Capital Region.

Is your business ready? What you need to know before the new rules take effect Jan. 1.

Viewpoint 75 Rolfe McCollister

Two decades later, how did we do?

Your Business 76 Rankings: Convention and meeting facilities 78 Rankings: Office equipment and supply dealers 80 Company News

Publisher 6 The best healthcare story we’re not telling

85 Moving Up 86 Recharge Entrepreneur and executive Trent Fresina finds bowhunting both humbling and rewarding.

ON THE COVER Meet the leaders, organizations and innovators improving health across the Capital Region. Business Report celebrates Baton Rouge Clinic CEO Edgar Silvey with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Woman’s Hospital’s Perinatal Mental Health Unit with the Community Impact Award, as well as finalists and honorees in five other categories at the Excellence in Healthcare Awards on Aug. 12. Design: Hoa Vu Photography: Don Kadair SPECIAL SECTION

Intelligence 9 In the Know 11 Thought Leader

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Communications Director Scott Miller shares five tips on how to better tell your company’s story.

13 Meet The 500

Kean Miller Managing Partner Linda Perez Clark shares her Baton Rouge brag, a fourwheel bucket list item and the hardest truth she’s learned about leadership.

NAVIGATING THE NEXT CHAPTER Explore long-term life planning strategies for yourself and your aging loved ones. Page 45

MEET THE ORTHOPEDISTS

These Capital Region healthcare professionals are dedicated to keeping us active and pain-free. Page 55

CONNECT WITH US:

15 Entrepreneur

Co-founder Michael Scarbrough shares how United Supply Agency has been able to double revenue every year since its 2022 launch.

17 Wisdom

Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership acting co-CEO Trey Godfrey shares the leadership strategies that guide him.

18 Survey Says

Think. Listen first. Stick to your knitting. Do it scared. The best advice often comes in just a few words—but those words can shape a career, as these Capital Region executives share.

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

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The team behind your triumph

Jeremy Burnham, MD Orthopedic Surgery

At the Ochsner Andrews Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute, every decision we make is focused on helping our patients move forward. From the latest technology to the depth of our expertise, our team brings elite care, cutting-edge research and advanced training to the communities we serve. Your recovery, goals and quality of life drive everything we do—and we move forward with you, every step of the way. Learn more or schedule an appointment at ochsner.org/ortho.

Kyle Bramley, PT Physical Therapy

PU B LI S H E R B R I E FI NG

The best healthcare story we’re not telling WE HAVE A habit in Baton Rouge of talking about what we don’t have. Here’s something we should talk about more: the extraordinary quality of healthcare we do have. We have nationally respected cancer treatment, advanced specialty care, major hospital systems, innovative physicians and organizations solving some of healthcare’s toughest challenges. Every day, people receive life-changing treatment here that once would have required a trip to Houston, New Orleans or beyond. And yet, I’m not sure we fully appreciate it. Healthcare is not simply a service we turn to when we’re sick. It is one of the most important sectors in our regional economy. Hospitals, clinics, specialty practices and health organizations employ thousands of people. They recruit professionals, invest in facilities, support local businesses and contribute to the community in countless ways. Their work affects quality of life, workforce productivity and our ability to attract families and employers. That is a powerful economic story— and we need to tell it better. The Baton Rouge Health District has an extraordinary concentration of institutions: Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Our Lady of the Lake Health, Baton Rouge General, Ochsner, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana Blue and many others. On paper, that is a powerful lineup. The opportunity is to turn that proximity into something bigger—more collaboration, more research, stronger workforce pipelines, better patient access and a clearer national identity. The district needs to raise its game. So do all of us.

We cannot keep treating healthcare as a collection of separate institutions doing good work behind their own walls. We need a shared ambition for what this sector can become, and a louder, more coordinated effort to tell that story. No one outside this region will recognize our potential before we recognize it ourselves. That is in large part why Business Report launched the Excellence in Healthcare Awards. We want to recognize the executives, emerging leaders, practitioners, organizations and innovators who are raising standards and shaping the future of healthcare. They are improving outcomes, opening more doors to care, advancing treatment and building stronger teams—all while finding smarter, more effective ways to serve patients. We will celebrate the finalists and honorees on Aug. 12 at the Crowne Plaza. But this is about more than one event. It is about giving this sector the recognition it has earned—and bringing its best work out from behind institutional walls and into the public conversation. We will never fully break the habit of cataloging what Baton Rouge lacks. Some of that conversation is fair, and some of it is necessary. But it should not be the only conversation we’re having. The quality is here. It is getting more innovative, more connected and more essential every day. And it belongs to us. So let’s change the habit. Let’s talk about what we have—loudly enough, and often enough—that people outside this region start talking about it, too. The best is yet to come!

Julio Melara, Publisher

Publisher: Julio Melara Associate Publisher: Erin Pou

EDITORIAL Executive Editor: Penny Font Managing Editor: Allan Schilling News Editor: Sheridan White Ascension News Editor: Jordan Arceneaux Senior Writer: Dillon Lowe Digital Content Strategist & Researcher: John McElwain Contributing Writers: Sam Barnes, Eileen McClelland, Maggie Heyn Richardson, Jennifer Alvarez Contributing Photographers: Jackie Haxthausen, Don Kadair, Tim Mueller, Collin Richie

ADVERTISING Senior Consultant & Assistant Manager: Kelly Lewis Multimedia Marketing Consultants: Nicole Crochet, Emma Walker Multimedia Marketing Consultant/Custom Publishing: Liz Bowen, Manny Fajardo, Judith LaDousa Sales Intern: Blair LeBlanc Marketing Director: Ashleigh Ward Digital Operations Manager: Devyn MacDonald Data Analyst: Sydney DeVille Digital Operations Coordinator: Addie Champagne Content Creator: Londyn White Content Strategist: Emily Hebert Sales & Marketing Operations: Kynley Lemoine

STUDIO E Director and Corporate Communications Strategist: Mark Lorando Special Projects Editor: Lisa Tramontana Content Strategist: Emily Hebert Multimedia Producer: Jordan Ponzio Video Producer: Taylor Stoma

ADMINISTRATION Chief Technology Officer: James Hume Business Operations Manager: Kirsten Milano Business Associate: Sarah Kleinpeter Receptionist: Cathy Varnado Brown

CREATIVE SERVICES Creative Services Manager: Ellie Gray Art Director: Hoa Vu Senior Graphic Designers: Melinda Gonzalez Galjour, Sidney Rosso Graphic Designers: Aniya Dunn, Lea Showers

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Circulation and Client Experience Manager: Ivana Oubre A PUBLICATION OF MELARA ENTERPRISES, LLC Chairman: Julio Melara Executive Assistant: Brooke Motto Vice President, Sales: Elizabeth McCollister Hebert Chief Content Officer: Penny Font Chief Digital Officer: Erin Pou Chief Operating Officer: Guy Barone Circulation/Reprints/Subscriptions/Customer Service 225-928-1700 • email: circulation@businessreport.com Volume 41 - Number 49

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

ORION LABORATORIES

PREMIER SPONSOR

Better service is calling Congratulations to the 2026 Excellence in Healthcare honorees. It’s a privilege to stand alongside you.

EXCELLENCE IN HEALTHCARE AWARDS AUGUST 12, 2026 · BATON ROUGE

AI IS CHANGING EVERYTHING. CHANGE WITH IT. Sponsored By:

Business Report’s AI Academy is a five-session professional development program designed to strengthen AI leadership capabilities and help organizations identify where AI can create meaningful value and impact. Built for small and mid-sized businesses, the program provides practical guidance to evaluate, develop and implement AI strategies in responsible and impactful ways.

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BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

I NTELLIG E NCE B R I E FI NG

In The Know

News and notables to keep you connected DATA D IVE

10,500

EVE NTS

ISTOCK.COM/M-PHOTOSTOCK

TH EY SAI D IT

“I did not approve of the parish attorney filing this action on behalf of the city-parish, and I strongly disagree with the decision to insert our government into this dispute.”

DON KADAIR

ISTOCK.COM/IMAGINIMA

Number of construction jobs Louisiana gained between June 2025 and 2026. It marked the nation’s highest construction employment growth rate over the past year, with employment rising 7.7%., resulting in a construction workforce of 147,000.

Get the AI playbook

Business Report’s new five-session AI Academy will help leaders of small and midsized businesses move from uncertainty to practical implementation. Sponsored by Pellerin Technology, the program combines expert instruction, executive insights, real-world applications and hands-on experimentation with leading AI tools. Participants will identify high-value opportunities and leave with a customized AI implementation road map. Sessions begin Aug. 12. Get the details, watch a video and register at businessreport.com/ai.

Mayor-President Sid Edwards, on East Baton Rouge Parish attorney John McLindon seeking to intervene in LRK LLC’s lawsuit challenging St. George’s legal status over a zoning matter to determine its incorporation date

B IG D EALS

REV Fiber, Louisiana’s largest locally owned fiber-first internet provider, has entered into a multiyear partnership with the LSU athletic department, becoming the exclusive internet partner ahead of the 2026 football season. The terms were not disclosed. Read more at businessreport.com.

JULY 2026 • BUSINESS

REPORT.CO M

TOP

FILE PHOTO

Corrections Since we published our 2026 Top 100 Private Companies Private Companies edition in July, we have modified the digital edition to correct errors of omission that impacted the rankings. We incorporated financial information that Brown & Root and AWC submitted prior to deadline but was omitted in the list that Business Report published. Brown & Root now ranks No. 6; AWC, No. 13. This update results in adjustments in the original rankings of other companies on the list. We also omitted Window World owner James Roland from the top executives, G.E.O. Heat Exchangers from the top employers list for Iberville Parish and Re/ Max Professional from the “Top 3 By Industry” rankings. In our Capital Region 500 edition, we also misstated the operational reach of Wesley Construction. The company has completed over 100 projects across more than 25 states. Business Report regrets the errors. No. 3 goes nucle ar Top CEO salari es Millions per emplo yee

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121 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Minimum number of employees in the governor’s office—from senior advisers and agency heads to interns and temporary staff—who have signed sweeping confidentiality agreements since Gov. Jeff Landry took office, according to a Gulf States Newsroom investigation. The agreements require employees to obtain the governor’s written permission before disclosing information learned on the job, allow the state to fire or sue employees for violations, and remain in effect indefinitely even after workers leave state government.

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

INTROD UCING THE 2026-2027

Mi’Kira Anderson

Tayisha Beard

Krystle Beauchamp

LaFargue

The Stability House

Parish of Caddo

Women’s Leadership Academy Inaugural Class

Andrea D. Courtney

Mia Bell

Heather Blackard

Jemiela Castleberry

Kasie Coleman

Katie Davis

RestoreHER Now LLC

Lane Regional Medical Center

Open Healthcare Clinic

Sugar Belle

Trinity Business Group

March of Dimes

Allison Dumas

Laura N. Fitzgerald

Heather Freeman

Rachael Gordon

Jennifer Gullo

Rebecca Harris

Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry

Capital Area Corporate Recycling Council

Xavier University of Louisiana

Barker Property Management and Commercial Real Estate

Coca-Cola United

Manuel Builders

Courtney Hunt

Debra Jackson Martin

LaToya Johnson

Natalie Malek

Danielle McCall

Kayla Mims

Ochsner Health

New Hope Baptist Church

Plexos Group

Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Urban Restoration Enhancement Corporation

Invest in Louisiana

Melissa Montgomery

Shyra Moran

Antoinette Patterson

Pheriche Perkins

Trashica Robinson

People by Design / Synergism, LLC

Advancial

Baton Rouge Community College

The Center for Literacy & Learning

Trinity Business Group

Ashely Roquemore

La’Shantlen Russ

Nicole Scott

Janeka Scott-Collette

Jessica Sharon

Keiara Skipper

Open Healthcare Clinic

The BRidge Agency, INC

Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group

Pelican Credit Union

Creating Endless Possibilities (CEP Consulting Agency)

Britni Smith

Danielle Staten

Brandy Stewart

Higher Education Professional

East Baton Rouge Parish School System

Southern University’s TRIO Upward Bound Programs

Angela Trahan

Brandie Triche

Porsche Uche

Diocese of LafayetteCatholic School Office

City of Zachary

Cardiovascular Institute of the South

Elective Medical Marketing

Sarah Smiley Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge

For 95 years, the Junior League of Baton Rouge has developed women who lead in this community. The Women’s Leadership Academy is the next evolution: an exclusive, cohort-based experience for bold, purpose-driven women ready to lead with vision, conviction and lasting impact. With curriculum from the LSU Leadership Development Institute, this is professional development built for the demands of real leadership.

JuniorLeagueBR.org | (225) 924-0298

I NTELLIG E NCE B R I E FI NG

USE EMOTION— AND, IF POSSIBLE, SURPRISE—FOR A MEMORABLE MESSAGE.

ISTOCK.COM/IVAN PANTIC

Facts explain what a business does. Stories help audiences feel why it matters. During tours of Mary Bird Perkins, for example, Miller combines information about the cancer center’s services and technology with personal stories and interesting anecdotes. He may describe the coordinated response of nurses when his father experienced a reaction during cancer treatment or surprise visitors with the story of Mike the Tiger receiving radiation treatment at the center. “You’re catching them off guard, you’re grabbing their attention and you’re kind of giving them a break from the typical things,” Miller says. Personal experiences, unexpected details, vivid images and relatable analogies can all help make a message “sticky.”

KEEP THE CORE MESSAGE SIMPLE.

THOUG HT LEAD E R

How to tell better business stories BUSINESSES TODAY are competing not only

for customers but also for attention. Modern life is increasingly defined by a near-constant flow of information, meaning it’s more difficult than ever for an organization to stand out and get its message heard. That’s why Scott Miller, communications director at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, believes storytelling is now an essential business skill. “People have so many messages coming at them in so many different ways,” Miller says. “You’ve got to figure out a way to break through the clutter.” Unlike the traditional advertisements, a good story helps a business form a more personal connection with its audience. It can make complex information easier to understand, give statistics greater meaning and help customers remember why a business matters. Miller shared with Business Report how he believes businesses in any industry can step up their storytelling. Here’s his guidebook.

Scott Miller

START WITH WHAT MAKES YOUR BUSINESS DIFFERENT.

A strong business story begins with a clear differentiator. Organizations should identify the qualities, experiences or outcomes that separate them from their competitors. That process may involve interviewing employees and customers, gathering feedback from other stakeholders or identifying an unmet need in the market. “You need to center your storytelling around what makes you different from your competitors,” Miller says. The answer may not always be obvious, particularly in crowded or highly technical industries. But organizations that find a compelling point of distinction can build stories that give audiences a reason to remember them—and, hopefully, choose to do business with them.

BUILD THE STORY AROUND A CLEAR NARRATIVE ARC.

Even a short social media post benefits from structure. Miller often employs the “And, But, Therefore” framework. The “and” introduces an agreeable or familiar idea. The “but” presents a problem, conflict or source of tension. The “therefore” explains the solution and shows how the organization can help. The format can be adapted for blog posts, presentations, media pitches and just about any other form of communication. “It’s a good way to consistently frame your messages. … It’s very adaptable to a lot of different lengths and writing styles,” Miller says.

Trying to communicate too much at once can weaken even the best story. Miller recommends limiting a piece of communication to two or three central ideas. That doesn’t mean repeating the same few sentences over and over with slight wording tweaks. Once the core message is clear, businesses can reinforce it through additional data, examples and analogies. “You always want to have that through line in your story that you’re repeating in different ways,” Miller says.

LET PEOPLE—NOT DATA, NOT AI— DRIVE THE STORY.

Statistics can help with credibility, but numbers rarely create an emotional connection on their own. “If somebody relies specifically on statistics and data, it’s going to get very dry very quickly,” Miller says. Businesses should explain what the numbers mean for real people by adding human context. The same principle applies to artificial intelligence. Miller uses AI to check grammar, sharpen his work and identify missing perspectives, but not to replace original thinking. “I view it more as a thought partner and not necessarily as a content generator,” he says. The most effective business stories still begin with authentic human experiences. Technology can improve those stories, but it shouldn’t be the voice through which they’re told.

—Dillon Lowe

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

I NTE LLI G E N CE CON N E CTI ON S

M E ET TH E 500

Linda Perez Clark

BUCKET LIST ITEM The Monaco Grand Prix

LINDA PEREZ CLARK guides the strategic direction of one of the region’s largest law firms

while also advising clients on business transactions. With more than 30 years of experience, she counsels privately held and public companies on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and large-scale commercial agreements, including construction- and energy-related projects.

I THINK THE NEXT GENERATION WILL GET THIS RIGHT

A commitment to seeing and pursing all the possibilities for Baton Rouge to be a wonderful place

MY FIRST JOB STRATEGIES THAT GUIDE ME AS A LEADER

GUILTY PLEASURE

Embrace change at a reasonable pace. Encourage a culture of continuous improvement and excellence. Protecting our law firm’s culture is paramount and takes priority over any growth strategies.

Sweets

LESSON LEARNED THE HARD WAY

It’s OK to not always know the answer. A key part of being an effective leader is listening to others.

MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ...

I love a great playlist, from yacht rock to Andre Bocelli. I love music.

A DECISION I MADE THAT MY YOUNGER SELF WOULDN’T BELIEVE

To run for managing partner of Kean Miller

TOUGHEST PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGE

A BUSINESS NORM I LOVE BREAKING

Leading our law firm though the pandemic. Managed through it by relying on facts and data—not fear.

Cleaning an elderly neighbor’s home with my sister. The neighbor had very high expectations, but we managed to earn $3 every other Saturday for our work.

FAVORITE HIDDEN GEMS

Not exactly hidden, but we are so fortunate to have Matherne’s grocery store downtown. And the bar at the Watermark Baton Rouge is lovely.

THE BATON ROUGE I’D LIKE TO SEE A DECADE FROM NOW

A vibrant city that’s well planned with well-managed traffic, and a clean downtown with lots of pedestrians and restaurants and venues to live and work

MY PASSION

That law firms are steeped in tradition and can’t or won’t embrace change and innovation

BIGGEST RISK I’VE TAKEN

A recurring risk for me is wanting to do too much—I love what I do and have a hard time saying no. That regularly creates risk relative to my ability to get everything done—but I enjoy the challenge of it.

MY BATON ROUGE BRAG

HOPED-FOR LEGACY

I hope my legacy is as a leader and adviser, known for trusted judgment and calm execution.

HARDEST TRUTH I’VE LEARNED ABOUT LEADERSHIP Not every decision, project, etc. can receive the same degree of attention. Learning to triage is critical.

Coffee Call beignets

I enjoy cooking. I’m currently trying to replicate my deceased grandmother’s tamales, without a recipe.

