Health care expansion

St. Martin to receive more outpatient services

BREAUX BRIDGE — A 6,000-square-foot addition planned for St. Martin Hospital is just one sign that health services for residents in St. Martin Parish are expanding.

Since Lafayette General Medical Center took over the hospital in 2009, radiology services such as CT scans and mammography, cardiac stress testing and new physicians with specialities in women’s services and cardiology have joined the hospital’s campus, said Katie Hebert, chief executive officer and vice president of St. Martin Hospital.

Also, an ear, nose and throat specialist and an orthopedic surgeon will begin seeing patients this month, Hebert said.

“For our patients who are elderly, going to Lafayette is a big deal for them,” Hebert said. “We’re trying to bring those services here, so they don’t have to get on the highway.”

The $2 million expansion will enable the hospital to enlarge its emergency department, which treats between 13,000 to 15,000 patients annually, Hebert said.

The new addition will house outpatient services such as the lab and radiology departments, she said.

The hospital held a ground-breaking event Friday to commemorate the start of construction, which should be complete by June.

In 2008, residents living in Hospital District 2 voted to allow Lafayette General to lease the facility and take over its operations. The action eliminated a property tax that funded improvements at the facility. Lafayette General took over operations April 1 as part of the 25-year lease agreement. The Lafayette hospital also has an option to renew the lease for the next 24 years.

The takeover has offered residents more access to outpatient services, David Callecod, president and chief executive officer of Lafayette General, said after Friday’s ceremony. Over the past few years, Lafayette General has expanded its outreach to community hospitals outside of Lafayette Parish. It manages Abrom Kaplan Memorial Hospital in Kaplan and has clinical affiliations with Abbeville General, Savoy Medical Center in Mamou, Opelousas General and American Legion Hospital in Crowley.

“We’re their link to the physicians, so they can have access to speciality services and grow their hospitals,” Callecod said.