LSU Appoints Green Hospital Administrator For Leonard J. Chabert

the newsletter of the lsu health care services division
A Monthly Column by
Michael K. Butler, MD, CPE, MHA
Acting CEO of LSU HCSD
Good leadership is requisite
for any organization to succeed,
but rarely does good leadership
blossom without nurturing. In an
emergency for a single patient or
an entire hospital, good leadership
is paramount for the best
outcomes, but it is also important
in the day-to-day activities that
guide good patient care and good
hospital management.
The Health Care Services
Division is planting the seeds
for future leadership with its
participation in the Academy
Leadership Fellowship, which
draws on faculty of the Harvard
schools of public health and
business and has its own fulltime faculty to guide leadersto-be from around the nation
in an accelerated program of
development.
Each of our hospitals and
HCSD headquarters nominate
those likely to succeed in this
program. If we provide the
opportunity for development to
our future leaders, wherever they
are, we’ll likely have excellent
leadership for LSU hospitals and
clinics well into the twenty-first
century.
Besides sending staff to the
fellowship program in Washington,
D.C., we also bring in speakers
throughout the year for our LSU
HCSD Clinician Leadership
Development Academy. We
make available to medical and
See Dr. Butler, page 8
november 2007
LSU Appoints Green Hospital Administrator
For Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center
outpatient care areas and more
than 400 full-time employees.
“We have complete confidence
in Ms. Green’s ability to oversee
the operation of Leonard. J.
Chabert Medical Center,” said
Dr. Michael Butler, acting chief
executive officer of the LSU
Health Care Services Division.
“She is highly qualified and has
a wealth of experience. Her skill,
achievements, and dedication rank
her among the best.”
From 1999 to 2004, she
was nurse manager of the
acute medical detox unit at the
Medical Center of Louisiana at
New Orleans, where she was
Rhonda Green, RN, MBA/MHCM, hospital
responsible for opening the unit
administrator for Leonard J. Chabert
and for its guidelines and policy
Medical Center (LJCMC), in Houma,
development, implementation
Louisiana
of protocols for patient care and
BATON ROUGE—The LSU
treatment, and staff hiring, with less
Health Care Services Division has
than a one-percent turnover rate.
appointed Rhonda Green, RN, MBA/ She also served as an assistant
MHCM, hospital administrator for
section manager in the Emergency
Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center
Department for 12 years.
(LJCMC) in Houma, Louisiana,
She served as emergency room
effective December 1, 2007.
See Rhonda Green, page 8
Ms. Green, who has served as
table of contents
acting hospital administrator since
green appointed ljc administrator pg.1
July 2007, has more than 17 years
leadership academy graduates
pg.2
experience in hospital management
clinician leadership development pg.3
and health care. As chief nursing
lkrmc music on hold program
pg.3
officer from 2004 to 2007 for LJCMC, bmc receives $11M for expansion pg.4
a 90-bed facility, she served as
varnado receives top award
pg.5
a senior administrator and was
lsu interim hospital opens clinic pg.6
responsible for all inpatient and
lombardi letter to lsu hospitals pg.7
lsu health care services division | 8550 united plaza blvd, ste 400, baton rouge, la 70809-2256 | ph: 225.922.0488
page Pottorff, Runfalo Graduate from Leadership Academy
BATON ROUGE—Jimmy Pottorff,
associate hospital administrator
for W.O. Moss Regional Medical
Center, and Regina Runfalo,
associate hospital administrator
for Bogalusa Medical Center, are
the first LSU HCSD graduates of
the prestigious Advisory Board
Academy Fellowship.
The Academy Fellowship,
based in Washington, D.C., is
a rigorous program designed
to accelerate the readiness of
emerging leaders of health and
hospital systems so that they can
assume senior positions. In other
words, the program allows its
fellows to hit the ground running
when the time comes.
“The program is designed
to reach out and develop future
leaders for our system,” said
Lanette Buie, LSU HCSD acting
deputy CEO for administration.