This Q&A is extended content from the Capital Region 500, a special edition produced by Business Report that profiles the Capital Region’s most powerful and influential business leaders. Visit try.businessreport.com/capitalregion500/ for more information.

2026

M UST R EAD

Andrew Ross Sorkin, who chronicled the 2008 meltdown in Too Big to Fail, turns his reporting instincts loose on an older catastrophe. 1929 is the story of the Wall Street crash told from the inside—not as a chart that falls off a cliff, but as a human drama full of visionaries, con men, true believers and the handful of skeptics who saw it coming and got laughed out of the room. Drawing on newly uncovered documents and deep archival digging, Sorkin reconstructs the boom that felt unstoppable and the freefall that wiped out fortunes overnight and set off the Great Depression. Along the way he tracks the running fight between Wall Street and Washington over who really controls the nation’s money—a fight that never quite ended. The parallels to now are hard to miss.

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, FILE PHOTO VIA 225, ISTOCK.COM/NELEA, ISTOCK.COM/ARAND, ISTOCK.COM/MOYO STUDIO, ISTOCK.COM/HAYASHIP

Managing Partner, Kean Miller

Baton Rouge has always been shaped by leaders whose ambition creates impact far beyond their organizations. At b1BANK, we know the most consequential financial decisions extend beyond the balance sheet. They affect the people you employ, the communities you serve and the legacy you are building. That level of responsibility calls for a banking partner with the local knowledge to understand the context, the capabilities to meet the complexity and the judgment to stand with you when the stakes are highest. Let’s move what matters forward.

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

Drew Brees b1BANK Client

I NTE LLIG E NCE E NTR E PR E N E U R

1 Key

to Success

DON KADAIR

“Treat setbacks as learning opportunities, not failures. Every experience teaches something useful for the next time.”

United Supply Agency What they do: PPE sales and customer service for industrial clients Address: 16334 Newman Nickens Road, Prairieville

MICHAEL SCARBROUGH has had the startup bug since he launched his first business at age 18. The serial entrepreneur has founded, bought and sold numerous ventures in south Louisiana, including a restaurant in Maurepas, a company that refurbishes golf balls and Green Heart Meals, the healthy prepared meals concept that grew to multiple locations and a 7,000-square-foot commissary kitchen. Scarbrough’s current focus is United Supply Agency, which he co-founded in 2022 with partner Anthony Fosdick. The company sells personal protective equipment to industrial construction firms and manufacturing facilities, sourcing much of its product line from its own overseas manufacturers. Revenue has doubled every year since its launch, Scarbrough says. “We’re able to go direct from manufacturer to end-user,” Scarbrough says. “It allows us to compete better on price and quality. We can build you whatever you want, whatever your specs are.” The founders each spent time during their careers working in industry, and those relationships have enabled the company to rely exclusively on

word-of-mouth marketing to grow sales. They have also prioritized a hands-on customer service model, something that gives United Supply Agency a leg up on larger competitors, Scarbrough says. “If somebody calls us, they know they’re going to get the best quality and that we’re going to answer our phones,” he says. “If they say they need it the same day, we’re going to get it to them.” Scarbrough says that while he’s transitioned out of many of his businesses over the years, he plans to keep growing United Supply Agency, as well as a real estate and investment company, for the foreseeable future. Everyday success depends on living by his calendar ruthlessly. It allows him to find time to attend his kids’ many activities and mentor high school students looking for career advice, some of whom could become entrepreneurs. “If you feel you have the calling, don’t be scared of it,” he tells them. “Don’t deny the feeling. The worst thing that can happen is you end up going to work for somebody else.”

—Maggie Heyn Richardson Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

Guiding Healthcare Through Every Next Chapter. Helping healthcare organizations grow stronger today while preparing for tomorrow. Success in healthcare requires more than adapting, it requires a clear strategy and a vision for what’s next. The next chapter belongs to organizations that plan with purpose, improve access, strengthen patient loyalty, elevate every patient experience, and build a reputation that inspires trust.

Healthcare is evolving. Your strategy should too. Guaranty Health Solutions partners with healthcare leaders to provide the strategies, tools, and measurable insights needed to navigate change, accelerate sustainable growth, and elevate the patient experience. Together, we’ll improve outcomes today while building a stronger organization for tomorrow. CONNECT WITH US!

Scan here or visit GuarantyHealth.com to learn more. 16

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

COLLIN RICHIE

I NTELLIG E NCE WI SDOM

.LEAD E R S H I P STRATEG I E S THAT G U I D E M E.

“Tell the truth early. Build systems that don’t rely on heroics. And never confuse motion with progress. Meetings feel productive. Outcomes actually are.” TREY GODFREY, acting co-CEO and senior vice president of policy, Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

I NTELLIG E NCE ADVICE

SU RVEY SAYS

Words executives live by Think. Listen first. Stick to your knitting. Do it scared. The best advice often comes in just a few words—but those words can shape a career. We asked executives to share the counsel they carry, from staying ready and betting on yourself to knowing when not to argue and when to let go. Their answers are practical, candid and tough, offering a glimpse at lessons that guide how they lead, decide and move forward.

“’Stick to your knitting,’ from Norman Saurage of Community Coffee. In other words, just do what you do best.”

“I always tell my members, staff and friends, ‘Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.’ Preparation meets opportunity at the intersection of purpose and timing, and that’s where leadership magic happens.” COURTNEY HUNT, program manager – community engagement, Ochsner Health

BARRY ERWIN, chief policy officer, Leaders for a Better Louisiana

“You need to learn to lose. Lose big. Once you realize that, you can be unstoppable.”

“Get close to your clients so you know what they need without them having to tell you.”

FRANZ BORGHARDT, Attorney

DEREK FIFE, president, Arkel Constructors

“Never argue with a fool.”

ANN EDELMAN, owner, Edelman PR & Crisis Communications

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

INTELLIGENCE ADVICE

“Think! I can’t tell you how many times my dad said, ‘Think!’ He didn’t tell me what or how to do something. He inspired me to think and reason or figure things out, to use my brain. Secondly, ‘listen first.’” BARBARA AUTEN, executive director, Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area

“Let go of what you cannot control and focus your energy on what you can.” BRYANT VOTH, CEO, Weiler Plastic Surgery

“‘Your future changes the moment you decide to bet on yourself.’ This is something I often share with young men and women entering the trades. Many don’t realize their potential until someone believes in them. When they choose to bet on themselves— to show up, work hard and learn—everything about their future opens up. Watching that mindset shift is one of the most rewarding parts of my career.” JOHN AUSTIN, executive vice president, Dynamic Group

“One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received was from a mentor who simply told me to ‘do it scared.’ It taught me that waiting for perfect clarity or confidence often means missing opportunities for growth and impact. Doing it scared has allowed me to take meaningful risks, step into leadership roles before I felt fully ready and trust that learning and growth would come through action.” MICAH NICHOLAS, executive director, American Red Cross

“Someone once told me, ‘Never tell anyone your problems. Half the people are glad you have them and the other half don’t care.’” ADAM MCCLOSKY, director, Louisiana Small Business Development Center, LSU

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

PRESENTS:

LOUISIANA BUSIN

ONE DAY OCTOBER 6, 2026 Crowne Plaza Hotel • Baton Rouge, LA

BEST PLACES TO WORK AWARDS Doors open at 7:00 AM | Starts at 8:00 AM (ticket required) PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

NESS SYM POSIUM TWO EVENTS TOP 100 LUNCHEON Doors open at 11:15 AM Starts at 11:45 AM (ticket required) KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

DR. LOREN SCOTT ECONOMIST The accurate and irreverent Dr. Scott will unveil his economic forecast for 2027 and 2028 for Louisiana and the Capital Region.

SPONSORED BY:

THE OFFICIAL BRANDING PARTNER:

Purchase your tickets

TODAY!

A NATIONAL LEADER IN WORKPLACE CULTURE Because exceptional healthcare happens when people feel valued, supported and inspired to be their best.

Meet the leaders, organizations and innovators improving health across the Capital Region.

MAR 2026-MAR 2027 USA

Healthcare with us. fmolhealth.com/careers

Business_Report_Capital_Region 500_FP 9.0x10.75.indd 1

Our Lady of the Lake 4/28/26 5:17 PM

C O V E R S T O RY

Meet the leaders, organizations and innovators improving health across the Capital Region.

LENCE

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ealthcare in the Capital Region is recognize the people, institutions and ingrowing more complex by the year. novations responding to those challenges The population is expanding and agacross the region. This inaugural year’s fiing. Demand is rising for everything nalists include emerging leaders building from primary care and emergency serinfluence early in their careers, senior vices to cancer treatment, menexecutives directing major investtal health support and highly ments and growth, and orgaspecialized procedures. At nizations working to better the same time, hospitals serve patients and families. and providers are managing They also highlight innovaworkforce pressures, new tions that are helping clinitechnology and the constant cians diagnose conditions challenge of making care sooner, treat patients more easier to access and navigate. precisely and offer options Meeting those demands takes that were not available before. more than new buildings or Their work is varied, but the equipment. It takes leaders B A T O N R O U G E B U S I N E S S R E P O R T questions behind it are often who can make difficult decithe same: How can care reach sions, organizations that can adapt and ideas more people? How can complicated systems that improve how care is delivered. work more effectively? And how can the reBusiness Report this year launched gion prepare now for the needs it will face the Excellence in Healthcare Awards to next?

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Join us to celebrate the finalists and the honorees at the Excellence in Healthcare Awards on the evening of Aug. 12 at the Crowne Plaza. Scan the code for tickets.

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2026 EXCELLENCE IN HEALTHCARE AWARDS 24

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From mergers and growth to hurricanes and COVID, Edgar Silvey has guided the Baton Rouge Clinic through an era of transformation. BY EILEEN MCCLELLAND

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lthough Edgar Silvey, 79, has led the Baton Rouge Clinic for 39 years, he is not one to plateau. In fact, it’s just the opposite, he says. “One of the things I discovered about myself at an early age was that I liked change,” CEO Silvey says. “That innate part of my personality has blossomed with the changes in healthcare.” Change at the Baton Rouge Clinic, a physician-owned, multispecialty healthcare provider based in Baton Rouge, has been driven in large part by exponential growth. Silvey’s goal for the clinic was to grow too large to be acquired by another company. The first step was to bolster the number of primary care and pediatric physicians. At that time, all multispecialty clinics had an inverted pyramid structure, which meant there was not enough primary care to support the specialties. Silvey worked with LSU and other training programs to recruit internal medicine physicians and by 1990 began merging with like-minded physician groups. The first merger was followed by a whirlwind of affiliations and openings until the clinic reached 18 locations, including Prairieville, Opelousas and Monroe. “It began to hit me in about 2019 when we merged with a hospital medical group that we had gotten pretty big, that it’s a little bigger than the mom-and-pop store,” he says. Silvey is frequently asked how he manages to lead a large group

of independent minded doctors through challenging times. “I have found it to be very easy,” Silvey says. The thing that is sacred to physicians is their autonomy

to practice medicine the way they were trained to. I make sure we maximize that for physicians. If we are able to do that, they will help us on anything we ask.”

He is both a collaborative and a servant leader, he says. “I don’t try to make decisions in a vacuum. I want as much input as I can get from physician owners. I work for the physician owners, and I implement what they ask me to implement.” When faced with complications, he recalls his dad’s succinct advice to “Keep it simple, stupid.” Dr. Mortimer Silvey was one of four physicians who founded the clinic in 1946. His philosophy shaped his son’s approach to managing even the most potentially contentious relationships. “My dad taught me you can always pick a fight, but once you pick a fight it’s hard to go back,” Silvey says. It’s a lesson he applies to dealings with insurance companies and government payers alike, favoring persistent engagement over adversarial posturing. The result is a culture that is, by any measure, remarkably sticky. Silvey estimates that 99% of physicians who join the Baton Rouge Clinic spend their entire careers there. Average employee tenure is 10 years or longer. The average patient sees the same doctor for eight years. A focus group conducted by a competitor once asked employees what made the Baton Rouge Clinic so successful. Their answer: it’s like a family atmosphere. “The doctors are fantastic—they care about patients and about their employees,” Silvey says. “If you continue to attract those kinds of people, the culture takes care of itself.” He offers one illustration of how

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A LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCES: From top left, Edgar Silvey celebrating with wife Cheryl in 2014, at the beach with children and grandchildren, all decked out for Mardi Gras earlier this year, as an LSU athlete in 1967, at Fort Benning and part of the Baton Rouge Clinic team in the 5K Colon Cancer Run Walk, Get Your Rear in Gear

that culture plays out in practice: “The doctors will talk for months about what color the toilet paper is or should be, but if they’re talking about a clinical issue, they will address and solve it boom boom boom to make things better for patients every time.” Everybody assumed Silvey would follow his father’s example and go to medical school. He was taking a chemistry final in college when he decided otherwise. “I loved the science, the chemistry, the anatomy, all of the stuff that makes up the science of medicine,” he says. “I just didn’t think I wanted to do that every day of my life. I was afraid it could be boring.” His father, though disappointed, suggested aptitude testing. The results pointed strongly toward public administration, which led Silvey to Tulane University in New Orleans. A grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to Tulane in 1968 helped launch the Master of Public Health program in Health Services

and Hospital Administration. The startup program proved a blessing—students had real input into shaping the curriculum, and Silvey found a field rife with change and intellectual challenge. After Tulane, he bounced around briefly—New Orleans, Monroe, Atlanta—before being recruited back home to Baton Rouge General, where he spent nine and a half years. He joined the Baton Rouge Clinic in June 1988. “People who do what I do for a living might stay in a community for five or seven years,” he says. “I’ve lived in Baton Rouge 75 of my nearly 80 years, and I love it.” He’s proud of many chapters in the clinic’s history: the way physicians worked overtime to help patients displaced by Katrina; the kindness extended by physicians to employees when 40% of the staff was impacted by the 2016 floods, and becoming part of the Mayo Clinic network in 2020 as the only independent clinic in that network,

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

everything else being a hospital. The most trying chapter of his tenure was COVID-19. “I just couldn’t imagine something like that happening in the United States,” he says. The early days seemed particularly precarious. When vaccines were released, the clinic had 30,000 patients who met the criteria to qualify for them and received only 1,000 doses initially. Now Silvey is concerned about people who are avoiding vaccines, having been spooked by them during the pandemic. “Some of this behavior reminds me of when I was 10 or 11—we had a pretty bad polio epidemic in Baton Rouge, and so many people were afraid of taking the vaccine. After some very sad losses, people realized they needed to do it. I’m worried about measles and whooping cough. Polio has been almost wiped out worldwide, and I hope it doesn’t come back.” Silvey is only the second CEO in the clinic’s 80-year history, succeeding George Brown.

Silvey has earned both the Medical Practice Executive of the Year Award and the Harry Harwick Lifetime Achievement Award, two of the highest honors in medical practice management. Under his leadership, the clinic has been named a Better Performing Practice by the Medical Group Management Association every year since 1998—a nearly unmatched record. He is grateful, he says, for mentors and for opportunities. “Everybody says, well, you make your opportunities. But I’m not sure I totally agree. I was blessed that people gave me opportunities when I wasn’t looking, or they saw something in me that others didn’t see.” Shunn Phillips, CFO and COO at the clinic, who has worked with Silvey for more than 20 years, says Silvey combines strategic vision with genuine care for people—leading with integrity, humility and a deep sense of responsibility to both patients and employees. “He has become a true legend in

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our community, whose influence has helped shape healthcare for generations,” Phillips says, adding that she has had a front-row seat to Silvey’s tireless effort and commitment to making a difference. Looking ahead, Silvey worries about Baton Rouge’s cyclical difficulty in attracting young talent. One key to recruitment, he believes, is getting serious about improving the region’s infrastructure while being proactive about broadcasting what the Capital Region has to offer: “One of the best-kept secrets in Baton Rouge is the level of medical care that takes place here,” he says.

Another local secret is Silvey’s retirement date, which is known only to his wife, Cheryl, and to Phillips, who will succeed him. Silvey had once said he would never retire, but close friends lost in recent years changed his thinking. “I may need to take some time to smell the roses. “We bought a little place in Pass Christian, and we like to spend time there; it’s peaceful and enjoyable. We’ve got seven grandkids and enjoy being with them. We still have friends we want to do some things with. I might teach, but I think I’m just going to enjoy slowing down a little bit.”

Our lawyers combine in-house engineering credentials with years of litigation experience to hel& resolve complex claims involvin architects, en ineers an contractors.

THE PATH TO EXCELLENCE: Above: The Baton Rouge Clinic becomes part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network in 2020 and is honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Baton Rouge Chapter for Outstanding Leadership in Corporate Philanthropy in 2024. At right: Silvey has been recognized over the years for his leadership.

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The Stories Behind the Region’s Most Influential Leaders Featured VOICE

John D’Angelo President & CEO, Investar Bank Watch the full interview

Presented by

Voices of the Capital Region is Business Report’s video series featuring influential leaders who share the experiences, decisions and lessons that shaped their careers. Discover the stories behind the titles and gain valuable insights from the people helping move our region forward.

