East Jefferson Hospital
Today, East Jefferson General Hospital announces its affiliation with M. D. Anderson Physicians Network. It is perhaps the largest victory in cancer care our region has ever seen. Local cancer patients will now have access to EJGH physicians who are credentialed through M. D. Anderson Physicians Network and will follow disease management guidelines for treating cancer, developed by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, the nation’s leader in cancer care.
“Achieving affiliate status with M. D. Anderson Physicians Network represents a great deal to our hospital and our region,” says Dr. Mark J. Peters, East Jefferson General Hospital President and CEO. “For EJGH, it is an endorsement of the excellence we have already demonstrated and it sets the standard even higher as we move forward.”
Dr. Peters went on to say, “For our region, affiliation means so much in the areas of civic pride, economic impact, business development, population retention and more. Nearly all of us have been touched by cancer. This affiliation will give greater hope than ever before for those who are diagnosed from this point forward.”
As one of only eight facilities to currently hold affiliate status, EJGH is now able to combine what it does best locally with the expertise of M. D. Anderson. Together, EJGH and Physicians Network will monitor adherence to clinical practice guidelines for the purpose of maintaining “best practices” in treating local cancer patients.
“M. D. Anderson Physicians Network is very pleased to affiliate with East Jefferson General Hospital in a program to offer comprehensive and integrated cancer care in the New Orleans area. East Jefferson General Hospital and its medical staff are committed to providing excellence in the care of cancer patients and we are excited by the opportunity to assist them in these efforts in a major metropolitan center,” says David G. Tubergen, MD, and Medical Director of M. D. Anderson Physicians Network.
East Jefferson currently has 29 physicians identified for their excellence who are either credentialed or undergoing the credentialing process by M. D. Anderson Physicians Network. While many physicians may play a role in the treatment of a cancer patient, only those with the responsibility of “managing” the wider direction of their care are considered eligible to be credentialed participants in this program. It also affords them access to M. D. Anderson expertise via regularly scheduled video-conferencing with colleagues in Houston.
Areas EJGH Will Serve
With our new affiliation with M. D. Anderson Physicians Network, East Jefferson General Hospital truly stands as a regional cancer center. Our service area encompasses almost the entire southern half of Louisiana (28 parishes), and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi (11 counties).
The Louisiana parishes represented in this service area include Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, St. Charles, Lafourche, Terrebonne, St. Mary, St. Martin, Assumption, St. James, St. John the Baptist, Ascension, Livingston, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, St. Helena, Point Coupee, Lafayette, Iberia, Vermilion and St. Landry. The Mississippi counties included in our service area are Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone, Forrest, Lamar, Marion, Walthall, Pike and Amite.
Child Abuse
April is Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month, and St. Tammany’s leading advocates for the cause will converge on the Capitol to educate legislators and make their case for more funding.
Leaders and supporters of the Children’s Advocacy Center, also known as Hope House, will visit the Capitol on April 24 in support of a $600,000 Capital Outlay request to build a new counseling center.
The CAC supports law enforcement by conducting forensic interviews in a neutral setting when a child has been alleged to have been victimized. The proceedings are witnessed by the investigators and can later be viewed by prosecutors and defense attorneys. In 2007, almost 300 children were interviewed at the center for investigative or court-related purposes.
State law mandates the conducting of forensic interviews in such cases, but does not provide funding. The CAC is supported by the voluntary donations from the Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, local benefactors and active fundraising efforts by the Center’s Board of Directors.
In recent years, the CAC has expanded its offerings to include counseling services for survivors of sexual abuse. Because the facility, located in Covington, is small, interviews with victims and counseling for survivors should not be conducted at the same time. Additionally, the demand for post-abuse counseling has risen and services need to be expanded, but space is limited at the current site. The CAC has submitted a Capital Outlay request to the state to build a small building separate from the main facility for use in conducting counseling.
On April 24, CAC staff, supporters and volunteers will visit the Capitol to give informational packets to legislators and urge support for the Capital Outlay request, in addition to tough laws protecting children and sentencing offenders.
Anyone interested in joining the trip to Baton Rouge or in supporting the CAC through other means is asked to contact CAC Executive Director Dorothy Garcia at 985.892.3885. For more information about the Hope House, visit www.StTammanyCAC.com.