In partnership with select
members of the Harvard
Business School and Harvard
School of Public Health, the
Academy Fellowship has full-time
researchers, education specialists,
and faculty who tailor the program
for each fellow so that its lessons
will be immediately applicable.
“The program has given me a
different perspective when I look at
data,” Pottorff said. “I learned how
to analyze a lot of raw data into
usable information that can impact
daily operations of our facility.”
Runfalo, a registered nurse with
vast clinical experience, praised
the broad scope of the program,
which permitted her to hone her
expertise in financial performance,
strategic planning, and leadership.
“The program gives me the ability
to look at the big picture,” she
said and noted the expertise of
faculty and their willingness to help
students develop their potential.
The two-year
program consists of
classroom instruction,
an individual
development plan,
a practicum on a
significant project for
each fellow’s hospital
or headquarters
office, and an
independent study
curriculum from the
Harvard Business
Regina Runfalo, RN
Jimmy Pottorff
School.
“The exciting
thing about the Advisory Board
hospital systems.”
partnership is that it can provide
HCSD is similar to other
support to us on critical issues
systems, but unique as well. “We
facing hospitals today and in the
saw that systems elsewhere in the
future,” Runfalo said.
nation, public or private, have the
same issues that we do,” Pottorff
said. “But a lot of the others don’t
“The program has given me
do what we do in our health care
a different perspective when I
effectiveness program.”
look at data. I learned how to
Each fellowship class is limited
analyze a lot of raw data into
to
15
to 20 students, who are from
usable information that can
around the nation. The small class
impact daily operations of our
size permits active participation.
facility.”
Each class is also broken into
—Jimmy Pottorff
study groups that remain intact
throughout the two years.
Fellows go to Washington,
Each HCSD hospital and HCSD
D.C., six times in a two-year
headquarters nominate employees
period. Each visit is for three days
who have outstanding leadership
of intensive learning. Each fellow
potential to participate as fellows
also has meetings or conference
in the academy. HCSD executive
calls with a mentor at HCSD as
leadership then selects who will
part of the educational process.
attend. HCSD now has 20 fellows in
As each graduates, each becomes
the program.
a mentor.
“We’re putting through a whole
As word of the program spread
spectrum of various disciplines
through HCSD, it quickly gained
within our hospitals—nurses, CFO’s,
in popularity. “I have four slots
associate hospital administrators,
left, but I have 15 nominations for
lab managers,” said Buie. “We
those slots,” Buie said.
recognize that we have excellent
The next HCSD class will
employees in their specific areas,
graduate in April 2008. “It’s a
but they don’t have this broad
program I’m extremely proud of,”
range of hospital knowledge. This
she said.
program exposes them to other
lsu health care services division | 8550 united plaza blvd, ste 400, baton rouge, la 70809-2256 | ph: 225.922.0488
page l
LKRMC Seeks
Music Submissions
The LSU HCSD Clinician
Leadership Development Academy
Music on Hold Offers Wide
Exposure to Louisiana Musicians
BATON ROUGE– Like death and
taxes, being put on hold is an
unavoidable part of life. Now, at
least, you can enjoy the latter when
you call the Lallie Kemp Regional
Medical Center (LKRMC), in
Independence, Louisiana.
After Hurricane Katrina, Dr.
Kathleen Willis, who is the LKRMC
medical director and a musician,
wanted to offer assistance to
struggling displaced Louisiana
musicians, some of whom resettled
on the north shore, so she created
Music On Hold (MOH).
Lindsey Cardinale
“I thought it would be a great
idea to put together a loop of
various local artists to showcase
their music to hundreds of people
daily,” she said, describing MOH,
which LKRMC plays when a caller
is put on hold. “We identify each
group at the end of the song just
as you would hear on the radio
and offer a health tip as well.” The
current loop has 32 songs.