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

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Woman’s Perinatal Mental Health Unit is filling a gap that has cost families for generations. BY EILEEN MCCLELLAND

EACH MORNING, psychiatrist among the leading contributors to Dr. Kelly Cannon walks into a unit maternal mortality in Louisiana where the patients are often at the and across the country. lowest point of their lives. Some are Stigma has played a central pregnant. Some have just delivered. role in why nearly 85% of affected Some have lost a pregnancy. women have not been treated. “I All of them have arrived believe women have suffered for at Woman’s Hospital’s a very long time,” Johnson Perinatal Mental Health says. “There was this idea Unit carrying somethat women needed to thing heavy—depresbe strong and simply Ratio of women who sion, bipolar disorder, take care of their baby experience mental health conditions during schizophrenia, grief— and that it wasn’t OK pregnancy or within at a moment society to say you weren’t OK. the first year expects them to feel “The data show postpartum nothing but joy. women often don’t seek In September 2024, help because they don’t Woman’s opened the PMHU, want to be separated from their Louisiana’s first inpatient psychifamilies, they’re afraid they’ll be atric unit dedicated exclusively to judged, or they don’t believe there’s pregnant and postpartum women. a place for them to go.” It’s one of only a handful of units Seeking inpatient psychiatric of its kind in the country. The hoscare before the unit opened was pital invested $6.4 million to create tough. Most facilities couldn’t acit after physicians on the medical commodate a woman past a certain staff noticed rising rates of postparpoint in pregnancy, couldn’t offer tum depression and substance use obstetric monitoring alongside psydisorders, and realized that they chiatric treatment, and placed her had patients who needed a level of in a coed environment that could care that didn’t exist in Louisiana. be uncomfortable or even harmful “Mental health is just like for someone navigating the diabetes or hypertension,” aftermath of childbirth or says Cheri Johnson, expregnancy loss. ecutive vice president “These experiences Percentage of women and chief nursing can be very isolatwho experience mental officer. at Woman’s ing,” Cannon says. health conditions Hospital. “It needs “Here, women realize during pregnancy who care.” they are not alone and are not treated According to the they connect with one National Institutes of another.” Health, roughly one in seven Johnson often thinks about women experiences a mental what that isolation has cost families health condition during pregacross generations. A staff memnancy or in the first year after deber once told her that opening this livery. Depression and anxiety rank unit would change the trajectory

1 in 7

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Woman’s President and CEO Rene Ragas and Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Cheri Johnson Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

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of families forever—and then explained why she believed it so personally: Her own mother had died by suicide after the birth of one of her siblings. The family was never the same. “Women stayed silent,” Johnson says. “They Number of families didn’t talk about those served by the things. Opening this Woman’s Perinatal Mental Health unit addresses women’s Unit since 2024 mortality.” The 10-bed unit on the main campus accepts expectant mothers at any point in pregnancy. Every patient has both a psychiatric team and an obstetrics team, and nurses are cross-trained to understand both disciplines. Fetal monitoring, imaging, lactation support and pumping resources are all available on the unit, integrated into the treatment plan. “The fact that this unit is within a hospital already focused on caring for women and their babies is a major benefit,” Cannon says. “We have a very dedicated and skilled team and know that providing the right treatment will help our patients become the mothers they have always wanted to be.” The physical environment was carefully designed for comfort. Rooms are private. Group spaces are awash in natural light. Artwork was selected for warmth rather than institutional neutrality. Family visitation is built Patients have into the structure of care come from to ease what Cannon calls “that mama guilt.” Louisiana parishes and “Our unit is built for women,” Johnson says. states “It has softer furnishings, artwork, dietary support, a beautiful outdoor space, and excellent therapists and recreational therapists who help patients every day.” The clinical approach is similarly individualized. Because the unit is have been served. Patients have small, Cannon and her team can come from 39 Louisiana partailor treatment plans to each paishes, 102 cities and seven states— tient—something that larger, generLouisiana, Texas, Mississippi, al-population psychiatric facilities Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and would struggle to offer. Therapy inColorado—a reach that reflects cludes music, art and yoga. At the both how rare this kind of care is same time, the shared experience and how urgently it is needed. among women navigating simiWoman’s Hospital has doubled lar crises has its own therapeutic the number of full-time psychiaweight. trists on the unit since opening. In the months since the unit Typical stays run five to seven days. opened, more than 400 families

Woman’s Hospital psychiatrist Dr. Kelly Cannon

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BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

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The clinical team continues to recontinued care, including medicafine its approach as experience tion management and counseling. accumulates and the patient Woman’s Hospital was population informs what founded in 1968 by a group works. of physicians committed In addition to the inpato improving the health Number of tient unit, Woman’s also of women and infants. private rooms operates the outpatient It has since become the on the unit Behavioral Health Clinic largest delivery hospital staffed with psychiatrists, in Louisiana, having delivnurse practitioners and social ered more than 400,000 babies workers for mothers who need and serving more than 45 parishes.

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The Perinatal Mental Health Unit represents the institution’s most recent evolution of that founding mission—an acknowledgment that caring for women cannot stop at the delivery room door. Woman’s Hospital CEO Rene Ragas sees the perinatal program in terms of the organization’s role in the community. “It really takes a village to take care of a mother, who is often the leader of the family and household,” he says. “If we can put all our resources and expertise around her, we can make a tremendous difference.” Families, often for the first time, have somewhere to turn. “It’s a hard and scary time,” Cannon says, “and I’m glad we can be there for them. And each day you see just a little more light in their eyes.”

Group room

Nurses station

Patient room

Patio

$6.4 million Amount invested in the unit

Breazeale Sachse is proud to support the inaugural Excellence in Healthcare Awards

BATON ROUGE · NEW ORLEANS

Jacob S. Simpson, Partner Visit us at bswllp.com.

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O U T S TA N D I N G H E A LT H O R G A N I Z AT I O N F I N A L I S T S

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These organizations bring together services, specialists and community resources to simplify the patient journey. HEALTHCARE CAN BE difficult to navigate even before a patient or family is dealing with a serious diagnosis. The challenge for organizations is not only providing the right services, but making those services easier to find, understand and use. This year’s finalists take on that work in different ways. Some manage large networks of hospitals, clinics and community programs. Others

concentrate on a particular condition, patient population or type of care. What they share is a defined mission and an effort to organize their services around the people who rely on them. That can mean coordinating care across multiple locations, investing in specialized programs, taking services into underserved communities or giving families support outside a clinical

setting. It also involves work that patients may never see, including training employees, refining processes and tracking whether a program is producing the intended results. There is no single model represented among these finalists. Each is responding to a different need, using its size, expertise and resources to shape how care and support are delivered across the Capital Region.

ALZHEIMER’S SERVICES OF THE CAPITAL AREA DEMENTIA WREAKS HAVOC on families across America, and its rates have never been higher. An alarming 11% of the population over age 65, and nearly 50% of those over 85, will develop Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, about 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 every day until 2029. The high cost of the disease, along with its plodding progression, is placing untold pressure on families and the American healthcare system. One Greater Baton Rouge nonprofit provides hope. Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Region is a respected charity whose services ease the burden on patients and their families. The agency raises private funds to provide a large menu of education and support programs across a 10-parish area. One is Charlie’s Place Respite Centers. Located in Baton Rouge and Gonzales, the award-winning program gives family caregivers a break from the 24/7 demands of supporting a dementia-affected loved one. The centers offer a nurturing environment that helps reduce stress among overtaxed caregivers while also improving cognition in some patients. Alzheimer’s Services’ leaders say they are motivated to achieve community impact the same way a business strives for profit. Every program the organization operates is evaluated through the lens of its impact on patients, caregivers and the broader Capital Region. Keeping a sharp eye on this benevolent bottom line has helped create a strong organization with deep and authentic donor commitment. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

Executive Director Barbara Auten

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HEADQUARTERED IN Baton Rouge, FMOL Health draws on its history as a faith-driven ministry that first opened in Louisiana in 1913. Today, the healthcare system serves patients across multiple regions of Louisiana and Mississippi through a coordinated network of hospitals, physician practices and care services. FMOL Health’s main hub in Baton Rouge cares for patients through its highly regarded Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, while setting systemwide strategies for clinical quality, patient safety, workforce development and community health. Among the system’s most impactful recent projects has been its diagnosis and treatment of sepsis, one of the deadliest conditions hospitals face. FMOL Health was the first health ministry in the nation to implement the FDAcleared IntelliSep 10-minute sepsis diagnostic tool across its emergency departments. FMOL Health is a major employer recognized for workplace excellence. In 2026, the system earned several national workplace honors, including Gallup Exceptional Workplace Awards for both engagement and strength-based culture, and has been ranked among the Top 150 Places to Work in Healthcare by Becker’s Hospital Review. Creating an environment where clinicians and staff can thrive means better outcomes for patients. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

OCHSNER HEALTH BATON ROUGE

Ochsner Health Baton Rouge CEO Chuck Daigle and Regional Medical Director Quentin Alleva

Dr. Burke Brooks, right, of Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Jeremy Burnham, left, is the medical director of sports medicine.

WHEN YOU’RE FACING a health issue, it’s nice to move seamlessly from urgent care to primary care to specialty services all within a coordinated hub that treats you like a human being. Committed to serving the Capital Region, Ochsner Health Baton Rouge has created that sort of experience—a comprehensive network of frictionless offerings anchored by Ochsner Medical Center – Baton Rouge and Ochsner Medical Complex – The Grove. The sites are supported by a network of more than 40 urgent care and community health centers, two emergency departments and a workforce of more than 650 physicians and advanced practice providers. By making new investments that help meet the changing healthcare needs of the Capital Region, Ochsner Health Baton Rouge has seen a 54% increase in services and patient volume. Among other national accolades, it was recognized on the Forbes Top Hospitals List in 2026. In response to Louisiana’s high cancer burden, the system launched the Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center partnership in 2023, bringing nationally known oncology care to the Capital Region. Patients with a wide variety of diagnoses have access to multidisciplinary cancer teams, advanced therapies and coordinated treatment plans while remaining at home. The center has seen a 34% increase in oncology volume. But care isn’t limited to a single medical complex. Ochsner Health Baton Rouge is also laser focused on removing barriers to care by going mobile. Its innovative Jag Mobile partnership with Southern University brings a 39-foot clinic on wheels to medically underserved, disadvantaged and hard-to-reach populations in the inner city and rural communities within a 50-mile radius of Southern’s School of Nursing. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

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THE SPINE HOSPITAL OF LOUISIANA ANYONE WHO HAS suffered from a bad back knows the frustration that comes from delays in treatment—and the sweet relief that finally arrives when the pain subsides. Restoring the function of patients experiencing spinal conditions is the mission of The Spine Hospital of Louisiana, an innovative, specialized model known for clinical excellence, superior outcomes and patient satisfaction. The Baton Rouge-based facility achieves strong results through streamlined care and a culture of compassion. Patients don’t feel like a number. From the moment they walk through the door, they have access to a concierge experience that guides each step. From a preoperative evaluation and the creation of a personalized care plan to procedural coordination and a tailored recovery, all functions are tucked under one roof. A low nurse-to-patient ratio provides both comfort and technical excellence. On-site support services, including a nationally accredited sleep lab, accredited laboratory and advanced imaging center add to the menu of comprehensive, coordinated care. The Spine Hospital performs a range of procedures and can accommodate both short-term recovery and longer-term, extended stays. Having services in one building means shorter wait times and better results for patients. Infection and complication rates are well below national benchmarks, and patient satisfaction is consistently high. The Spine Hospital’s thoughtful approach is helping scores of Capital Region residents who suffer from spinal conditions reclaim their quality of life. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

Senior Vice President of Operations Josh Todd, President and CEO Terri Hicks and Chief Nursing Officer Kim Pettijohn

Top and above: The Spine Hospital of Louisiana teams

CONGRATS!! CONGRATS

Alzheimer's Services of the Capital Area is proud to be recognized as a Finalist in the 2026 Excellence in Healthcare Awards presented by the Baton Rouge Business Report. We are grateful for this honor and remain committed to providing compassionate care, education, and support to those affected by Alzheimer's disease and related memory-related impairments. Thank you to our board members, staff, volunteers, donors, and corporate partners for making this achievement possible.

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

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WOMAN’S YOU’D BE HARD pressed to find a family in Baton Rouge whose life hasn’t been touched by Woman’s Hospital. For more than 57 years, the facility has been synonymous with childbirth, welcoming nearly 8,000 babies every year. But that’s only part of the story. The popular facility also offers a wide range of services that guard the health of women. Woman’s performs more than 8,500 surgeries, 35,000 mammograms and breast procedures and 29,500 Pap screenings. Its Breast and GYN Cancer Pavilion, a partnership with Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, offers treatment for patients suffering from breast or gynecological cancers in a women-centric setting steeped in compassion. Woman’s has continued to evolve by adding leading-edge programs and services that secure its place as a national and regional powerhouse. In 2024, it launched Louisiana’s first perinatal mental health unit, the only inpatient facility in the state and one of very few in the country. The on-site facility is designed to meet the urgent mental health needs of pregnant and postpartum women. As a Level III NICU, Woman’s also provides high-level care to premature or low birth weight babies and infants suffering from serious medical conditions. The 24-hour facility, staffed with highly trained clinicians and support staff, gives the area’s most vulnerable children their best start in life. Recognized for its continued excellence, Woman’s was named one of the World’s Best Hospitals for 2025 by Newsweek. It is also a fourtime Magnet-designated hospital, the gold standard for nursing care, and it maintains patient engagement scores in the 95th percentile. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

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MEDICINE’S NEXT MOVE

Three innovations rethink how health problems are detected, treated and managed. HEALTHCARE INNOVATION often begins with a simple question: What if there were a faster, more precise or less burdensome way to help a patient? Our innovation finalists answer that question in very different ways. Their work reaches from the operating room to the emergency department to the home, but each takes a complex medical challenge and makes it more manageable.

One improves how physicians treat movement disorders. Another helps clinicians identify a deadly condition before the usual warning signs become obvious. A third gives people new information about how their bodies may respond to respiratory illness. What connects them is not technology for technology’s sake. It is the effort to give doctors better information, shorten

the path to treatment and make care less disruptive for patients. Innovation in healthcare can take years of research, testing and refinement before it changes a single life. These finalists show what happens when that work moves into practice: Procedures become faster, decisions become clearer and patients gain options that did not exist before across the region.

DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION The NeuroMedical Center

IN 2007, Drs. Gerald Calegan and Paul Waguespack at The NeuroMedical Center established Baton Rouge’s first deep brain stimulation program, a minimally invasive therapy used to treat Parkinson’s disease, essential tremors and dystonia. Such conditions can often become resistant to medication over time, so by electrically stimulating specific areas of the brain, DBS helps restore motor function, reduce tremors and improve quality of life. DBS has been a game changer for hundreds of NeuroMedical Center patients, who experience fewer tremors and motor fluctuations, less stiffness and a decreased reliance on medication. No surprise, the advanced procedure has also helped restore dignity in the face of a debilitating condition that robs independence. Calegan, Waguespack and their clinical teams have also kept up with the procedure’s technological advancements. Using leading-edge equipment, they can perform DBS in about 60 minutes rather than the usual four to six hours. The center also offers a more comfortable experience by eliminating the need for a rigid head frame while still achieving high-level precision. As the regional population ages and neurological disorders become more commonplace, precision therapies like DBS will be essential in helping Capital Region residents maintain quality of life. The NeuroMedical Center is ahead of the cure with an advanced, precision therapy that improves health and restores hope. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

Dr. Gerald Calegan

Dr. Paul Waguespack

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SEPSIS, OR THE body’s extreme response to infection, is one of healthcare’s most deadly conditions and it doesn’t fight fair. The condition presents subtle symptoms that worsen considerably while under the radar. Historically, once physicians confirmed its presence, they’ve often lost the race to treat it. But an early detection test now exists, thanks to an innovative partnership. FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake, LSU and the biotech company Cytovale researched and developed IntelliSep, the nation’s first FDA-approved rapid sepsis detection test designed for the ER. In just 10 minutes, IntelliSep assesses a patient’s immune system dysregulation, signaling their risk level for developing sepsis. These real-time insights allow physicians to begin lifesaving treatments before organ failure and clinical decline set in. FMOL Health also introduced sepsis ER workflow protocols that ensure clinicians and staff know what steps to take the minute test results land. Even patients who don’t have sepsis will be that much closer to recovery since doctors can eliminate a major variable. More than 34,000 Capital Region patients have benefitted from IntelliSep so far. The test has resulted in a powerful 40% reduction in sepsis mortality in the Our Lady of the Lake Emergency Department and a 24% reduction in sepsis mortality systemwide. It’s an astounding achievement. Thanks to IntelliSep, thousands of patients who would have died from sepsis have been given a second chance.

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Left: FMOL Health Vice President and Chief Quality Officer Dr. Christopher Thomas. Below: IntelliSep.

—Maggie Heyn Richardson

Phenomune partners Dr. Jimmy White and Dr. Henry Barham

PHENOMUNE Dr. Henry Barham

WHAT IF THERE were a simple taste test that told you how vulnerable you are to the coronavirus? It sounds too simple to be true, but it exists, thanks to the work of Baton Rouge ENT physician Henry Barham. His pioneering Phenomune test kit shines a light on a patient’s future response to the flu, bronchitis, COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. The first-of-its-kind tool gives an individual insight into their body’s response, enabling them to make proactive health-related decisions. The Phenomune test uses published, peer-reviewed scientific research that demonstrates a link between the body’s taste receptors and its immune response to respiratory conditions. Self-administered and noninvasive, the home kit asks patients to place four different test strips on their tongues and record the intensity of the flavors in the Phenomune app. Results sort patients into three categories—nontaster, taster and supertaster— classifications that correlate with varying levels of immune protections against respiratory illnesses. The new venture launched as a $10 million statewide pilot program in 2026, giving Louisiana residents access to 250,000 free test kits. Along with improving the health of individuals, Phenomune has the potential to impact global health because it’s easy to scale. The tool could be a valuable strategy in minimizing the impact of future outbreaks and even global pandemics. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

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E M E R G I N G H E A LT H C A R E L E A D E R F I N A L I S T S

THE NEW

PROBLEM-SOLVERS Three rising leaders are rethinking care, operations and access.

THE NEXT GENERATION of healthcare leaders in the Capital Region isn’t waiting its turn. It is already changing how care is delivered, how teams are supported and how patients move through an increasingly complex system. This year’s Emerging Healthcare Leader finalists work in different corners of the industry, but they share a

practical, hands-on approach. Each has taken a close-up view of healthcare’s challenges and turned it into something better: smoother operations, broader access, stronger support for clinicians or new ways to reach patients. Their work also shows that leadership is about more than ideas. It is about execution—improving a process, launching

ANNABETH GUILLORY Vice President of Clinical Operations, Ochsner Health System

IT’S ONE THING to conceive big ideas in the bubble of the boardroom, but another thing to deploy them on the front lines. Ochsner Health System Vice President of Clinical Services AnnaBeth Guillory is a master at both. Routinely, she has prioritized patient outcomes by translating complex ideas into real-world improvements across key divisions, including cancer services, women’s services, surgery, pediatrics and gastroenterology. Guillory was part of the team that launched the Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center partnership in Baton Rouge in 2023, which has expanded access to life-changing cancer treatments in the Capital Region. The 20,000-square-foot facility offers comprehensive care and advanced therapies for a wide variety of cancer types. As the current board president of the Medical Group Management Association of Louisiana, Guillory leads an organization whose purpose is to shape best practices in clinic operations and ensure healthcare managers stay on the cutting edge of ideas. Indeed, encouraging others to learn has long been an area of interest for Guillory, who is widely known for mentoring and developing emerging leaders in healthcare, especially women. Named one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s Top 100 Healthcare Leaders Under 40 for 2025, Guillory has also worked to improve health outcomes in underserved communities. She co-founded Jag Mobile with Southern University, a program that offers community cancer screenings and health education while providing practical experience for its nursing students. Another of her initiatives, Massages and Mammos, is a popular annual event that demystifies mammograms for reluctant patients by adding a relaxation component. In ways both strategic and practical, Guillory is working to help Capital Region residents live healthier, more fulfilling lives. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

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a service, rethinking a care model or guiding an organization through change. These finalists are still early in their leadership journeys, but their work is already influencing how care is organized and delivered across the Capital Region—and where the system may go next.