Economic Indicators
According to the Center for Media Research, “In their annual spring forecast update of the U.S. economy, University of Michigan professor emeritus of economics Saul Hymans, and colleagues Joan Crary and Janet Wolfe, predict a 1.5 percent decline in national economic output growth (as measured by real Gross Domestic Product) for the current quarter, a drop of $44 billion. But a "no-growth" second quarter, thanks to smaller declines in vehicle sales, nondurable consumption and residential construction, gives reason for hope.
According to the Center, “According to the forecast, the weak pattern of GDP growth during the first half of 2008 is followed by a 2.5 percent growth rate during the second half and an even stronger 2.9 percent gain in real GDP during 2009.”
Home Federal Bancorp
Home Federal Bancorp, Inc. of Louisiana announced today that its Board of Directors at their meeting on April 9, 2008, declared a quarterly cash dividend of $.06 per share on the common stock of the Company payable on May 9, 2008 to the shareholders of record at the close of business on April 23, 2008.
Home Federal Bancorp, Inc. of Louisiana is the "mid-tier" holding company for Home Federal Savings and Loan Association, a federally-chartered, FDIC-insured savings association headquartered in Shreveport, Louisiana. Home Federal Savings and Loan Association operates from its main office and two branch offices in Shreveport, Louisiana. At December 31, 2007, the Company had $128.1 million of total assets, $97.6 million of total liabilities and $30.4 million of stockholders' equity.
NFL Draft
ESPN The Magazine’s NFL Draft Preview cover story, “It Ain’t Easy Being No. 1” — featuring 2008 draft prospect Darren McFadden — examines what it’s like for a team to have the number one pick on draft day. As the Miami Dolphins ponder whether the former Arkansas running back will be the right choice for them, writer David Fleming ponders whether owning the top slot in the NFL’s rookie sweepstakes is a blessing or a curse.
Or, is it simply that the system is broken?
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"The truth is the NFL draft is broken, absolutely; it flat out doesn't work." - Colts President Bill Polian
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"You have a league full of people, grizzled old scouts, whose entire identity and worth are wrapped up in being able to use tape, instinct and lore to predict who's going to be a good player, when the actual data say their wrong 50% of the time." - Professor Cade Massey, Yale University
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"They want to know everything and anything about you. Like Barack Obama being bad at bowling - I don't know what that has to do with him being president. But they want to know everything about candidates and draft pics. I don't know if I can run the country, but I know I can run the ball." - Darren McFadden on being poked and prodded by doctors at the Combine
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In “Kings for a Day,” The Magazine spends some time in New York City with five midround hidden gems – Antoine Cason (cornerback, Arizona), Jordon Dizon (linebacker, Colorado), Jacob Hester (running back, Louisiana State), Chase Ortiz (defensive end, Texas Christian), Dexter Jackson (wide receiver, Appalachian State) – who won’t be at Radio City Music Hall on April 26. While checking out the sites in the Big Apple, the players talked shop and discussed their plans for draft day: TV on or off?
Also in this issue, The Mag takes fans way inside the 2008 NFL Draft with “Breaking the Gridlock,” featuring a draft-value chart worthy of this year’s crowded field, and “Take it or Leave it,” in which more than one million fans weighed in as part of SportsNation’s mock draft. ESPN The Magazine has 21 packed pages of draft coverage to satiate the most demanding pigskin junkie.
Blue Cross
Louisiana State University’s E.J. Ourso College of Business on Friday inducted Peggy Scott, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, into its 2008 Hall of Distinction. The ceremony took place April 4 at LSU’s Lod Cook Conference Center in Baton Rouge, La.
Scott joins 44 other members in the Hall of Distinction, which recognizes individuals who make significant contributions to business, academia or government as well as to their community. She was selected because of her highly successful business career and long-term support of the college and LSU.
“This is the highest honor the college can bestow upon an individual,” said William R. Lane, interim dean of the Ourso College.
“This is a great honor,” Scott said. “My time at LSU helped pave the way for my career, and for that I am thankful. To be recognized as an outstanding businesswoman, in the company of these other great colleagues, is very humbling. I am enormously grateful.”
A CPA and Certified Valuation Analyst, Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from LSU and an MBA from Tulane University in New Orleans. She had a distinguished early career in public accounting and consulting with Deloitte Haskins & Sells and was the first woman in the firm’s 100-year history to head any Deloitte office. Scott has served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer with major operational roles at several other companies, including Pan-American Life Insurance Company, Novant Health, Inc., and General Health System. She received a Presidential Citation under Ronald Reagan for her work on Louisiana budgetary reforms.