Hundreds of people listen to the
MOH loop daily, a diverse audience
of the more than 400 LKRMC
See Music, page 6
BATON ROUGE—The LSU
HCSD Clinician Leadership
Development Academy (CLDA)
received instruction from Michael
Guthrie, MD, MBA, on “Capstone:
Institutional and Personal Reports,
Setting Clinical Improvement
Goals and Outcome Measures,
Considering the Baldridge National
Quality Program,” in October at the
Burden Conference Center in Baton
Rouge.
HCSD developed the CLDA
to meet current and future needs
of HCSD medical and nursing
directors, to present courses and
opportunities that will increase
directors’ effectiveness, and to
support the professionalism of
medical and nursing leadership
including those leading clinical,
redesign programs and those with
leadership potential.
The following were in attendance
at this meeting: First row (left to
right): Drs. Michael Kaiser, Sarah
Moody-Thomas, and Mohammed
Sarwar; Martha Smith, RN; Mary
Broussard, RN; Drs. Thomas
Ferguson, Hamid Hussain, and
Lee Roy Joyner; and Carolyn
Adair, RN.
Second row: Dr. Ben Darby;
Brenda Daigle Murry, RN; Judy
Drummond, RN; and Dr. James
Falterman.
Third row: Drs. Kevin Reed
and Karen Curry; Rachelle
Smith, RN; Mej Matte, RN; Kristin
Bonner; Dr. Alan Broussard;
Cindy Ingram, RN; and Dr. Cathi
Fontenot.
Fourth row: Dr. Gene Beyt;
Christy Bronold, RN; Dr. Jolene
Johnson; John Germany, RN;
Ethel Bernard Ambrose, RN; Dr.
Lee Arcement; Nathan Daigrepont;
Rhonda Green, RN; Connie
Liuzza, RN; Drs. Michael Garcia
and Kathleen Willis; Keith Verret;
and Dr. Shami Gupta.
www.lsuhospitals.org features
A comprehensive listing of facilities, departments, services and information
sources for LSU HCSD hospitals and clinics, an expanded news and
announcements section, current press releases and annual reports as
well as job listings and information on the LSU Health Care Effectiveness
Program.
lsu health care services division | 8550 united plaza blvd, ste 400, baton rouge, la 70809-2256 | ph: 225.922.0488
page Bogalusa Medical Center Receives $11 Million for Expansion of
Family Medicine Clinic and New OB/GYN Unit
Residency Program Receives Accreditation Due to Expansion & New Unit
BOGALUSA—Bogalusa Medical
Center (BMC) is receiving $11 million from the State Bond Commission for expansion and renovation
of its Family Medicine Clinic and
for construction of a new OB/GYN
unit. The plans for the expansion
and new OB/GYN unit meet the
requirements of the Accreditation
Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). As a result, the
ACGME gave full accreditation to
the LSU Rural Family Medicine
Residency Program.
“Quality health care begins before birth,” said Dr. Michael Butler,
acting chief executive officer for the
LSU HCSD. “The expansion of the
family medicine clinic and construction of the OB/GYN unit will permit BMC to enlarge its delivery of
comprehensive care for the north
shore, where the population is experiencing tremendous growth.”
Construction of the new OB/
GYN unit will begin in November
and is scheduled for completion
by August 2008. The new unit will
feature spacious, modern labor-delivery-and-recovery (LDR) rooms,
exam rooms, conference rooms,
and waiting areas. The LDR rooms
are designed so that a mother can
labor, deliver, and recover in the
same room and have nearly continuous contact with her family.
The unit will also have a complete
C-section room with anesthesia.
The Family Practice clinic addition, slated to begin construction
early next year, will more than
double the size of the clinic, from
7,500 square feet to 18,000 square
feet.
“Bogalusa Medical Center and
quality health care are synonymous
Bogalusa Medical Center, Bogalusa, Louisiana
in this region,” said Kurt Scott, BMC
hospital administrator. “The new
facility will strengthen our delivery of
service to the community and greatly
enhance our mission of medical education.”
In its May 2007 site visit, the ACGME Residency Review Committee
(RRC) indicated that BMC rural family medicine residents needed delivery and obstetric continuity-of-care
experience and that the program
needed more clinical space and a
birthing center. The expansion and
new OB/GYN unit will allow the program to meet those criteria. The
RRC will again visit BMC in September 2008 to inspect the new facility.