MARK LAPEROUSE

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Medical Director, Our Lady of the Lake Emergency Department IF MEDICAL DRAMA The Pitt is a window into the challenges and emotions that befall nationwide emergency departments, Mark Laperouse is its energetic local public face. As medical director of Our Lady of the Lake’s Emergency Department—the state’s busiest ER—and president of Franciscan Emergency Physicians, Laperouse is known for applying critical thought, innovation and optimism to a form of medicine that can feel like healthcare’s most aggressive hamster wheel. Laperouse, however, sees his jobs as an opportunity to drive efficiency and excellence for the more than 80,000 patients who rely on OLOL’s ER every year. The avid runner and father of four has worked there since 2013, taking over its leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, he has helped it become a national leader in sepsis care, speaking to

national colleagues on best practices. The facility is also a Level 1 trauma center, one of three in Louisiana, and is the only comprehensive stroke center in the Capital Region. Its game-changing thrombectomy capabilities can remove a live blood clot. Wearing multiple hats with ease, Laperouse was named a strategic adviser for emergency medicine with business solutions provider Ventra Health in 2026. He’s also taken a key leadership role in the Lake’s $55 million ER renovation, now underway. In thoughtful meetings with architects, he has shared the invaluable perspective of a seasoned clinician. Improvements to the space will enable OLOL to treat up to 30,000 additional patients a year with quality space and flow, a lifesaving investment for the scores of local and regional patients who rely on its services. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

BLASIA RIVET

Founder and CEO, Decision Critical A DRIVE TO nurture and care for others inspired Blasia Rivet to follow in her mother’s footsteps as registered nurse. For 12 years, she has deployed that valuable insight in her role as founder and CEO of concierge nursing agency Decision Critical. Launched in 2014, the firm honed its focus during the pandemic, answering the call to bridge acute and chronic care with private pay, home-based nursing. Rivet’s background is in pediatric cardiology, but her team of nurses serves patients at all stages of life. They’re equipped to work with babies just released from the neonatal intensive care unit, mothers suffering from postpartum depression and end-oflife patients in need of palliative care. They also treat everything in between, providing short-term acute and long-term chronic care, postoperative recovery, in-home IV infusions, chronic illness support and more. In some cases, Rivet even partners with physicians to create specific care plans for their postoperative patients. A married mom of three, Rivet says she serves three important constituencies. Patients, of course, benefit from personalized in-home care. Overburdened healthcare institutions see results, too, because patients heal quicker and are at less risk of hospital readmission. And nurses themselves thrive because Rivet has intentionally created a work environment that revives their passion for nursing, a career with a notoriously high burnout rate. Decision Critical has grown strategically, expanding in the Capital Region, Louisiana and Texas. The business is breaking convention by delivering seamless coverage and personal service to healthcare. —Maggie Heyn Richardson Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

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O U T S TA N D I N G H E A LT H C A R E E X E C U T I V E F I N A L I S T S

MAKING THE

BIG CALLS

These executives decide where healthcare grows, invests and changes next. RUNNING A HEALTHCARE organization means making big decisions before the need becomes urgent: where to add capacity, which services to expand and how to keep an institution moving while the ground shifts beneath it. This year’s Outstanding Health Care Executive finalists

are doing that work across the Capital Region’s most complex organizations. Their portfolios differ, but the pressures are familiar—rising demand, workforce constraints, new technology, tighter margins and patients who expect more. Each finalist has responded with a mix of growth and

discipline. They have opened facilities, recruited physicians, expanded specialized care and directed capital investments. Just as important, they have had to decide what not to do, how fast to move and how to bring employees and physicians along. That is where executive leadership becomes visible. Not in

CHUCK DAIGLE

CEO, Ochsner Health Baton Rouge and Lake Charles regions WITH MORE THAN 30 years in healthcare, Chuck Daigle understands the importance of growing capacity, investing in technology and educating the fleet of clinicians needed to care for Louisianans now and in the future. The CEO of Ochsner Health Baton Rouge is leading a strategic expansion of the institution’s footprint, which now includes more than 30 care sites. While a large-scale systems thinker, Daigle leads with a relational style that earns trust among physicians, staff and community partners. Among his key accomplishments are steering a $50 million capital investment that has resulted in a 54% growth in services and patient volume. These include an expansion of Ochsner Baton Rouge’s facilities, including its surgical services, emergency care, advanced diagnostics, clinical space, and services for OB-GYN and pediatrics. Anticipating the “silver tsunami” surge in older patients, Daigle oversaw the local launch of Ochsner 65 Plus, an innovative clinic designed to offer the kind of comprehensive, complex care that seniors need.

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Under Daigle’s leadership, Ochsner has also become a regional player in treatment of cancer, a disease that impacts Louisiana disproportionately. In 2023, the system opened the Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center partnership in Baton Rouge, offering innovative cancer treatments in the Capital Region backed by one of the most respected names in the business. The 20,000-square-foot facility expands care options for patients with a wide variety of cancers. Daigle also understands the importance of fostering the development of tomorrow’s health care leaders. Over the course of his career, he has mentored about 50 young clinicians, including medical students, fellows, interns and residents, imparting advice on how to care with both vision and compassion. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

the announcement alone, but in whether the plan holds up under pressure, improves access and strengthens the organization over time. These finalists are helping determine what healthcare in the Capital Region will look like next—and whether the systems behind it are ready.

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President and CEO, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center CAPITAL REGION cancer patients once believed they had to leave the state for top-notch care until Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center changed that narrative. The institution’s abiding pledge has been to bring leading-edge therapies and exceptional cancer care to Louisiana residents here at home. A visionary with an abiding commitment to his home state, Jonas Fontenot has overseen historic growth and innovation at Mary Bird Perkins since becoming its CEO in 2023. It’s an astounding accomplishment in a region with one of the highest cancer burdens in the nation. Under Fontenot’s leadership, Mary Bird Perkins has expanded from seven locations to more than 23 sites, including a current push to bring services to central and north Louisiana. The number of annual patients has grown from 17,000 to more than 41,000. The workforce has jumped 50% to ensure patient care continues to be

JONAS FONTENOT

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delivered with a high level of excellence. Early in his career, Fontenot trained as a medical physicist at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and thus understands the power of advanced technologies in treating tumors and protecting healthy tissues. His guidance has helped Mary Bird Perkins add best-in-class capabilities, including adaptive MRI-guided radiation, which allows clinicians to adjust treatment on the spot for even the most complex tumor locations. Such investments have also helped recruit exemplary physicians. Fontenot has hired more than 20 new cancer doctors, many of whom are nationally trained, highly sought after specialists. Amid the growth, Fontenot has kept patients at the center. Nearly 99% rate their experience at Mary Bird Perkins in the top percentile across communication, respect and time with providers. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

E.J. KUIPER

President and CEO, FMOL Health AT THE HELM of FMOL Health since 2024, E.J. Kuiper brought more than two decades of distinguished leadership in Catholic healthcare to the Baton Rouge post. His seasoned, global perspective is helping to shape an ambitious next chapter for the $5 billion nonprofit integrated health ministry. Kuiper understands FMOL’s deep roots in Greater Baton Rouge, and the need to expand its footprint to meet the needs of both the local population and the many patients from surrounding rural areas who rely on its core institutions. Expanding access to primary care is a critical need in Louisiana, and Kuiper has answered the bell with more than $500 million in FMOL capital projects in flight that will expand capacity and better serve patients. These include a $55

million renovation of the Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center Emergency Department and a $30 million upgrade of Ollie Steele Burden Manor nursing facility. The Kuiper tenure has also included FMOL Health recently acquiring the former Bone and Joint Clinic, where it plans to invest millions to create the future home of the Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Institute. The new facility will expand access to advanced cancer care for patients in the Capital Region, across the state and throughout the Gulf South. FMOL’s expansion is fueled by strong operational discipline. Under Kuiper’s leadership, the system saw its Moody’s revenue bond rating upgraded last year from A2 to A1, reflecting robust cash flow and liquidity. —Maggie Heyn Richardson Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

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O U T S TA N D I N G P RA C T I T I O N E R F I N A L I S T S

MORE THAN

BEDSIDE MANNER These physicians pair specialized expertise with a clear view of what patients actually need.

A DOCTOR’S IMPACT is often measured one patient at a time. But the work of these finalists reaches further, changing when people seek care, what treatments are available and how quickly they can return to their lives. Their specialties are very different. One is rethinking primary care for men who might otherwise avoid the doctor. Another is using robotic technology to perform some of the most complex cancer surgeries. A third

brings unusually broad orthopedic expertise to patients dealing with injuries, chronic pain and limited mobility. What connects them is an effort to make care fit the patient—not the other way around. That can mean creating an experience busy people are more likely to use, offering advanced treatment closer to home or considering less invasive options before recommending surgery.

Their work also extends beyond the exam room and operating room. They collaborate with other physicians, share what they have learned and help shape how care is delivered across their organizations. These finalists show the range of ways a physician can influence health care: by listening closely, mastering a specialty and finding practical ways to help patients move forward.

DR. CURTIS CHASTAIN CURTIS CHASTAIN HAS done the impossible. He’s made men actually want to go to the doctor. As director of the membership-based Our Lady of the Lake Men’s Health Center, Chastain and his team provide comprehensive, personalized primary care to adult men. Tiered memberships give patients access to a highly detailed annual exam, acute care appointments, specialist referrals and other resources and amenities intended to help busy men live their best lives. Chastain’s goal is to help his patients stay ahead of health issues before they become a problem. A Baton Rouge native and Catholic High and LSU alum, Chastain speaks regularly about the importance of men’s primary care. Many guys put off going to the doctor because they say they don’t have time, he says, placing them at risk for conditions that could have been mitigated. Chastain’s care model unearths risk factors and uses a range of diagnostic testing to alert his patients when they need to see a specialist, or simply adjust their lifestyle. He has won over doubters with a stress-free experience that offers short wait times and a high level of personal service. Chastain is also founder and director

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of the Lake Executive Wellness program, an initiative designed for male and female executives. The program’s Executive Protector exam helps to identify chronic disease in its earliest stage, giving busy executives their best shot at productivity and longevity.

Primary care models are designed to move quickly and can often feel impersonal. Chastain’s thoughtful practice at The Lake Men’s Health Center is a refreshing alternative that is moving the needle on men’s health. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

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DR. JOHN TABOR ROBOTICS IMPACTS A cross section of American life, from food delivery to warehouse sorting. But nowhere is this capability more impactful than in the operating room. Baton Rouge General surgeon John Tabor is a national leader in minimally invasive robotic surgeries to treat pancreatic, esophageal, stomach, colon, rectal and adrenal cancers. Tabor leads BRG’s Advanced Robotics of Louisiana. He is the first and only surgeon in Louisiana, and one of very few in the U.S., to perform the highly complex Whipple procedure, the most advanced surgical treatment for certain types of pancreatic cancer. It’s one of many robotic surgeries Tabor offers, which also include benign treatments like severe gastroesophageal reflux and various types of hernias. Since joining the BRG team in 2021, Tabor has completed thousands of surgeries, many

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of them lifesaving. Tabor’s patients, many of whom are already facing deadly cancers, come out of procedures with significantly shorter recovery times, smaller incision sites and less postoperative pain. Tabor also led BRG to become the first hospital in the country to install the Intuitive Hub, a digital platform integrated with the robotic surgery system. The platform allows surgeons to collaborate in real time with nationwide colleagues, benefitting both patients and the next generation of doctors. Tabor’s schedule is packed with surgical and clinical appointments but he makes time to share best practices with other clinicians across the country and the world. It’s another example of his tireless commitment to offering patients best-in-class treatments that can save lives. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

DR. JULIE NEUMANN A STANDOUT PHYSICIAN in a male-dominated field, Ochsner Health Baton Rouge orthopedic surgeon Julie Neumann is one of few board-certified orthopedic surgeons to complete advanced fellowship training in both sports medicine and foot and ankle surgery, a rare combination of skills that allows her to bring deep knowledge to each patient. Many regional physicians have referred their most complex cases to Neumann, who provides coordinated care in a single practice, even when patients experience pain across multiple parts of the body. Neumann treats accidents, sports injuries and degenerative disease, such as arthritis in the knee, foot, ankle and shoulder. As a former LSU women’s soccer scholarship athlete, Neumann understands the importance of safely returning to play. This perspective was further enhanced by her work with the Duke men’s basketball team while she was an orthopedic resident at the school, and with several Los Angeles professional sports teams while completing a sports medicine fellowship at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. Sports medicine is a big deal in Baton Rouge, but Neumann is equally committed to treating everyday men and women compromised by injuries or osteoarthritis. While surgery can be the solution, she emphasizes nonoperative options, such as physical therapy and rehabilitation, to restore movement. As a member of the Baton Rouge Physician Engagement Committee, Neumann believes in strengthening collaboration among physicians, improving quality of care and enhancing the patient experience—and her practice mirrors this commitment as she helps patients of all ages get back in the game. —Maggie Heyn Richardson

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t t u u a a l l r r a a g g ttiioonnss n n o o C C

EDGAR H. SILVEY

Lifetime achievement award Congratulations to CEO, Edgar Silvey, on being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for the Excellence in Health Care Awards, presented by the Baton Rouge Business Report. This award recognizes individuals whose careers have made a lasting and transformative impact on health care in the Capital Region. Mr. Silvey's decades of service, steady leadership, and dedication to strengthening The Baton Rouge Clinic embody the very spirit of this award.

BATONROUGECLINIC.COM

MAIN CLINIC PEDIATRICS | 7 7 PER INS ROAD | BATON ROUGE, LA | (225) 769-4044 To view all our locations and specialties, visit our website or scan the QR code. 44

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S P E C I A L A DV E R T I S I N G S E CT I O N

NAVIGATING THE NEXT CHAPTER

A roadmap for longterm life planning for yourself, your aging loved ones, and the next generation

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(Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock)

HOSPICE CARE MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT MEDICAL DECISION YOU’LL EVER MAKE. MAKE IT SOONER.

or leaders who make decisions on data, hospice care presents an odd contradiction: It may be the most evidence-backed choice in healthcare, and yet it’s consistently the one families make too late. Nationally, roughly half of all patients who enroll in hospice are enrolled in their final two weeks of life. It’s a timeline set not by medical need, but by how long it takes a family to pick up the phone. Liz Russell, RN, sees that gap up close every week. As clinical liaison for Hospice in His Care, a family-owned hospice that’s served the Baton Rouge area since 2004, she’s watched the same pattern repeat across hundreds of households. “It’s just gotten a bad name for itself,” Russell says, “and it’s sad, because hospice does so much for families if it’s started at the right time.” That reputation problem has a real cost.

Russell points to congestive heart failure patients as a clear example. Studies show that patients enrolled early in hospice live an average of 81 days longer than those who wait until the final two weeks. Earlier enrollment brings a dedicated on-call nurse, individualized visit schedules that flex with a patient’s condition, and faster access to medication. With that kind of responsive, coordinated care, a manageable condition is less likely to spiral quickly into a hospital admission.

OVERCOMING A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION

Part of the problem, Russell believes, is the word itself, which many people associate with death on the doorstep rather than a graceful end of life. She’s started using different language with families. “I like to call it a higher level of care,” she says, walking through everything that comes

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with it: nursing visits, medical equipment, supplies from oxygen to wound care, and around-the-clock phone access at no direct cost to the family under Medicare, Medicaid, or most private insurance. For executives evaluating benefits or advising employees through a family health crisis, that’s a distinction worth knowing. Hospice isn’t the end of care. It’s an increase in it. One of the more counterintuitive aspects of hospice, particularly for a decision-driven audience, is how much control it ensures rather than removes. Enrolling isn’t a binding commitment. Families can change providers, scale services up or down, or cancel altogether if circumstances shift. “Just because you sign up does not mean you’re tied into hospice forever,” Russell says. “You are in control of your care at all times.” Hospice in His Care offers several tiers depending on need: routine home visits from

S P E C I A L A DV E R T I S I N G S E CT I O N nurses on call around the clock; inpatient care for symptoms too acute to manage at home; short-term continuous care during a crisis; and five-day respite stays that give exhausted family caregivers a planned break. That last option addresses a workforce issue many companies underestimate. Caregiver burnout is a real driver of absenteeism and turnover among employees

Liz Russell, RN

managing a family member’s illness, and most don’t know a structured break is available to them.

WATCH LIZ RUSSELL, RN, CLINICAL LIAISON FOR HOSPICE IN HIS CARE, REFRAME THE DISCUSSION AROUND HOSPICE CARE.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU COMMIT Russell encourages families to treat the choice of provider like any other vendor decision. With roughly 40 hospice companies operating in the Baton Rouge area, she recommends interviewing two or three before committing, regardless of what a hospital or physician recommends. “It is your choice,” she says. “Some doctors like to push their own companies, and I understand that, but it is really your choice.” Communication is part of the model, too. When a patient’s condition begins to decline, Russell’s team increases visit frequency and briefs the family in plain terms about what’s changing and why. Doing so reduces

panic and prevents unnecessary trips to the emergency room. It’s a version of a principle any executive would recognize: uncertainty, more than the underlying situation itself, is often what drives poor decisions. Clear, timely information tends to produce calmer ones. For business leaders navigating this decision for an employee, a family member, or themselves, Russell’s advice comes down to one line she repeats often: Knowledge is power. The earlier families understand their options, the more control they keep, and the better care their loved ones have. Learn more at HospiceInHisCare.com.

“Hospice does so much for families if it’s started at the right time … I like to call it a higher level of care." - Liz Russell, RN, Hospice in His Care

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As caregivers become less healthy, the people depending on them often decline more quickly as well. (DragonImages/iStock)

WHEN CARING FOR A LOVED ONE, DON’T FORGET TO CARE FOR YOURSELF

he exhaustion creeps in slowly. First, it’s the fatigue that won’t lift, no matter how much sleep you get. Then it’s snapping at people over little things. Then it’s canceling plans — again — because you simply don’t have anything left to give. For Louisiana’s estimated 330,000 sandwich caregivers, the people raising children while simultaneously managing a parent’s declining health, that progression has a name: burnout. And according to Dr. Scott Wilks, director of LSU’s Healthy Aging Research Center, most people don’t recognize it until they’re already deep inside it. “The more you ignore your physical health as you’re taking care of a loved one, the worse you’re going to feel,” Wilks said. “And frankly, the sooner you’re going to find yourself in a doctor’s office, in a hospital, at an increased mortality risk.”