The impact of the LSU Family
Medicine Residency Program extends far beyond BMC and even beyond health care.
“Seventy percent of residents
settle within 50 miles of where they
train,” said Dr. Dennis LaRavia,
director of the LSU Rural Family
Medicine Residency Program at
BMC. “The Journal of the American
Medical Association reported the
impact in the first year of a physician settling in a community to be
$1.25 million and a rollover effect
of seven times that for each subsequent year.”
Therefore, it is estimated that
the north shore community can
expect a $100 million impact from
residents alone over the next 10
years in addition to an impressive
influence on quality and access of
care and an improved financial bottom line for consulting physicians
in the area and local hospitals.
The Rural Family Medicine
Residency Program accepts four
residents a year for its three-year
program.
The program is indebted to the
Gaylord Chemical Company and
its parent corporation, Temple Inland, which donated the building
in which the program resides, and
to Senator Ben Nevers and Representative Harold Ritchie, who recognized the importance of the project to the community and ensured
that it would occur.
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page l
Varnado Receives Top Award for Wound Care
Recognition Ranks Her Among the Best in the Nation
BATON ROUGE – The South
Central Region Wound, Ostomy
and Continence Nurses Society
(SCRWOCN) named Myra
Varnado RN, BS, CDE, CWOCN,
as its Wound, Ostomy and
Continence Nurse of the Year for
2007 at the
SCRWOCN
Regional
Conference in
Baton Rouge,
La.
An RN for
27 years,
certified
diabetic
Myra Varnado RN, BS, educator,
CDE, CWOCN
and certified
WOC nurse, Varnado manages the
Wound, Ostomy and Continence
Nurse Clinic at the Lallie Kemp
Regional Medical Center. The
SCRWOCN selected Varnado from
the five-state region that includes
Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi,
Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Peers
from across this region nominated
her for this award.
Varnado was selected for the
award because she demonstrates
excellence in the wound, ostomy
and continence (WOC) nursing
specialty focusing on strong
evidence- and scientific-based
practices. She has long lectured
on WOC nursing, sharing
knowledge with and training other
professionals and paraprofessionals.
Varnado was also instrumental in
the establishment and management
of the nationally recognized LSU
Diabetes Foot Program telemedicine programs. LSU HCSD is
establishing telemedicine diabetes
foot programs in its seven hospitals
in south Louisiana.
Created to provide specialized
diabetes foot care and prevent lowerextremity amputations, the LSU
Diabetes Foot Program has been
successful in healing ulcers and
reducing foot-related hospitalizations
and lower-extremity amputations.
The main goal is to decrease the
number of amputations and to
improve the quality of life of patients.
This outpatient care is also less
expensive than inpatient care.
The Discovery Health Channel
featured Varnado for her work
with lower extremity amputation
prevention in a documentary entitled,
“Lower Extremity Amputation
Prevention Clinic and LEAP
Education Classes.”
As a wound care nurse, she is
highly skilled and trained to provide
care to patients with chronic longterm wounds, such as foot wounds
associated with diabetes, in an
effort to revitalize and improve the
skin tissue to promote healing and
to prevent amputation. Varnado
provides comprehensive care to
patients with all types of wounds
by providing dressing changes,
medicine applications and other
treatments.
Varnado is a graduate of the
Emory University WOC Nursing
Education Program, Atlanta,
Georgia, where she serves as a
member of the faculty, teaching
complex diabetes foot management
and lower-extremity, amputationprevention content to WOC nurses.
She has demonstrated
excellence in professional practice,
frequently offering educational
activities at all levels, precepting
new WOC nurses and nursing
students for nursing schools, and
speaking on a national level about
a variety of clinical and professional
practice WOC nursing topics.
Ms. Varnado is the national
WOCN Professional Practice Chair
and a member of the national
WOCN Wound Guidelines Task
Force as the primary author of
the evidence-based guideline
Management of Wounds in
Patients with Lower Extremity
Neuropathic Disease. An
accomplished writer, lecturer, and
presenter for various professional
organizations nationwide, she has
authored several publications on
diabetes and wound management.
The 11th Annual
Forum on Health
Care Effectiveness
entitled “Eliminating
Disparities:
Improving Access to
Relationship-Centered Care” will
be Tuesday, January 15, 2008, in
Baton Rouge.
For information and forum
registration form, poster and
presentation application form, and
TRRAQSSS award guidelines, visit
http://www.lsuhsc.edu/hcsd/cmo/
HCET/11thannualforum/default.
htm.
Note deadlines for applications.
lsu health care services division | 8550 united plaza blvd, ste 400, baton rouge, la 70809-2256 | ph: 225.922.0488
page From Music, page 3
employees, patients, patients’
families and friends, and others
who call LKRMC. Musicians
on the current loop range from
Lindsey Cardinale, a finalist on the
2005 American Idol, to Nocturnal
Music label artists Warren Batiste
and Invisible Cowboys.
Willis updates the music every
three to six months and is now
accepting submissions of all kinds
of music for the second MOH loop.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to
compensate the musicians, but it
will give them exposure that they
may not otherwise have,” Willis
said.
Besides Batiste, Cardinale,
and the Invisible Cowboys, the
following contributed songs to
the current loop: Coffee, Ruby
Thompson, Rockin Russell, Eli
Seals, Charlie Palmer, David
Wayne, Each, Ben Manuel, Jim
Wilsford, Tijonne Reyes, Rocky
Denny, James Bass, Rusty Bonz,
Patrick Foster, and Danny Bond.
Musicians should send a
good quality CD recording, lyric
sheet, and promotional material,
if available, to Dr. Kathleen
Willis, 52579 Highway 51 South,
Independence, LA 70443. She
will also accept WAV files at
kwilli2@lsuhsc.edu.
Turbo Records is producing the
recording free of charge.
TiJonne Reyes
LSU Interim Hospital Opens Outpatient Clinic
at O. Perry Walker High School
BATON ROUGE – The LSU Interim
comprehensive health services.”
Hospital held a ribbon-cutting on Oct.
The clinic collaborates with
17 for the opening of the outpatient
the Metropolitan Human Services
health center at O. Perry Walker
District (MHSD) and others to
College and Career Preparatory
provide treatment for behavioral,
High School, at 2832 General Meyer
mental-health, and addictive
Avenue in New Orleans.
disorders; access to developmental
“Quality health care begins with
disabilities services; and case
preventive care,” said Dr. Michael
management.
Kaiser, acting chief medical officer of
For patients under 18 years
the LSU HCSD and a pediatrician.
of age, the clinic collaborates
“This clinic will be in the school,
with Children’s Hospital and the
offering accessible health care in the
pediatrics departments of the LSU
medical home model, regardless of
and Tulane health sciences centers
the student’s ability to pay.”
to provide diagnostic imaging,
The health center is open 7:30 AM procedures, and labs; hospitalization
to 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday,
and subspecialty access; and
when school is in session. It will be
dental care through public-private
closed when the
partnerships.
school is closed.
“O. Perry Walker has
“The clinic can give students tried to create a holistic
The health
the prompt attention that can approach to the education
center will be
prevent minor illness from
staffed by a full- becoming major.”
of our students, and dealing
time nurse practiwith their physical well-being
—Dr. Dwayne Thomas
tioner, expanded
is as vital as their academic
role registered
health. With the immediate
nurse, behavioral health counselor
availability of the clinic, students can
and case manager, and will provide
assume responsibility for their health
regular access to an on-site pediatriand know there is a safe place for
cian.
them to turn,” said Mary Laurie,
With an emphasis on prevention,
principal of O. Perry Walker. “The
the clinic provides comprehensive
on-campus clinic will also serve as a
routine examinations, sports
window onto the health professions
physicals, hearing and vision
and may stimulate students’ interest
screens, immunizations, injury
in health-care careers.”