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Wilks, whose research focuses on Alzheimer’s caregiving, coping and resilience, says burnout shows up across three areas of a caregiver’s life: health, finances and social well-being. On the health side, caregivers experience significantly higher rates of stress, anxiety and depression than the general population. Financially, the burden often means dipping into retirement savings far earlier than planned, with costs for caring for both children and older adults reaching tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Socially, the withdrawal happens so gradually it barely registers until isolation becomes the new normal. The warning signs, Wilks says, are specific: excessive fatigue, growing irritability over everyday frustrations and increasing social withdrawal. When all three begin showing up together, it’s time to reassess and talk with a

healthcare professional. For caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias, the stakes are even higher. Wilks says the research in this area is particularly sobering: compared to non-caregivers of similar age and background, Alzheimer’s caregivers have a life expectancy that can be three to seven years shorter. “That’s the physical toll that it takes for caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias,” he said. The risk compounds when caregivers already have existing health conditions of their own, which is common. Taking on the demands of caregiving doesn’t create new illnesses so much as it accelerates the ones already present, speeding up deterioration in ways that might otherwise have taken years longer. What many caregivers don’t fully grasp

S P E C I A L A DV E R T I S I N G S E CT I O N is that neglecting their own health doesn’t time for even a short walk or a 20-minute can fall into. Even getting out once or twice a just hurt them, it directly affects the person break during the day. week — a support group, a walk, a phone call they’re caring for. with a friend outside Research shows a the caregiving world AMERICA’S CAREGIVERS BY THE NUMBERS strong connection — makes a measurable Source: AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving, “Caregiving in the U.S. 2025” between caregiver difference. health and care “I promise you,” he 63 million Americans — nearly 1 in 4 adults 1 in 4 caregivers report providing 40+ hours of recipient health. said, “if you budget — provide ongoing care for an aging or ill loved care per week — essentially a full-time, As caregivers your time accordingly, one, up 45% from 2015. unpaid job. become less healthy, even a few minutes the people depending here and there, they 59 million of those caregivers are caring for Caregivers spend an average of $7,200 a year out of pocket on care-related costs. another adult, most often a parent. on them often decline make a world of more quickly as well, difference.” 29% are part of the “sandwich generation,” simultaneously making an earlier and For caregivers raising kids and caring for an aging parent. unplanned move into who feel like no long-term care more one understands likely. On the financial side, he recommends what they’re going through, Wilks points “Think about it like being on an airline speaking with a financial planner who has to organizations like the East Baton Rouge flight. They always tell you to put your specific expertise in caregiving-related Council on Aging and Alzheimer’s Services of oxygen mask on first. There’s a reason for issues, and consulting an elder law attorney the Capital Area as starting points, not last that because you’re no good to anyone else if who can help with power of attorney, longresorts. you don’t take care of yourself first,” he said. term planning and the legal decisions that “The caregiver who is more socially In practical terms, Wilks encourages often arrive without warning. engaged is far more likely to have a higher caregivers to reclaim the simple habits Socially, Wilks is direct: do not withdraw. sense of self and purpose, to feel more they’ve quietly abandoned: staying hydrated, The temptation to stay home, to skip plans, positive about their day-to-day experiences, keeping their own doctor’s appointments, to tell yourself you don’t have the time is one and to feel an increased level of health,” taking medications as prescribed and making of the most damaging patterns a caregiver Wilks said. “You are not alone.”

“You’re no good to anyone else if you don’t take care of yourself first." - Dr. Scott Wilks, director of LSU’s Healthy Aging Research Center

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ASK THE

EXPERT

At what point does occasional trouble hearing become a sign I should see an audiologist?

How can I best support a spouse or family member who may be in denial about their hearing loss?

Occasional difficulty hearing in noisy settings is normal, but if you’re frequently asking people to repeat themselves, turning up the TV louder than others prefer, struggling on phone calls, or avoiding social situations, it’s time for a hearing evaluation. Most adults wait seven to ten years before seeking help — often family members notice the changes first. A hearing evaluation is painless and non-invasive, and even if hearing aids aren’t needed, it establishes a baseline to monitor changes over time.

Hearing loss develops gradually, so the person may not realize how much they’re missing. Instead of saying “you can’t hear,” explain how it affects your relationship — for example, “I miss talking with you because we repeat ourselves so often.” Choose a calm moment for the conversation, stay supportive, and encourage a hearing evaluation like any routine checkup. Offering to go with them can help. Today’s hearing technology is discreet and more advanced than most expect — this is about staying connected, not about getting older.

How is hearing loss connected to other health issues like cognitive decline or fall risk? Untreated hearing loss is linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline, dementia, depression, social isolation, and falls. When the brain works harder to understand speech, it has fewer resources for memory and thinking, and reduced social engagement can lessen mental stimulation. Hearing and balance also share the inner ear, so reduced awareness of surroundings may raise fall risk. Treating hearing loss helps people stay socially engaged and maintain quality of life — making it an important part of healthy aging.

AUDIOLOGY

KELLEY AINSWORTH, MCD, CCC-A Owner AinsworthAudiology Serving the Greater Baton Rouge community, Ainsworth Audiology is a locally owned private practice dedicated to providing exceptional,

I have tinnitus. What can be done about it?

personalized hearing healthcare. Audiologists Kelley Ainsworth, MCD, CCC-A, and Courtney Stewart, Au.D.,

Tinnitus — ringing, buzzing, or hissing in the ears — is common and usually linked to hearing loss, though noise exposure, medications, or earwax buildup can contribute. A hearing evaluation is the first step. While there’s no universal cure, hearing aids often reduce tinnitus perception, and many include built-in sound therapy. Sound therapy, stress reduction, and counseling can also help. Seek prompt medical care if tinnitus is sudden, one-sided, or paired with dizziness or a pulsing sound.

13702 COURSEY BLVD #10C, BATON ROUGE, LA 70817 | (225) 769-9530

combine clinical expertise with compassionate care and the latest hearing technology to help patients reconnect with the conversations, relationships, and moments that matter most. Their commitment to individualized care has made Ainsworth Audiology a trusted resource for hearing health in our community.

A DV E RT I S E M E N T

COMPANY INSIGHTS

Bon Jour Social & Leisure Center owner Maria Yiannopoulos helps lead daily cognitive coaching activities designed to keep seniors mentally active and engaged. (Photo by Don Kadair)

Seniors Choose Bon Jour Because the Brain Needs a Workout, Too

ost people spend years planning for retirement. Few plan for what comes after the vacations, hobbies and newfound free time begin to lose their novelty. “Five, six years in, you’re like, ‘OK, I’ve done it all. What is there else to do?’” says Maria Yiannopoulos, owner of Bon Jour Social & Leisure Center in Baton Rouge. “Bon Jour fills in that cognitive coaching gap to keep you sharp and focused.” Yiannopoulos opened Bon Jour after years working in senior living communities, where she saw cognitive decline accelerate, notably after the isolation of COVID. She wanted to create a place focused on keeping older adults mentally engaged before serious decline begins. “Everything that we do is based on strengthening your four areas of the brain,” she says. “The more mass you have, that means you’re creating new pathways, and your brain is engaged.” At the center of Bon Jour’s programming is Fit Minds, an international, evidence-based cognitive coaching program. Yiannopoulos is Louisiana’s first certified Fit Minds coach. A typical day blends mental and physical exercise. Members start with coffee, conversation and

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brain games like word searches and flashcards before moving into seated yoga, cardio or classes led by a gerontological kinetics specialist. They then participate in Fit Minds activities designed to challenge memory, language, computation and problem-solving. “Today, for example, we did computation,” Yiannopoulos says. “We had to solve for X. That’s something we just don’t do frequently after retirement. But solving for X is building new neural pathways.” The afternoon shifts to group games and social activities, keeping members laughing while continuing to challenge their minds. Bon Jour serves both cognitively healthy adults looking to stay sharp and those with early- to midstage mild cognitive impairment. Yiannopoulos says staying mentally active becomes increasingly important as we age because the brain naturally loses mass over time. “If we retire at 65 and we’re not cognitively engaged, we’re going to lose a small percentage of our brain mass,” she says. “That means we’re probably going to face some cognitive impairments.” For members already experiencing memory loss, she says the progress has surprised even

physicians. “Doctors have told families, ‘I am shocked to see that person walk up to me, look me in the eye, say my name and try to communicate with me. Whatever this place is, keep going,’” Yiannopoulos says. Some members who were once expected to require memory care are still attending Bon Jour years later. Yiannopoulos encourages families to watch for early warning signs, including missed bill payments, financial disorganization, getting lost in familiar places or repeating the same stories within minutes. “That’s your hint to find out about a neurological cognitive test,” she says. Bon Jour offers free cognitive assessments to help families understand where they stand and what steps to take next. “There are places like Bon Jour that can help you become active and engaging again,” Yiannopoulos says. “Do your research, follow through, and WATCH take away the stigma.” THE VIDEO

7332 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, LA | 225.469.6559 | bonjourleisurecenter.com

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MAKE LOGINS AND PASSWORDS PART OF YOUR ESTATE PLAN, TOO

Trust. Respect. Accountability. At Peters Wealth Advisors, every investment begins with trust. Guided by integrity and a deep commitment to understanding each client’s unique goals, we craft personalized financial strategies designed to support long-term financial goals and peace of mind. Our approach is simple: listen first, plan wisely, and act with transparency. Whether preparing for retirement, growing wealth, or securing a legacy, our clients know they’ll have caring, capable guidance as they work toward their future.

Where trust meets strategy, and goals shape every plan.

hink about everything you do online. You pay bills through a bank portal. Your retirement account lives on a website. Your photos are in the cloud. Your

social media profiles hold years of memories. Now imagine that if something happened to you, your family would have no way to access any of it. For most Baton Rouge families, this isn’t a hypothetical. It’s a gap hiding inside an otherwise careful estate plan, and closing that gap may be more complicated than you think. “Digital assets offer a few unique challenges that are not true of physical assets,” Baton Rouge estate lawyer Andrew B. Ezell writes in a blog on his website, ezellfirm.com. However, Ezell emphasizes, “There are still steps people can take to plan effectively.” Sharing login credentials against a platform’s terms of service can create legal exposure under federal law. So instead of just filing away a printed copy of your logins and passwords in a safe deposit box, you may want to include digital assets in your estate plan, appointing a trustee with the legal authority to manage or transfer accounts according to your wishes. Why bother? Because digital assets cover more ground than most people realize: online banking, social media, email, digital photo libraries, cryptocurrency, investment accounts and more exist entirely online. Assets left out of an estate plan, including digital ones, can become a source of conflict among loved ones after death. Without clear direction, disputes arise over access and ownership, and emotions can run high in ways that end in costly legal proceedings. If a forgotten or unaddressed asset is discovered after an estate has already been settled, Louisiana law allows for the case to be reopened. Innoculating your heirs against that complication begins with creating a full inventory of

5800 One Perkins Place Ste 8a, Baton Rouge, LA 70808 225-766-4885 | www.peterswealth.com Advisory services offered through Ethos Financial Group, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisory firm.

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every account, updated regularly as things change and safely stored in a secure online platform. To get started, contact your estate lawyer, financial planner or Google “digital estate planning tools” to begin exploring your options.

ASK THE

EXPERT

What Is The Real Cause Of Certain Neck and Back Pains — and Is Surgery Truly Necessary? Most neck and back pain that occurs as we age is related to degenerative arthritis of the spinal discs and joints. The spine wears out just like knees and hips. Much of the spine surgery we do is to “rebuild” the bad spinal segments.

Many Spinal and Nerve Conditions Improve With Conservative Care. What Non-Surgical Treatments Should I Try First? We save surgery as the last resort and try Physical Therapy or Chiropractor Care first. If that doesn’t work, we will often try various types of injections and small procedures before surgery…kind of like WD-40 for the rusty hinges of the spine.

What Are The Risks, Success Rates, and Long-Term Outcomes? Spinal surgery is extremely complex. Outcomes vary considerably based on many variables….but most importantly do research on your surgeon. Look for fellowship training in spine surgery,

HEALTHCARE

which is advanced training for the surgeon after their basic training….my Fellowship is in “Minimally Invasive and Complex Spine Surgery”. A good outcome starts with a good plan. Many surgeries start with a bad plan, and the end result is suboptimal.

What Can I Change In My Daily Life to Prevent Worsening Pain? See us early to get advice…and to establish a baseline MRI for your neck and back. Keep your weight in check and avoid tobacco products like the plague. Non-impact exercise like biking and elliptical is preferred to jogging or other high impact exercise.

How Do You Find the Right Spine Surgeon?

DR. ERIC OBERLANDER Board Certified Neurosurgeon As a board certified and fellowship-trained neurosurgeon, Dr. Oberlander has undergone the most intensive training in spinal surgery that exists. His expertise truly diagnoses and treats a wide variety of

The Neuromedical Center has done that for you…all our surgeons are great. Also the insurance companies have the surgery outcome data….they know which surgeons are elite and avoid complications. There are entire insurance companies now that steer their patients to surgeons that get fewer complications and thus better outcomes. Lantern (Lanterncare.com) is one such company…they send me patients from throughout the south, even hundreds of miles away.

CALL (225) 768-2023 TO SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT

conditions affecting the entire spine. His extensive and diverse surgical experience includes spine trauma, tumors, degenerative diseases, herniated discs, pinched nerves, neck pain, back pain, sciatica, stenosis, and sacroiliac joint dysfunction. without surgery but is ready to use the latest cutting-edge

S PON S ORED CO N TEN T

SPONSORED BY:

CARING FOR AGING PARENTS? THE LIBRARY CAN HELP

cross East Baton Rouge Parish, more and more adults are juggling work, raising children and caring for aging parents at the same time. It’s often called the “sandwich generation,” and it can feel overwhelming. From managing medical and legal paperwork, to keeping parents active, connected and safe online, there’s a lot to figure out. The East Baton Rouge Parish Library is a powerful partner for caregivers, with tools that support both practical planning and day-to-day quality of life.

Legal & Financial Basics: Getting Your Paperwork In Order One of the most stressful parts of caregiving is handling legal and end-of-life planning. The library helps make that work less intimidating and more accessible.

And via Legal Information Source, you’ll find practical legal eBooks like:

• 8 Ways to Avoid Probate • Estate Planning Basics • LongTerm Care These resources can help you walk into appointments with attorneys, financial planners or doctors better prepared and less overwhelmed.

Ask a Lawyer

Activities And Lifelong Learning For Older Adults

In partnership with the Baton Rouge Bar Association, the library hosts free Ask a Lawyer sessions at different branches throughout the year. Attorneys provide brief, one-on-one consultations on civil issues like:

paperwork; it’s also about keeping them active, engaged and connected. The library offers both in person and online options to help.

Caring for aging parents isn’t only about

• Wills and probate • Power of attorney and medical power

In-person classes and activities are listed in the monthly newsletter, The Source, available in print and online.

of attorney

• Basic elder law questions and document preparation

The next session is Sept. 26 at the River Center Library. A complete list of dates and locations can be found at ebrpl.libguides. com/askalawyer.

Always Available Guides Through Weiss Financial Ratings, caregivers can access plain language eBooks such as:

Gale Presents: GetSetUp Additionally, the library offers Gale Presents: GetSetUp, an online learning and wellness platform designed specifically for adults 55+. It includes:

• A rotating catalog of 5,000+ live and on-demand

• Consumer Guide to Elder Care Choices • Consumer Guide to Medicare Supplement

•

• Consumer Guide to Long Term Care

•

Insurance Insurance

classes, videos and articles on topics like digital literacy, fitness, nutrition, mental wellness, travel and retirement planning. Peer-led instruction from older adult educators who understand the needs and learning styles of their audience. Built in community features that encourage conversation, reduce isolation and help participants make new friends.

• Flexible, self-paced learning on smartphones, tablets or computers.

• Help from Helen, an AI assistant that suggests

classes, answers basic questions and keeps users engaged.

Whether your parents want to learn a new skill, connect with others, or simply stay active, GetSetUp has something for them. Tech-focused classes like “Online Safety: Protect Your Personal Information” and “Using Your Android Smartphone” help seniors feel confident online, while offerings like “Ease the Ache with Gentle Stretches for Back Pain” and “Brain Boost: Keeping Young with Music” support physical and mental wellness.

Move More, Feel Better For seniors who prefer to follow along with movement classes, the library also offers Hiveclass, with exercise content that can be done at home or at the library, including:

• Senior Mobility • Pickleball • Yoga • Nutrition From legal basics and financial guidance to wellness activities and social connection, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library offers free, trustworthy support for adults caring for aging parents. Visit your local branch or the library’s website to discover more tools that can help you and your family navigate whatever comes next.

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Meet the Orthopedists Learn more about Capital Region healthcare professionals who have devoted their lives to helping people of all ages stay active and pain-free.

SPONSORED BY:

THE LARGEST TEAM. THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE CARE. When pain, injury, or mobility issues affect your life, you deserve a team that has the expertise to treat every bone, joint, muscle, and ligament. At BROC, our fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons provide specialized care across every area of orthopedics from sports injuries and joint replacement to hand and upper extremity care, foot and ankle care, spine care, pain management, and more.

225.924.2424 • BRORTHO.COM Baton Rouge / Gonzales / Zachary / Walker / Brusly / Hammond

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S P E C I A L A DV E R T I S I N G S E CT I O N

CHIP BANKSTON, MD MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

I specialize in sports medicine, shoulder and elbow surgery, and knee reconstruction. As an athlete at LSU, I had the opportunity to work at Baton Rouge Orthopaedic Clinic during the summer. That sparked my interest in caring for athletes and ultimately led me to pursue sports medicine.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

RYAN L. BLISS, MD MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

Orthopaedic hand, wrist, and elbow surgery. I chose this specialty because it allows me the opportunity to treat patients of all ages and a variety of different injuries, including sports and overuse injuries. This specialty is unique in that it incorporates aspects of both vascular surgery and plastic surgery.

When caring for injured athletes, we see patients during some of the most emotionally and physically challenging moments of their lives. Seeing the smile and excitement in their eyes when they return to the sport they love is incredibly rewarding.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

Orthobiologic injections will continue to shape the future of orthopedics and sports medicine. They are already utilized in our practice to treat a wide range of injuries and conditions.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

In the world of soccer, the FIFA 11+ injury prevention program has been shown to help reduce the risk of ACL injuries. It’s also important to stay active as you age. Beyond the cardiovascular benefits, weight-bearing exercise can improve balance and help maintain bone density.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

Our three young boys keep us busy during the school year with team sports. As a family, we enjoy skiing, swimming, pickleball and fishing.

I thoroughly enjoy being able to see a patient, diagnose their problem, and get them back to their previous level of activity. Sometimes this requires surgery, but sometimes all it takes is a clinic visit to return them to their prior active state.

I am most excited about new treatment options to address thumb arthritis. Two newer surgical options—thumb joint ablation and joint replacement—can provide pain relief with shorter recovery times and great outcomes.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

Address your bone health. As we age, the quality of our bone begins to decrease which makes us more susceptible to fractures. Maintaining strong bones is very important.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

I spend most of my free time with my wife and three kids.

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Issue Date: Aug 2026 Ad proof #2 • Please respond by e-mail or phone with your approval or minor revisions. • AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received within 24 hrs from receipt of this proof. A shorter timeframe will apply for tight deadlines. S P E C I A L A DV E R T I S•I Additional N G S Erevisions CT I Omust N be requested and may be subject to production fees. Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Melara Enterprises, LLC. 2026. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700

TIMOTHY ‘TIM’ BOWLIN, MD MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

I specialize in surgery of the hand, wrist and elbow, which encompasses treatment of bone, tendon, nerve, and microvascular issues. I chose to specialize in upper extremity orthopedic surgery because of the complexity of this part of the body and its critical function for everyday tasks.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

One of the most rewarding aspects of my profession is helping people regain the use of their hands and return to a full life with less pain and dysfunction.

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

I frequently treat people with carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, broken bones of the hand, wrist, forearm and elbow, as well as cysts, lacerations and arthritis of the upper extremity. I’m hopeful that one day targeted stem cell therapies can alleviate many of these inflammatory conditions.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

Minimizing inflammatory foods and optimizing an anti-inflammatory diet/supplements can decrease pain. Maintaining flexibility and strength through physical activity helps prevent injuries.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

I enjoy being with my family and friends, listening to live music, playing golf, exercising and traveling.

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JEREMY BURNHAM, MD MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

I’m a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and department head of orthopedic surgery for Ochsner Health in Baton Rouge. I specialize in treating complex knee injuries and helping athletes and active people of all ages recover and return to the lifestyle they enjoy. A knee injury from my own playing days gave me a patient’s perspective on recovery.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

The comeback. ACL recovery is a long journey, often nine months or more, and I get to walk it with my patients from the day of injury to the day they’re cleared to return. Few things in medicine offer that kind of finish line.

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

ACL care is becoming truly individualized. Our ACL Center of Excellence customizes each procedure to fit the patient’s anatomy, age and activity level.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

Build and keep muscle. Strength is the best insurance policy for your joints and bones. Regular resistance training, along with balance and agility work, lowers injury risk at every age.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

Anything that gets me outdoors. I love being out in nature, playing sports with my kids, and working cattle on our family farm.

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HANK EISERLOH, MD MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

I am an orthopedic spine surgeon. During my residency, I was drawn to the complexity of spine conditions and the intricate anatomy. The spine affects the entire skeletal system, and caring for these patients allows me to provide solutions that range from simple treatments to complex surgical procedures.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

Educating patients and helping them achieve a good outcome without high-risk surgical procedures is especially rewarding. I also find it gratifying to listen to my patients, answer their questions, and help them feel comfortable with the recommended treatment plan.

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

Our world of technology is moving quickly, but we have to remain steadfast in our medical principles. We still need to see the patient, talk to the patient, listen to the patient, and provide treatments that have consistently been proven to be successful.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

Movement is life. Exercise, stretching, and maintaining your overall health are the best ways to prevent serious orthopedic issues.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

When I’m not in my orthopedic practice, I enjoy working with the second-year LSU New Orleans orthopedic surgery residents. I also enjoy playing golf and traveling.

MATTHEW S. FURY, MD MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

My specialty is orthopedic sports medicine, with a particular emphasis on the shoulder and elbow, including the throwing athlete. My interest in this area is personal: I experienced a UCL injury of my own while playing at LSU.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

Returning someone to full activity after an injury they feared was career- or lifestyle-threatening. Just yesterday, a patient messaged me to say she’d returned to jogging for the first time in over a year and how much that meant to her.

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

I’m excited about higher-resolution and dynamic MRI techniques that let us see how a ligament behaves under load. This is central to my own research on the throwing elbow.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

Build and keep muscle. Strength training is the single most protective thing most people neglect. It stabilizes joints, protects cartilage, and preserves bone density, and its benefits compound over decades.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

Although we keep a busy life, I place a priority on time with my family. A typical weekend for us means walks around the neighborhood with my wife, our two daughters, and our two dogs.

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CRAIG CASTLEMAN GREENE, MD, MBA MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

Orthopedic surgery—traumatology and sports medicine. I sustained many injuries in sports growing up, which led to my profession. I have had 13 orthopedic surgeries myself with more on the horizon.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

C. CHAMBLISS HARROD, MD MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

My specialty is orthopedic spine surgery. When I was in medical school, I had the unique opportunity to do a two-week rotation in orthopedics, and Dr. Kevin Riche made a profound impact on my decision-making.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

My senior patients have more life behind them than in front of them and have a great energy of life reflections and pragmatic expectations for their marginal decade. We communicate well around this as I try to optimize what matters most to them.

Unquestionably, a happy patient. When we treat someone with a surgical problem and they have immediate relief of their pain—and we can see them getting back to doing the things that they love, including enjoying time with family and being productive in the workplace—that is gratifying.

MY ADVICE TO SENIORS FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

No. 1 rule — do not fall. No. 2 rule — see rule No. 1. No one plans on falling, but having a constant awareness or healthy fear of falling may help. Strength training and maintaining mental acuity can help. Weakness and pain often make a difficult milieu for an elderly patient to thrive, but our senior patients deserve all of our best efforts.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

I enjoy any time I can get with my busy wonderful family. I especially love to play golf with my three sons on a Sunday afternoon.

I have been excited about some of the regenerative techniques, including stem cell injections in the low back for appropriate patients with disc problems. I think that basivertebral nerve ablation is a good alternative to fusion for low back pain.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

Stay in shape. Do not smoke cigarettes or use tobacco products. maintain movement and exercise daily. And focus on your mental health with family, work and faith balance.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

I enjoy LSU athletics, hiking, hunting and fishing, playing tennis, golf, and really anything that my wife and children want to do.

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Issue Date: Aug 2026 Ad proof #1 • Please respond by e-mail or phone with your approval or minor revisions. • AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received within 24 hrs from receipt of this proof. A shorter timeframe will apply for tight deadlines. • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees.

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NICK HATZIS, MD MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

Shoulder surgery. I wasn’t planning on doing a shoulder fellowship after residency and I had already interviewed for several sports medicine fellowships. A rare last-minute position opening in one of the most prestigious shoulder fellowships at the time, resulted in me becoming a shoulder specialist. I’m convinced it was fate.

NATHAN HENSLER, DO MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

Primary care sports medicine. I have always loved orthopedics but did not enjoy surgery. Being able to take care of patients in a clinic setting without surgery was ideal for me.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

Being able to relieve patients’ pain and truly changing their lives in the process.

The quality of MRI scans now compared to when I first started practice in 1996 is nothing short of amazing. Also, the treatment of disorders and diseases of the skeletal system with biologics is a very exciting topic throughout orthopedics.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

Maintain muscle mass now and as you get older. Many studies show this can prevent or reduce myriad orthopedic issues as we age. And walk!

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

I enjoy just about anything I can do with my children and family. My time with them is limited and precious.

Being able to help patients without the need of surgery is always the most fulfilling aspect to me. Seeing them get back to the things they enjoy will always make me happy.

I am really excited about the new types of biologic injections — PRP, stem cell, exosomes — that are coming to market. Treating patients nonoperatively with these injections has been exciting.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

I am a big fan of yoga and Pilates. Keeping your joints and body flexible helps you stay out of my clinic!

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

I am an avid sports fan. Growing up in Pittsburgh, I was surrounded by sports. Since I started living in Louisiana, it has grown that much more. Watching LSU athletics, Saints or Pelicans games, or my beloved Pittsburgh teams, my life has been defined by athletics.

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JIMMY LALONDE JR., MD

KEVIN P. McCARTHY, MD

MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

I specialize in orthopedic foot and ankle surgery. What drew me to this specialty is the incredible variety it offers. I have the opportunity to care for patients of all ages, from children with developmental conditions to high school and collegiate athletes, active adults, and seniors with arthritis or complex deformities. Every day is different.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

Helping patients get back to doing what they love. Whether it’s a grandparent walking pain-free, a runner returning to competition, or a child getting back on the soccer field, restoring function is incredibly fulfilling.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

We are often presented with patients that have terrible spine-related pain. Through surgery and/or other spine procedures, we can often alleviate this pain. That can be life-changing for the patient. This is the most rewarding aspect of my work.

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

Orthopedic surgery continues to advance rapidly. I’m excited about improvements in biologic treatments that may enhance healing, advances in minimally invasive surgical techniques.

I currently perform minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgery. The techniques that are used endoscopically in spine are constantly advancing. I anticipate a continued evolution in these techniques, and these will eventually replace open surgery that is commonly performed today.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

One of the best things you can do is to start preparing now for the last decade of your life. That means staying active throughout your life, with a combination of strength training, cardiovascular exercise, flexibility, and balance work. You start now.

Avoid certain high-risk activities commonly associated with spine injuries and use proper technique for activities. This is very important and something we discuss with our patients often.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

I enjoy traveling the world. I have been to all seven continents and a long list of countries. I enjoy learning about other cultures and meeting people from around the world.

My wife and I have four children, and spending time together is incredibly important to me.

I am fellowship trained in orthopedic spine surgery. During my initial time in orthopedic training, I found spine surgery to be both extremely challenging and rewarding.

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FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

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JULIE NEUMANN, MD

BRIAN T. PERRY, MD

MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

I chose orthopedic surgery with a focus on sports medicine and foot and ankle surgery. As a varsity soccer player at LSU, I developed an early interest in orthopedics. I enjoy helping patients recover from injury, stay active and return to the lifestyle they enjoy.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

The most rewarding part is helping patients regain mobility and return to the activities they value most.

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

The advancement I’m most excited about is minimally invasive foot and ankle surgery, which allows treatment of a wide range of orthopedic conditions through small incisions. This approach can reduce soft tissue disruption, lessen postoperative pain, and help patients recover more quickly.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

I decided to specialize in foot and ankle because it encompasses many disciplines of orthopedic surgery in a specific subspeciality. I perform a variety of procedures, including those for sports related injuries, trauma, joint replacements and elective reconstructive procedures.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

Patients often come to me at a relatively low point, whether due to a chronic condition or an injury. It is rewarding to reduce pain and restore function to allow patients to return to the lifestyle and activities they enjoy.

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

I’m particularly excited about the role of AI in the clinical setting, especially its potential to improve documentation and support clinical decision-making. I’m also interested to see how AI will be incorporated into the operating room in the future.

Stay active, maintain a healthy weight, and prioritize strength training. Building muscle helps protect your joints, improves balance, and reduces the risk of injury. Addressing pain or injuries early rather than pushing through them can also prevent small problems from becoming chronic orthopedic conditions.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

My top priority is spending time with my family. I also enjoy running, working out, live music, traveling, golfing, deer hunting and attending sporting events.

My greatest joy is spending time with my family and my three young children.

Maintain healthy eating habits, exercise regularly, and stay active.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

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Issue Date: Aug 2026 Ad proof #3 • Please respond by e-mail or phone with your approval or minor revisions. • AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received within 24 hrs from receipt of this proof. A shorter timeframe will apply for tight deadlines. S P E C I A L A DV E R T I S•I Additional N G S Erevisions CT I Omust N be requested and may be subject to production fees. Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Melara Enterprises, LLC. 2026. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700

KEVIN B. RICHÉ, MD

RICARDO J. RODRIGUEZ,MD FAOA, FAAOS

MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

Orthopedic trauma, hips, knees, and sacroiliac joints. My path started with a Trauma Fellowship at Harvard. After many years of focusing on trauma, my practice evolved into taking care of hips and knees more often than anything else. I have continued to work on the pelvis and sacroiliac joints through it all.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

I love the fact that in orthopedic surgery we care for people of all ages. From infants to the elderly, we have the ability to help everyone. I find this incredibly rewarding.

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

The advancement in patient-specific joint replacement that I am currently doing in the knee is the most exciting thing I have experienced. And I continue to be excited about watching my patients’ outcomes.

After six years of residency and fellowship in sports medicine, I had a new mom complaining of hip pain. Back then we thought only arthritis, fractures, or dysplasia caused hip pain. With continued research, we have come to realize there is a plethora of other things that can give pain in the hip.

MOST REWARDING PART OF MY WORK:

The best part of orthopedic surgery is seeing the direct benefits of the care we provide. From the care we provide, we allow people to get back to their jobs, to the sports they love, or simply enjoying life pain-free.

TREATMENT ADVANCEMENTS THAT EXCITE ME:

Hip Preservation Surgery is one of the fastest growing areas in orthopedics today. After 25 years, I am still learning every day.

MY ADVICE FOR REDUCING INJURY RISK:

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND MY FREE TIME:

Taking Vitamin D and calcium supplements is important for bone health. In addition, I think patients that stretch a lot can absolutely prevent lots of injuries and problems.

I am a commercial rated pilot, so in my free time I enjoy aviation. I also love golf, hunting and fishing.

MY SPECIALTY AND HOW I CHOSE IT:

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

Some things are genetic and unavoidable, unfortunately. But eating well, regular exercise, and watching your weight are super important.

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Stable, but …

ON THE BOULEVARD: The Apple Store and other shops in The Boulevard area of the Mall of Louisiana

Despite retail strength, public perception haunts the Mall of Louisiana following a deadly shooting. BY MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON

DON KADAIR

ON A RECENT sticky summer day, the Mall of Louisiana did what it’s done since 1997, attracted shoppers eager to spend a few hours in a climate-controlled retail escape. A reliable queue formed at the Apple Store for deals on iPhone 17s in the mall’s open-air strip. Shoppers with disposable income darted into Dillard’s and Pottery Barn. Teens looked for summer deals at the growing number of interior stores that skew to younger shoppers. Parents and caregivers took advantage of the interactive aquarium, Blue Zoo, open since 2021, or let their kids romp in the

shoeless play area nearby. But some who would have come to the mall this summer are sitting things out. The community is still processing a tragic daytime shooting on April 23 in the mall’s food court that left one visiting Lafayette teenager dead and one adult injured. Malls have struggled nationwide since their late 20th century heyday when they were a rite of passage for American teens and a one-stopshop for busy parents. Thousands died off, closing altogether or morphing into non-retail uses. By contrast, the Mall of Louisiana held on,

maintaining a foothold in the postmall era. Comprising more than 1 million square feet, it draws shoppers from around the state who see value and convenience in the retail-rich corridor. The mall has long hosted only mid-tier anchors, and it has lost brands like New Orleans-based jeweler Mignon Faget, and Gap and Banana Republic, which concentrated their local retail presence at Towne Center. Several recent retail wins suggested the Mall of Louisiana was on the upswing. The shooting has been a setback. Chicago-based GGP, a

subsidiary of mall owner Brookfield Corporation, wouldn’t address perception issues or headcounts in a June interview and has been largely quiet in its public comments and social media response. Public relations manager Claudia Ilagan, though, did provide the following statement: “As discussed, it is our company policy that we do not disclose details about our security program, as doing so could compromise its effectiveness. That said, we continuously review, evaluate and enhance our protocols.” The statement continued: “Following last month’s tragic

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incident, we’ve enhanced our security measures, and this includes additional security and PD officers on-site. Additionally, our mandatory curfew program is in effect on Friday and Saturdays for guests under 18.” The curfew was established in summer 2024. Comments on the Mall of Louisiana Facebook page and in response to other media stories covering the shooting have run the gamut. Some respondents say the incident tracks with Baton Rouge’s inability to get crime under control, while others offer a grim reminder that shootings can happen anywhere. Some say they won’t shop at the mall any longer, but others defend the choice to continue, stating that many local residents work there.

DON KADAIR

OUT-OF-TOWN SHOPPERS The Mall of Louisiana employs 3,500 full- and part-time workers, according to GGP. The company does not release annual sales figures, but GGP Vice President of Leasing Randy Holcombe calls it “a good shopping center for us, for sure.” “We have a significant trade area polygon, if you will, that pulls from all over the state,” Holcombe says.

IS IT SAFE? The community is still processing a tragic daytime shooting on April 23 in the mall’s food court that left one visiting Lafayette teenager dead and one adult injured.

“We’re committed to the asset. We’re committed to the market. We love this trade area.” Holcombe reported a current 5% vacancy rate—low for the industry—and pointed out several recent wins, including women’s clothiers Mango and Zara and the

experiential retail concept, Dick’s House of Sport, now in the anchor spot once held by Sears. The mall draws a significant number of out-of-town shoppers, says Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Jill Kidder. One-fourth of visitors to the mall

arrive in Baton Rouge from at least 50 miles away, with 65% of that group overnighting in local hotels, Kidder says. “I think a lot of folks are also using it as a secondary reason to stay longer or to enjoy the community more,” she says, “and it is truly part

DON KADAIR

BUILT FOR CROWDS: Traffic at the mall was light on a Wednesday morning in June, just after opening. The mall reports a 5% vacancy rate—low for the industry. New tenants include women’s clothiers Mango and Zara and the experiential retail concept Dick’s House of Sport, now in the anchor spot once occupied by Sears.

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

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THE NEW MALL: The Blue Zoo aquarium points to the mall’s new direction, with experience-based draws like touch-pool stingrays and mermaid shows filling space once held by clothing retailers.

PULLING OUT Nevertheless, the incident has wrought damage. At least some potential retail investors are sitting on the sidelines until the dust settles. The 110,996-square-foot space now occupied by Dick’s House of Sport, which has a different owner from the mall, has been publicly listed for sale by the Commercial

Real Estate Exchange, or CREXI. com, since April 14. On paper, it’s a strong investment opportunity, says Elifin Vice President of Retail Sales and Leasing Noah Loveland. Dick’s House of Sport is a successful concept, and its lease runs through 2041. But he acknowledges the shooting caused some national investors to pump the brakes, at least for now. “We knew one of the groups that was taking a pretty hard look at it, and then right after the shooting, they were just like, ‘We’re pulling this. We’re not pursuing this anymore,’” he says. “It definitely had a negative impact on perception of the area and really killed some of the momentum.” Still, Loveland acknowledges the mall’s recent success in recruiting new retail tenants. “It’s a better experience than it was even three years ago,” he says. “As far as how it stacks up against other retail, it’s not a dying mall. The dying malls are the ones that sell and become self-storage, or the retail boxes that become industrial uses.” Baton Rouge’s Cortana Mall is a well-known example. Open in 1976, the space was once the largest enclosed mall in the South, boasting 1.5 million square feet of retail space occupied by local and

national anchors and retailers. It operated without local competition until the splashier Mall of Louisiana opened on Bluebonnet Boulevard, tracking with the population’s southeastern shift. Bit by bit, Cortana Mall’s

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The shuttered Red Lobster and Pluckers add two dark storefronts to the area. Both closed for business reasons unrelated to the Mall of Louisiana.