prevention, evidence-based chronic
Baptist Community Ministries
disease management (treatment
coordinated the partnership between
for hypertension, obesity, diabetes
LSU and the Algiers Charter
mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and asthma), Schools Association, providing
nonemergent acute care, sexuallyexpert consulting and servicetransmitted disease screenings and
delivery planning, and assisted in
treatment, stop-smoking programs,
securing a grant for $140,000 from
and assistance with obtaining needed the Office of Public Health for clinic
medications.
operations, including $40,000 for
“The clinic can give students the
behavioral health services, which
prompt attention that can prevent
MHSD provides.
minor illness from becoming major,”
School Health Connections,
said Dr. Dwayne Thomas, hospital
which is funded primarily by the
administrator for LSU Interim Hospital. Kellogg Foundation, coordinated the
“We’ll also work with other health-care renovation of the school site for the
providers so that students can receive clinic.
lsu health care services division | 8550 united plaza blvd, ste 400, baton rouge, la 70809-2256 | ph: 225.922.0488
page l
Lombardi Asks News Organizations to Stop Using “Charity”
Dr. John Lombardi, LSU System president, sent the following letter of October 9, 2007, to news editors and
directors throughout Louisiana:
Since 1736, six buildings in New Orleans have carried the name “Charity Hospital.”
Generations of New Orleanians were treated at these facilities by legions of dedicated medical professionals. When Hurricane Katrina wrecked so-called Big Charity, dispersing patients
and doctors, the history of Charity Hospital was forever changed.
As more and more patients and physicians return to medical facilities in Southeast Louisiana,
Louisiana State University is deploying a new model of health care delivery that includes satellite clinics near patient homes. Our Level One trauma center is active. We recently opened
a behavioral unit at the DePaul Hospital site to relieve the chronic demand for psychiatric
services. Now, I propose, the time has come for you to consider modifying your official style,
regarding hospitals run by LSU.
Dr. John Lombardi
As you know, the Legislature in 1997 voted to give administrative control of the state’s public
hospitals and clinics to Louisiana State University. Under LSU’s guidance, medical professionals have enhanced
patient outcomes, reduced costs, and instituted chronic disease management programs that have been nationally
recognized. In addition, LSU continues to train more than 70 percent of the physicians practicing in our state. The
old “Big Charity” served Louisianans well. Even before Hurricane Katrina dealt its fatal blow, however, the facility
had exceeded its useful life and was no longer a suitable venue for the delivery of modern health care services and
medical training.
Those who advocate an alternative to the old “charity hospital” model have become fond of the buzz word “health
care redesign” even though they don’t know exactly what the term means or how much more redesign will cost.
LSU has been quietly “redesigning” health care for many years and improving outcomes while living within its legislatively approved budget. LSU believes that phrases like “charity hospital” and “charity hospital system” are a part
of the state’s proud heritage and a testament to the compassion conveyed by the Great Seal of the State of Louisiana, but they no longer describe the modern approach to medical care being pursued by LSU. In fact, no hospital
among the 10 LSU public hospitals is legally known as a “charity hospital.” University Hospital in New Orleans that
used to be part of the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans is now legally known as the Interim LSU Public
Hospital.
In addition, no LSU hospital exclusively treats indigent patients. Yes, the majority of our patients are uninsured or
underinsured, but in Shreveport, for instance, 14 percent of patients have private insurance and another 16 percent
are Medicare recipients. Paying patients are treated daily by our Level One Trauma Centers in New Orleans and
Shreveport. As you know, the planned LSU hospitals in New Orleans and Baton Rouge will be known as academic
teaching centers. Therefore, continuing to refer to these facilities as “charity hospitals” is anachronistic and simply
inaccurate.
We also believe the term “charity hospital” has become racially charged and is tinged with a pejorative undertone
that not only negatively skews public debate over health care reform but also feeds perceptions that unfairly challenge the quality of medical care delivered by our medical staffs such as the widely used and erroneous assertion
that public hospitals are responsible for Louisiana’s ranking as having the “highest costs and lowest quality patient
outcomes” in the nation.