DON KADAIR

of that broader picture that includes our food, our sporting events and all the LSU and Southern activities.” In 2025, the overall retail spend per visitor was $102, which included the mall and other retail hubs, says Kidder, who notes that some of the highest spending came from visitors from the Monroe area. Perceptions about crime have been a concern for Visit Baton Rouge, which made addressing crime and cleanliness part of its 2022 strategic plan. Kidder says that behind the scenes, her organization has been working with law enforcement to improve safety. Visit Baton Rouge partnered with the Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice Foundation to install license plate readers in numerous locations around the city, including the Mall of Louisiana. The technology was instrumental in BRPD’s quick apprehension of a main suspect in the shooting, she says.

relevance faded, and its retail pods ceded to other sectors, including the private educational institution Virginia College and various business tenants. In 2021, Amazon bought the property and razed it, making way for a robotics fulfillment center that opened in 2024. Loveland says Lafayette’s Acadiana Mall is an example of a retail center whose anchor stores are in transition. “We’ve got the JC Penney for sale right now at a steep discount,” he says. “The Macy’s box is vacant, and the Sears box is now self-storage, an indicator for what the next 10 to 15 years for them looks like. It’s quality real estate, but it’s not a retail use anymore.” Holcombe, who manages 17 retail centers across Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, says he remains bullish on the Mall of Louisiana’s ability to continue to attract new brands. He anticipates popular athleisure concepts will be next. “That’s a category that we still have underrepresented at the Mall of Louisiana,” Holcombe says. “Over time, you’ll see us add more to that category.”

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continue hospital to not-for-profit care. rt allows our uality health Your vital suppo nding service and high-q the hospital music into providing outsta patients, ating art and l support to INE: By integr and menta , es emotional ARTS IN MEDIC -in-residence , BRG provid ists, artists soothing environment to create a Music therap s, and staff. rs collaborate partne Through their familie ing. unity e and comm ry and well-be spirits, reduc volunteers, tes recove aims to uplift that promo ences, BRG atmosphere ss. creative experi burn personalized healing proce for pediatric enhance the camp and er , stress campers weeklong summ these young OULA: BRG’s stand am that gives CAMP CATAH who under nging progr nal ct with peers is a life-cha ies with emotio and conne survivors to heal, grow, traditional camp activit ence, and a sense the chance ning confid nce, y. By combi it fosters resilie them long after camp their journe with mentorship, support and children carry that these of belonging mobile health on the Go ends. ings our BRG Care health screen ts TO CARE: With ry, urgent care, and BARRI ERS can meet patien rt Rouge, we provides prima North Baton unit, which We also suppo ds across es they need. me social to neighborhoo to deliver the servic patients overco rity, are e, which helps where they n, food insecu gh al’s CARE Initiativ as transportatio rge. Throu our hospit such discha rs ent upon mic barrie patients and econo medical equipm we can help ensure to durable ams, need for progr they rt and access donor funded home, but the suppo to both of these e care close not only receiv well-being. long-term ongoing and

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Louisiana’s Data Privacy Act is coming

BY DILLON LOWE

Is your business ready? What you need to know before the new rules take effect Jan. 1. LOUISIANA BUSINESSES have less than six months to prepare for a sweeping new law that will change how they collect, manage and use consumers’ personal information. Signed by Gov. Jeff Landry in May, the Louisiana Data Privacy Act takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. The law gives consumers new rights to access, correct and delete their personal data, among other protections, while imposing a host of new obligations on the businesses that handle it. Louisiana is the 22nd state to adopt a comprehensive consumer privacy law. It joins a growing cohort of states that have acted in the absence of a federal standard. The law’s reach may be broader than some businesses assume, and personal data isn’t limited to financial credentials, Social Security numbers or other information traditionally associated with data breaches. It can include IP addresses, location information and other data commonly collected online. That means businesses that don’t think of themselves as technology companies or data brokers could still be affected. For those that are covered, compliance will require more than updating the privacy notices on their websites. Attorneys say businesses must understand what consumer data they possess, why they collect it, where it’s stored and which outside vendors receive it. They must also prepare to respond when consumers begin exercising their new rights. With the effective date approaching, that work needs to begin now.

THE CLOCK IS RUNNING: Louisiana businesses have less than six months to prepare for a sweeping new law that will change how they collect, manage and use consumers’ personal information.

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A NEW SET OF RULES The Data Privacy Act applies to any entity doing business in Louisiana that meets one or more of three thresholds: It posts more than $25 million in annual gross revenue; it annually buys, receives, sells or shares for commercial Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

FILLING A VOID: Louisiana is the 22nd state to adopt a comprehensive consumer privacy law. It joins a growing cohort of states that have acted in the absence of a federal standard.

purposes the personal information of at least 75,000 consumers, households or devices; or it derives at least half of its annual revenue from selling consumers’ personal information. Andrew Lee, a partner at Jones Walker, says the greatest impact beyond data-gathering companies themselves will likely fall on business-to-consumer companies like retailers. Business-to-business companies, for the most part, will feel less of an impact because data collected strictly in a commercial context falls outside the law’s scope. “It’s mainly B2C companies that are going to be affected. … Large organizations that have a lot of retail where they gather customer information—they create customer Andrew Lee lists, they create mailing lists, they solicit customers to become recipients of their emails so they can get them to buy more products—are the ones that are likely the most affected by this,” Lee says.

The 75,000 threshold may be easier to cross than some businesses expect, according to Jessica Engler, a partner at Kean Miller. Companies that think they’re not collecting all that much personal information may overlook trackJessica Engler ing technologies on their websites that collect IP addresses and other online identifiers. “That’s personally identifiable information,” Engler says. “And when you look at the threshold of 75,000 individuals or households, it sounds like a big number, but divide that by 365 and that’s only 205 visitors to your website per day.” There are broad exemptions. The act doesn’t apply to state agencies, political subdivisions, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education or electric public utilities. Also exempt are financial institutions and their affiliates governed by the federal

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and covered entities and business associates governed by HIPAA. The law gives consumers the right to ask a covered business to confirm whether it’s processing their personal data, provide access to that data, correct inaccuracies, delete information and supply certain data in a convenient digital format. Consumers will also be able to opt out of targeted advertising, the sale of their data and certain solely automated profiling used to make consequential decisions involving high-stakes matters like healthcare, housing, insurance, lending and education enrollment. Businesses must respond to consumer requests within 45 days, though a business may extend the deadline once by another 45 days “when reasonably necessary” due to the complexity of the request or the number of requests the company is processing. If a request is denied, the business must explain its decision and allow the consumer to appeal.

Companies must also limit their collection of personal data to what is “adequate, relevant and reasonably necessary” for a disclosed purpose and obtain consent before processing “sensitive data” like biometric data, precise geolocation data and information about a consumer’s health, race, religion, sexuality or immigration status. The act’s definition of a data sale extends beyond exchanging consumer data for cash. Sharing information with an advertising or analytics provider could qualify if the business receives something of value in return. “‘Sale’ is not limited just to ‘I give you a block of data and here’s money,’” Engler says. “It can be in exchange for anything of value.” Enforcement will rest exclusively with the Louisiana attorney general. Consumers won’t be able to sue businesses directly, though their complaints could prompt an investigation. Through July 31, 2027, companies notified of an alleged violation must be given 30 days to correct it. After that, no opportunity to cure is guaranteed. Violations will be treated as unfair or deceptive trade practices and could carry

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READY OR NOT For businesses that may be covered by the Data Privacy Act, the first step is determining whether they meet one of its three thresholds. From there, Engler recommends conducting a comprehensive data inventory. Businesses should have a full understanding of what personal information they collect, why they collect it, where it’s stored, how long it’s retained and who can access it. That process could uncover data stored in unexpected places.

“If you don’t know where the data is, how can you actually be able to effectively say that you deleted it?” Engler says. The data inventory should inform another nonnegotiable step: establishing a procedure for processing consumer requests. That means having a mechanism in place to receive and authenticate requests, assigning responsibility for responding to them and ensuring that data can be accessed, corrected, exported or deleted within the statutory deadline. Lee says the workload will depend largely on how many requests a company receives. Some businesses may be able to rely on existing IT and legal employees, while others may need to hire a privacy specialist or contract with an outside provider. Privacy policies, meanwhile, will likely need a refresh. Engler says many businesses use generic onesize-fits-all privacy notices, which

will have to be updated to reflect their actual data collection practices and explain how consumers can exercise their rights. Marketing activity, too, warrants scrutiny. It has become increasingly common for marketing departments sitting on large swaths of consumer data to put that information to new uses as their strategies shift. But under the Data Privacy Act, businesses don’t have an unrestricted right to repurpose consumer data once they collect it. “When an individual provides their personal information,” Engler says, “you’re supposed to only be using it in the context within which it was provided. … If all of a sudden you’re using the data for something that’s very different from what the consumer provided it for in the first place, then we could be getting ourselves into a situation that would cause liability.” Reviewing vendor contracts should be another priority. A

business responding to a deletion request should ensure that its vendors are contractually obligated to assist with that request, deleting data when directed unless retention is legally required. Businesses will also be required to conduct and document “data protection assessments” for certain high-risk activities—targeted advertising and data sales among them. Those assessments must weigh the benefits of processing against potential risks to consumer rights. While the assessments won’t need to be routinely submitted to the state, they must be made available if requested by the attorney general. Above all, Engler advises businesses not to rely on the temporary cure provision or wait until the end of the year to begin preparing for what’s to come. “The time to assess whether or not this is something that’s going to impact you is right now,” Engler says. “It’s not in December.”

COMPLIANCE COUNTDOWN: Signed by Gov. Jeff Landry in May, the Louisiana Data Privacy Act takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. The law gives consumers new rights to access, correct and delete their personal data, among other protections, while imposing a host of new obligations on the businesses that handle it.

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civil penalties of up to $5,000 each. Lee cautions against assuming the lack of a private right of action makes noncompliance inconsequential. “It only takes one such instance for a company to feel some pain from having to respond to a [civil investigative demand] or something along those lines,” he says.

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

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VI EWPOI NT ROLFE MCCOLLI STE R JR.

SOMETIMES WE DON’T stop to reflect on the past and take stock of how we are doing. I was looking through an old bound volume of Business Report and came across the 20th anniversary issue. It looked back at 19822002. In the next issue, I wrote a column looking forward, listing the ideas and goals I hoped to see in the next 20 years, up to 2022. Well, that has come and gone, but I thought I would share that old list and have you reflect on what you hoped life would be like today in our Capital City. Here it is: I came up with a few suggestions for a "Baton Rouge 2022." Mine include: • A thriving and vibrant riverfront and downtown, including a waterfront park • A two-lane exit ramp off the Mississippi River Bridge • A "loop" with another bridge south of Baton Rouge • More grid streets and synchronized lights to ease traffic • Recognition of the Pennington Center and LSU as the primary economic engines for the high-tech future in our city and state, and appropriate funding • Bon Carré/La. Tech Park filled and flourishing with new tech companies • The Capitol House and Swaggart building renovated and returned to commerce • EBR public schools declared unitary • An innovative BREC park system that redesigns City Park as a "signature central park” • A community that has overcome racial divisions • A Baton Rouge Area Foundation with $500 million in assets • School vouchers, charter schools and online learning as options for parents

Two decades later, how did we do?

Rolfe McCollister Jr. is a contributing columnist. The viewpoints expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Business Report or its staff.

REFLECTIONS GOD IS ABLE, PART 5 This feature is a tribute in honor of Business Report founders, Rolfe McCollister Sr. & Rolfe McCollister Jr.

• A strong economy with good jobs for graduates to keep them in Baton Rouge • An elaborate e-government that increases services and reduces the size of government • A healthy arts community offering a wide range of entertainment options • A Double-A minor-league baseball team playing in a new stadium • A revamped charity health care delivery system (including Earl K. Long Hospital) • Safe streets and neighborhoods with well-paid police officers and firefighters • A sewer system that serves citizens and enables development (without breaking the bank) • A growing port with a new headquarters on the old city dock • A revised Horizon Plan that encourages "smart growth" and offers incentives for New Urbanism and inner-city development • A top destination for retirees in the United States • A growing tax base as population increases and businesses expand • More green space, bike paths and sidewalks; and adequate mass transit including light rail from the suburbs to our business center downtown What do you want to see? Can it happen? You might just have to hang around another 20 years and find out. So, if you were here in Baton Rouge in 2002, you can look at this list and ask yourself two questions: 1) Which of these goals did you even agree with and believe were possible? 2) How did Baton Rouge do, and what grade would you give us? Maybe you are satisfied with the way things are now—as we talk about some of the same challenges two decades later.

GOD IS ABLE to establish a person. To be established is to be anchored, secure, confident and solid. The benediction of the book of Romans states in 16:2527, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to

Looking at this list, there are a few wins, some in progress, but also failures, shortcomings or missed opportunities. We must ask ourselves, “Why?” Was it lack of leadership? Fear of risk? No political courage? Little communication? Lack of community pride or unity? What did we learn in the past 24 years? We must take that collective wisdom and experience and share it with the next generation, who are where we were in 2002—looking at the future. What are their dreams for the next 20 years—and how can they succeed where we failed, having no regrets in 2046? I pray they will achieve their goals and leave their children and Baton Rouge in a much better place in America than where we rank today. AI WON’T REPLACE THIS There is much talk today about all the jobs that AI will eliminate. But I was reminded recently that there are some jobs and skills that AI just can’t touch. One such job was the carpenter across the street shown in the photo here. Wow. I also recently had to call an electrician, followed by a plumber. Don’t see how AI could do what they did. Finally, I recently celebrated with my family America’s 250th along with my grandson’s third birthday. AI could never replicate our joy and his smile and happiness in this photo. That was the real deal.

obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.” The Gospel establishes a person based on God’s performance, not ours. The mystery now revealed “is Christ in you, the hope of glory,” (Colossians 1:27). The gospel puts Christ inside of us and is the full assurance that God will be God through our lives. Beloved, walk in the covenant that God is able to establish you according to the gospel.

—Jeff Mitchell, Retired COL and Army Chaplain

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

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Convention and meeting facilities

OFFICE MACHINES

Pete Maravich Assembly Center North Stadium Drive, Baton Rouge 70803 225-578-8205 | lsusports.com

13,215

Bryan Paar Facility manager and executive director of LSU athletic operations

1,200 4,587

5 55,000

Off-site

•

Raising Cane's River Center 275 S. River Road, Baton Rouge 70802 225-389-3030 | raisingcanesrivercenter.com

10,400

Wayne Hodes General manager

5,000 8,000

17 100,000

In-house

•

F.G. Clark Activity Center 801 Harding Blvd, Baton Rouge 70813 225-771-3821 | subr.edu/page/899

8,000

Welton Bowie Facility director

NA NA

1 16,000

In-house

•

Lamar-Dixon Expo Center 9039 St. Landry Road, Gonzales 70737 225-450-1009 | lamardixonexpocenter.com

6,600

Kyle Rogers General manager

3,200 6,200

10 92,000

In-house

•

LSU Student Union LSU Student Union, Baton Rouge 70803 225-578-5959 | lsu.edu/as

3,000

Margot Hsu Carroll Executive director of auxiliary services

500 1,200

18 9,000

In-house & off-site

•

Crowne Plaza Baton Rouge 4728 Constitution Ave., Baton Rouge 70808 225-925-2244 | crowneplaza.com/execcenterbtr

2,500

Scott Michelet General manager

2,000 1,500

17 32,000

In-house

•

L'Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge 777 L'Auberge Ave., Baton Rouge 70820 225-215-7777 | lbatonrouge.com

1,600

Jeremy Fontenot Vice president and general manager

720 1,400

5 13,000

In-house

•

Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center 201 Lafayette St., Baton Rouge 70801 225-344-5866 | hilton.com/en/hotels/btrcphf-hilton-baton-rougecapitol-center

1,500

Nathaniel Tannehill General manager

600 800

16 8,000

In-house

•

Renaissance Baton Rouge Hotel 7000 Bluebonnet Blvd., Baton Rouge 70810 225-215-7000 | marriott.com/btrbb

1,300

David Johnson General manager

600 881

13 12,685

In-house & off-site

•

Baton Rouge Marriott 5500 Hilton Ave., Baton Rouge 70808 225-924-5000 | marriott.com/btrmc

1,000

Ralph Ney General manager

600 900

25 29,979

In-house

•

Capitol Park Museum 660 N. Fourth St., Baton Rouge 70802 225-219-0726 | louisianastatemuseum.org

1,000

Cody Scallions Deputy assistant secretary

300 250

3 3,000

Off-site

Drusilla Place Catering 3482 Drusilla Lane, Suite D, Baton Rouge 70809 225-927-8844 | drusillaplace.com

1,000

Brad Zito Owner and general manager

500 250

9 8,500

In-house & off-site

•

LSU Museum of Art at the Shaw Center for the Arts 100 Lafayette St., Fifth Floor, Baton Rouge 70801 225-389-7200 | lsumoa.org

1,000

Mark Tullos Executive director

150 100

4 17,000

Off-site

•

Red Stick Social 1503 Government St., Baton Rouge 70802 225-223-6637 | redsticksocial.com

950

Robert Lay Founder, owner and president

400 170

1 30,000

In-house

•

The Lyceum Meeting & Event Center 124 Third St., Baton Rouge 70801 225-343-6600 | lyceumbatonrouge.com

940

Sydney Vidrine Event manager

400 400

2 15,000

Off-site

•

TOTAL CAPACITY

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE

BANQUET/ THEATER CAPACITY

FOOD SERVICE

•

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

•

DBA-doing business as NA-not available NR-not ranked Data compiled through company surveys. The Business Report presumes the provided information is accurate. To be considered for next year's list, please contact research@businessreport.com. Published Aug. 4, 2026.

SECRETARIAL

COMPUTERS

COMPANY PREV. ADDRESS RANK PHONE | WEBSITE

NO. OF MEETING ROOMS EXHIBIT SPACE (SQ. FEET)

INTERNET

AUDIO VISUAL

EXECUTIVE CENTER

Ranked by total capacity

•

LOUISIANA’S PREMIER MEETING & EVENT SPACE.

AMENITIES: • 13,000-square-foot Event Center • Pre-function Space • Multi-Purpose Meeting Spaces • Special Hotel Discounts & Group Rates • Casino and Sportsbook

SCAN QR CODE TO LEARN MORE OR VISIT LBatonRouge.com/meetings

Must be 21 or older to enter.

GAMBLING PROBLEM? PLEASE CALL 800.522.4700.