As an alternative, we suggest “LSU hospitals and clinics” as a substitute for “charity hospitals” or the “charity hospital
system.” This name we believe more accurately reflects role, scope, and mission that encompass medical education as well as patient care under the aegis of LSU healthcare.
On behalf of the LSU System, thank you for considering our request. We await your response.
Sincerely,
Dr. John V. Lombardi
President
Louisiana State University System
lsu health care services division | 8550 united plaza blvd, ste 400, baton rouge, la 70809-2256 | ph: 225.922.0488
page Sincerely,
Michael Butler, MD, MHA, CPE
Community Memorial Hospital (CMH) in
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, donated 800 pairs of
scrubs of all sizes to LSU Interim Hospital. Diane
Angelico, RN, assistant director, HCSD Information
Services, Shirley Bazile, LSU IH Environmental
Services, and Martin Kennedy, LSU IH Physical
Therapy, received the scrubs from Linda Weber
and Pam Klemm who drove from Wisconsin to
make the delivery.
From Rhonda Green, page 1
charge nurse, orientation nurse and staff nurse for
Tenet Healthcare Kenner Regional Medical Center
from 1992 to 1999 and was responsible for staffing,
scheduling, and orientation of its 14-bed emergency
department.
Ms. Green also opened a 15-bed wound
care/psychiatric unit for Community Health Care
Hospital and developed unit policies, procedures,
and wound-care protocols and readied the unit for
and attained Department of Health and Hospitals
licensure.
She served in a variety of positions for Hotel
Dieu and University hospitals, including relief
house supervisor, assistant section manager and
orientation nurse for the emergency department,
staff nurse for the medical neurology and infectious
disease unit, and BLS and ACLS instructor. She
was named one of Hotel Dieu’s 25 Best Nurses
and the New Orleans District Nurses Association
Great 100 Nurses and received the Delores Shirley
Entrepreneurial Award.
Ms. Green holds a Bachelor of Arts in Nursing,
a Master of Business Administration and a Master’s
degree in Health Care Management. She is also a
legal nurse consultant and expert witness for area
law firms.
november 2007
nursing directors, staff officers,
hospital and system clinical
leaders, managers, and HCET
members the tools to manage
and lead so that we can provide
quality health care consistently
throughout all phases of
HCSD, from the bedside to the
spreadsheet.
All of what we do is
crystallized in our day-to-day
health care for each patient,
so we are extremely happy to
announce that Rhonda Green,
RN, MBA/MHA, is the new
hospital administrator for Leonard
J. Chabert Medical Center. She
started her career as a nurse,
daily attending to the injured
and ill, and has emerged on
numerous levels throughout
her career as a leader, always
mindful of the provision of
quality health care to every
individual. She leads by example
and by accomplishment. She
exemplifies the quality leadership
we envision for the future of
HCSD.
the newsletter of the lsu health care services division
From Dr. Butler, page 1
LSU Hospitals is a monthly newsletter of the
LSU Health Care Services Division, which operates
seven of the state of Louisiana’s public hospitals:
Bogalusa Medical Center
Bogalusa, La.
Earl K. Long Medical Center
Baton Rouge, La.
Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center
Independence, La.
Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center
Houma, La.
LSU Interim Hospital
New Orleans, La.
University Medical Center
Lafayette, La.
Dr. W.O. Moss Regional Medical Center
Lake Charles, La.
LSU Health Care Services Division
8550 United Plaza Blvd, Ste. 309
Baton Rouge, LA 70809
ph. 225.922.0488
fx. 225.922.2259
Michael K. Butler, MD, CPE, MHA
Acting CEO
Editor.........................Marvin McGraw
Editor.........................Michael Higgins
Design........................Shawn M. Taylor
w 3.lsuhospitals.org
lsu health care services division | 8550 united plaza blvd, ste 400, baton rouge, la 70809-2256 | ph: 225.922.0488
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