LISTMAKERS

Office equipment and supply dealers FURNITURE

DISCOUNT PROGRAMS

M.G. Bennett Market manager

100

•

Office Depot (four local locations) 6600 North Military Trail, Boca Raton 33496 800-463-3768 | officedepot.com

Gulf Coast Office Products Inc. 10424 Plaza Americana Drive, Baton Rouge 70816 225-756-2644 | gcopnet.com

Trey Beall President

Superior Office Products 533 Highlandia Drive, Suite K, Baton Rouge 70810 225-291-9376 | superiorbr.com

Randy M. Poche President

•

LOSCO Inc. dba Louisiana Office Solutions Co. 7643 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge 70806 225-927-1110 | losco.com

Laurie Genius Chapple President

•

Ascension Paper Products 405 N. Marchand Ave., Gonzales 70737 225-647-1541 | ascensionpaperproducts.com

Larry Aderholt Owner

•

WJS Enterprises Inc. 11725 Industriplex Blvd., Suite 3, Baton Rouge 70809 225-752-0957 | wjsenterprises.com

Chris Hosch Vice president

Advanced Office Systems Inc. 11434 Industriplex Blvd., Baton Rouge 70809 225-752-7700 | advancedoffice.com

Paul Pokorney Owner and CEO

Link Integration Group LLC 11825 Sun Belt Court, Baton Rouge 70809 225-756-2205 | ligllc.com

Kyle E. Williams Owner

Scott Baily Enterprises 11310 Industriplex Blvd., Baton Rouge 70809 225-753-2679 | sbecopy.com

DELIVERY

LOCAL EMPLOYEES

ONLINE ORDERS

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE

ELECTRONICS

COMPANY PREV. ADDRESS RANK PHONE | WEBSITE

OFFICE SUPPLIES

Ranked by local employees

•

1986 HP, Canon, Epson, Brother, Lenovo, Logitech, PostIt, TUL, Serta

•

1977 Ricoh, HP, Brother

•

YEAR EST. LOCALLY MAJOR BRANDS

•

1986 Xerox, Epson, HP, Kyocera, Sharp

•

1936 HON, Sit on It, Avery, HP, 3M

•

2002 Office supplies

•

1968 Canon, HP, Lexmark

•

1981 Canon, Toshiba, Brother, Verkada, Rhombus, HP, Unify, Netgate

•

2013 Crestron Electronics, QSC/Q-LAN, Extron, Marshall, Sharp/NEC, Panasonic, Winsted

Brian A. Baily President and CEO

•

1969 Konica Minolta, KIP

Applied Business Concepts LLC 17991-A Old Perkins Road E., Baton Rouge 70809 225-752-1195 | abcla.com

Jeff Ragusa Sr. President

•

1996 Sharp, KIP, Duplo

Frost-Barber of Lousiana 9322 Interline Ave., Baton Rouge 70809 225-926-5000 | frost-barber.com

Christopher Laderer President and CEO

•

1946 Steelcase, Smith System, HON, Global, OFS

Lettermans 525 Florida Ave. SW, Denham Springs 70726 225-925-2663 | lettermans.com

Steven Perret President and CEO

•

1949 Canon

CI Group (Corporate Interiors of Baton Rouge) 7150 Jefferson Highway, Suite 530, Baton Rouge 70806 225-963-9400 | the-cigroup.com

Melony Breaux Fields Managing partner

•

2016 Teknion, OFS, Sit On It, Global

Baton Rouge Digital Products Inc. dba BRDP 11842 Cloverland Court, Baton Rouge 70809 225-291-5190 | brdp.com

Patricia Brignac Talbot Owner

GBP Direct Inc. 11930 Richcroft Ave., Baton Rouge 70814 225-774-8773 | gbpdirect.com

Randy Durbin Owner

•

1955 Kyocera, Epson, RISO

•

2000 Global, Hon and KI

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

Celebrating 90 Years

of Providing Everything for Your Office

7643 Florida Blvd, Baton Rouge, LA 70806 order@losco.com • 225-927-1110 • info@losco.com Owned by Family and Employee Geniuses

Operated by a well oiled Louisiana Machine

YO U R B U S I N E S S C O M PA N Y N E W S

ACCREDITATIONS Woman’s Hospital has earned national reaccreditation through the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program, an honor it has held since its first accreditation in 2016. MBSAQIP is a nationwide surgical quality program run jointly by the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, built around ensuring metabolic and bariatric surgery is performed safely and effectively. APPOINTMENTS Scott Black of Gulfcoast Pharmaceutical Specialty in Prairieville has been installed as president-elect of the Black Louisiana Pharmacists Association, and Richard Bordelon of Woman’s Retail Pharmacy in Baton Rouge has been installed as the association’s regional director. Both took their posts as part of the 2026-2027

board of directors, seated during the association’s 144th annual convention in July at Live! Casino and Hotel in Shreveport-Bossier City. LaDonna Williams is the new chair of the BRCC Foundation board of directors. Other recent appointments include Adrian Williams Owen Jones as vice chair, Kristi Wagley Richard as secretary and Chas Roemer as immediate past chair, with Ralph Bender continuing as treasurer. Williams, senior vice president at FMOL Health, has served on the board since October 2024. Jones, a partner at the leadership development firm Success Labs, joined the board in September 2024. Bender, chief financial officer of Manship Media, has been a member since 2023 and previously served as both treasurer and secretary. Richard is vice president of compliance and chief compliance officer for GSFSGroup. Founded in 1998, the foundation is the philanthropic arm

Excellence in Healthcare and Litigation

PHILANTHROPY SPOTLIGHT:

Camp Catahoula Fifty pediatric burn survivors from across Louisiana spent a week at Baton Rouge General’s Camp Catahoula, the free annual camp held in Lawrence, Mississippi. Now in its eighth year, the camp pairs summer staples—swimming, fishing, horseback riding, games—with something harder to find: time among other young people who have been through the same trauma, which organizers consider central to the healing process. Campers took on a ropes course, archery, karaoke, a glow party, cooking competitions and relay games, and they also made time for arts and crafts and small group sessions where they shared their stories. The camp is run

Strategic Growth. Experienced Talent. We are investing in the future by welcoming six accomplished attorneys to our team. These lawyers bring experience in medical malpractice defense, healthcare regulation, corporate investigations, and complex litigation. The additions also strengthen our firm’s ability to handle challenging cases while continuing to provide the exceptional service our clients deserve.

Baton Rouge - Lake Charles | LA 26-20807 Robert W. Barton | Managing Partner

Nancy B. Roberts, Morgan H. Johnson, Tara S. Bourgeois, Janie L. Coles, Garrett S. Callaway, Jonathan E. Thomas

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

YO U R B U S I N E S S C O M PA N Y N E W S

of Baton Rouge Community College, providing financial support for students, scholarships, academic programs and institutional priorities. AWARDS HONORS LSU researchers Peter Doran, Bret Elderd and Dr. Lucio Miele have been named 2025 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the highest honors in the global scientific community.

entirely by volunteers, including Baton Rouge General nurses, physical and occupational therapists, social workers and a chef, alongside the Baton Rouge Fire Department, Louisiana State Police, parents of young burn survivors and adult survivors who have been through it themselves. Several organizations raise money through the Baton Rouge General Foundation so local families pay nothing, with Shell as primary sponsor and support from the Baton Rouge State Fair Foundation, The Boo Grigsby Foundation, Brother’s Keepers, DonahueFavret, F45 City Square, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Professional Firefighters Association of Louisiana, the Spanish Town Ladies Auxiliary, adult burn survivors, individual donors and current and former staff. “Camp Catahoula creates a unique opportunity for young burn survivors to build confidence, make new friends, and enjoy experiences that many will remember for a lifetime,” says Shell Geismar Vice President JJ Howell.

Donna Saurage has received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, recognizing her long-standing leadership and support of the university and the Baton Rouge community. A former FranU board of trustees member, she helped advance the university’s development and community engagement efforts. The Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership has won Site Selection Magazine’s Mac Conway Award for Excellence in

Economic Development, a national recognition of top-performing regional economic development organizations. The award measures performance in business investment, job creation, economic growth and talent attraction. In 2025, The partnership supported 12 major project wins totaling more than $10.6 billion in announced capital investment and more than 2,100 new direct jobs, including Hyundai Steel’s $5.8 billion investment in Ascension Parish, CF Industries’ low-carbon ammonia project and Hood Container’s modernization in West Feliciana Parish. “Louisiana’s Capital Region continues to compete successfully because of the strength of our sites, infrastructure, workforce and business climate,” said Jayson Newell, acting co-CEO. Board Chair Klein Kirby credited partners across the region’s nine parishes. Winners were chosen using a composite index drawing on the Conway Projects Database, the Milken Institute’s 2026 Best Performing Cities Index and, for the first time this year, the Lightcast Talent Attraction Scorecard 2025.

Whatever you’re facing,

You don’t have to face it alone! No matter where you are in your healthcare journey, The Carpenter Health Network has the people, services and support to meet you there! Contact us today for more information, or visit our website at TheCarpenterHealthNetwork.com.

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

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Becom

INSIDE

YO U R B U S I N E S S C O M PA N Y N E W S

David Muth and Mark Shirley will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana at the 30th annual Coastal Stewardship Awards in September at SoLou in Baton Rouge. Muth of New Orleans is retired from the National Park Service and the National Wildlife Federation. He oversaw the Barataria Preserve at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, later joined NWF’s Mississippi River Delta program, served on the advisory team of every Coastal Master Plan to date and helped steer Deepwater Horizon spill funding to projects across the Gulf. Shirley of Abbeville is retired from Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter and is known in some circles as the state’s alligator ambassador. He helped shape state alligator harvesting and farming policy, supported the growth of the crawfish industry and created the Marsh Maneuvers camp, completed by more than 1,900 Louisiana high schoolers. Nine others will also be recognized, including Todd Baker, Ioannis Georgiou, Kristina

EXPANSIONS ACQUISITIONS Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has expanded into the Leesville area, with Vernon Oncology Clinic joining Louisiana’s largest cancer care organization. Now operating under the Mary Bird Perkins name, the clinic offers medical oncology, lab services and infusion therapy, with Dr. Kanchan Upadhyay continuing to see patients.

Peterson, Franziska Trautmann and Jim Wilkins. Colonial Pipeline is sponsoring the event and tickets are available online. Kyle Stevens of Bellingrath Pharmacy in Greenwell Springs has been named Independent Pharmacist of the Stevens Year by the Louisiana Pharmacists Association. The award recognizes creative pharmacy management, technological advancement within the pharmacy and active participation in new patient intervention programs. The association presented the honor at its 144th annual convention, held in July at Live! Casino and Hotel in Shreveport-Bossier City. EVENTS CELEBRATIONS Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University honored 146 graduates at its spring 2026 commencement in May at the Raising Cane’s River Center Arena. Family, friends, faculty and staff gathered

to recognize graduates from the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Health Professions, and Nursing. Hancock Whitney hosted a Small Business Week Celebration in May at its Bocage Financial Center, welcoming local small business clients with lunch, giveaways and an opportunity for clients and bankers to connect and celebrate the role that small businesses play in the community.

Southern University alumnus Dexter Henderson is putting $1 million into turning a long-vacant, blighted building at 6800 Scenic Highway into The Jaguar Colosseum, a modern student housing community with six residential units capable of housing more than 20 Southern students. The site sits minutes from campus, and Henderson frames the project as both a housing plan and a revitalization effort for the Scenic Highway corridor and north Baton Rouge. The investment in north Baton Rouge is intended to support the university, strengthen local businesses, restore pride along

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

YO U R B U S I N E S S C O M PA N Y N E W S

Scenic Highway and advance equitable economic development. Construction is underway, with completion scheduled for the first quarter of 2027 and units move-in ready for students at that point. PHILANTHROPY COMMUNITY INVESTMENT Coastal Conservation Association Louisiana, along with Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves, has installed the Eugene Island 74 artificial reef offshore of New Iberia/Morgan City—the second of five reefs funded by Graves’

$500,000 commitment to the R.E.E.F. Louisiana program. DAA Media + Marketing has committed $50,000 in monetary and in-kind donations to the community to commemorate the independent agency’s 50th anniversary. Founded in Baton Rouge in 1976, DAA Media is directing the gift through its DAAM+M Good community impact program. LWCC has announced a 2025 dividend of $15.64 million to roughly 2,950 businesses across Greater Baton Rouge—part of a $90 million statewide dividend to about 18,500 policyholder businesses, marking its 23rd consecutive year of distributing dividends.

ExxonMobil Baton Rouge closed out its 2026 high school internship program in July with a ceremony where interns from area high schools gave final presentations on the projects they completed Issue Date: Aug 2026 Ad proof #3skills they built over the and the • Please respond by e-mail or phone with your approval orsummer. minor revisions. The program gives stu• AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received within 24 hrsexperience in a dents hands-on from receipt of this proof. A shorter timeframe will apply for tight deadlines. • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees.

professional work environment while introducing them to careers in oil and gas. Interns were paired with mentors and worked alongside ExxonMobil employees across engineering, information technology, laboratory operations, maintenance, communications and pipeline operations. In August, Baton Rouge General hosted a free family event at the MLK Community Center, 4000 Gus Young Ave. “Ready, Set, School!” targeted the easy-to-overlook details that shape a child’s first day: comfort, safety and confidence. Pediatric physical and occupational therapists conducted fit checks of backpacks and shoes, where families learned why buying a size up for kids to grow into can do more harm than good. Student-athletes received sports physicals on-site. Registered dietitians shared lunch and after-school snack ideas kids would actually eat, the Mid City ER team provided information on preventing household accidents and keeping kids safe while home alone, and licensed counselors from The

Wellness Studio discussed mental health resources for kids and teens. Families also picked up immunization information, study tools from Studyville, East Baton Rouge Parish Library resources and details on EBR Schools’ Medical Zone program at Park Medical Academy, Capitol Elementary and Capitol High. Prizes included a laptop. Project 70805 hosted its 11th annual Back to School Expo in July in partnership with Hancock Whitney, giving out free school supplies to Baton Rouge families. The event was held at the Jewel J. Newman Community Center, 2013 Central Road, and brought together local organizations and partners supporting families ahead of the new school year. Supporting organizations included Hancock Whitney, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, District 2 Council member Anthony Kenney, the office of School Board member Carla Powell, Bonton Associates, the Jewel J. Newman Community Center and the Diontrey Claiborne Stop the Violence Organization.

Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS

Gerry Lane Chevrolet is honored to sponsor the Baton Rouge Excellence in Healthcare Awards, celebrating professionals who care for our community every day. WE ARE FAMILY. WE ARE TRADITION. WE ARE BATON ROUGE.

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BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

YO U R B U S I N E S S M O V I N G U P

KRYSTAL BRUNET Synergy Bank

JULIA FILCE Synergy Bank

NICOLE GIL Synergy Bank

LESLIE MAYA Synergy Bank

BANKING & FINANCE continue as compliance officer and Synergy Bank’s board of direcCommunity Reinvestment Act oftors has named six promotions ficer. Krystal Brunet and Nicole within bank leadership. Julia Filce, Gil have been named assistant vice Matthew “Matt” Ortego and Sarah presidents. Brunet will continue as Rhodes have been named vice director of loan operations, drawing presidents. Filce will continue as on 10 years with the bank and prior executive secretary, building on a experience as a loan assistant and 25-year tenure with the bank that manager. Gil, who joined Franciscan branch Missionaries Our LadySynergy University has included service as humanofrein 2014, will continue as sources coordinator, auditor and deposit operations supervisor, apteller coordinator, and she has plying her 17 years of banking ex43 years of banking experience. perience along with her Accredited Ortego will continue as commerACH Professional and National cial lender at the bank’s Tunnel Check Professional certifications. Office in Houma, having joined Leslie Maya has been named bankSynergy years ago a credit Ad proof ing officer. Issue 15 Date: Augas 2026 #6 She was recently proanalyst. Rhodes, a certified regto consumer lender at the • Please respond by e-mail or phone with your approval ormoted minor revisions. • AD WILLcompliance RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are receivedNew withinRoads 24 hrs office, following ulatory manger who bank’s from receipt of this proof. A shorter timeframe will apply for tight deadlines. joined Synergy in July 2011, will prior service as a loan processor • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees.

MATTHEW ORTEGO Synergy Bank

SARAH RHODES Synergy Bank

KEAN JONES Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership

and loan assistant, and has seven years of banking experience. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Kean Jones has been promoted to vice president of governmental affairs at the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership. In his role, he will lead the partnership’s governmental affairs strategy and work with public- and private-sector partners to advance regional priorities tied to economic development, workforce preparation and quality of place. EDUCATION Kurt Culbertson has been named director of the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape

DON BOYD Cumulus Media

Architecture. In his role, he will provide strategic leadership for the school’s academic programs, faculty, research initiatives and partnerships while strengthening its role as a leader in landscape architecture education and practice. MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS Don Boyd has been promoted to regional vice president with expanded oversight at Cumulus Media. In his role, he will oversee the company’s radio stations in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and New Orleans, along with Columbus-Starkville, Mississippi, while continuing to lead Cumulus’ five-station operation in Mobile, Alabama.

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Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026

R E C H A R G E B OW H U N T I N G

Trent Fresina “The best part of bowhunting isn’t just the challenge. It’s the connection to nature. The quiet of the woods is incredibly peaceful, and having to get so close to the animals lets you observe their habits and behavior in a way that’s both humbling and rewarding.”

©Copyright 2026 by Melara Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved by LBI. The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report (USPS 721-890 ISSN 0747-4652) is published monthly plus 3 additional issues annually in June, November and December, by Louisiana Business Inc. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Business address: 9029 Jefferson Hwy., Ste. 300, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. Telephone (225) 928-1700. Periodicals Postage Paid at Baton Rouge, LA and at additional mailing offices. Subscription rate is $120.00 for 15 issues. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, 9029 Jefferson Hwy. Ste. 300, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report cannot be responsible for the return of unsolicited material—manuscripts or photographs, with or without the inclusion of a stamped, self-addressed return envelope. Information in this publication is gathered from sources considered to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed. No information expressed here constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities.

BUSINESS REPORT, August 2026 | BusinessReport.com

DON KADAIR

Owner of LeBlanc & Fresina Builders, Neighborhood Health and Our Mom’s Restaurant & Bar

Getting your business where you want to be is our mission. That means we’re ready to work with you to ensure your company gets up and running or to the next level quickly. Plus, we’re home to a lower cost of doing business, efficient infrastructure and a top-tier talent pipeline to help keep you growing for years to come. Sure, this sounds like a dream, but it’s not. This is Iowa. Minding your Business. Learn more about us at businessiowa.com.

LUXURY CUSTOM HOMES 225.335.7134 | DANTINBUILDERS.COM | LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED