Chabert sees growth over last six years

The Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center is quickly becoming a healthcare icon. As recent population growth in the area has caused the facility to expand, its patients have recognized a few changes.

“I’ve had patients tell me ‘I don’t mind driving an hour to be treated like a human being,'” said Chabert’s CEO Rhonda Green. “They like the care.”

What started as a small clinic in 1978 has now become a staple of quality healthcare, offering everything from cardiology to oncology, which is a grave necessity in a region dampened with an abundance of cancer patients.

“These services, for the population we provide for, if we don’t offer it, they can’t get it somewhere else,” added Green.

Preventative techniques are topping the charts on the federal level, but Chabert has been doing it for years, tracking their progress and improving the process, according to Shane Robichaux, the hospital’s quality management director.

The dirt road that allowed access to the facility in the ’70s has also transformed in a major way. It’s now a series of paved parking lots, entrances and exits that seem to experience a flurry of vehicles everyday.

Chabert is licensed to provide 156 inpatient beds and serves between 10 and 12,000 outpatient visitors each month, or more than 240,000 yearly. The emergency department sees more than 3,000 patients a month.

“It’s very challenging,” noted Green.

However, the influx of people hasn’t deterred the hospital from gaining ground and achieving its major goal of providing quality, personal care.

“After Hurricane Katrina we did see a 35 percent increase overall in volume. What’s interesting about that, is we retained a lot of that volume,” she said.

A survey of the patients highlights the facilities importance in the region, as a large portion of its visitors do not have health insurance. For Chabert, it’s the care that ranks number one, not the money.

Although it’s considered a “safety net” hospital – a facility that caters to the uninsured or underinsured – about 70 percent of Chabert’s patients have a reliable payer source, said Green.

“They choose to come here. That makes a big difference, that says a lot,” she said. “We see people from all over. They come here, they like it here, and they want to stay.”

And it’s not just people from Houma that seek the hospital’s services.

“We do take care of a rather large area,” said Green, pointing to a map of the region.

Chabert’s service population is just under 80,000 people and the increase in popularity is evident in the facilities budget.

“Just in the six years that I’ve been here, we were operating on a budget of about $58 million a year, it’s now up to $112 million. We’ve almost doubled in size,” explained Green.

Unfortunately, officials have laid the hammer to budgets across the state, making it more difficult for public institutions like Chabert to thrive.

“The state budget [shortfall] can be a quandary for a lot of people, but we actually only get about $6 million in [state allocated] general funds. The rest of our budget we have to collect in order to be able to cover our expenses,” said the CEO.

While officials can’t predict the future, most are making moves to prevent major setbacks once the 2011 budget cuts arrive.

“We have a game plan, we’re just waiting for the final amount. We don’t know how much our budget is going to be cut,” said Green. “We’ve already suffered a couple of budget cuts this year and we’re expecting one more.”

In the mix of things, the hospital has managed to shrug off the reductions by adjusting internal operations, “… staying away from patient care,” she noted.

For that, the facility was recognized and given high marks on a recent Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, which is hinged on patient reviews.

The study is conducted by an independent agency, “…that way the hospital can’t cheat,” added Green.

In nearly every category, including pain management, communication and overall patient satisfaction, Chabert outpaced the national average. For officials, the results are an indicator of a job well done. It also ensures patients will receive the time and attention they need.

As the landscape of the healthcare industry is dramatically altered over the next year – via healthcare reform and looming budget deficits at the state and federal levels – the hospital will continue to blaze a pathway of excellence.

“We’re always striving to do better for our patients,” explained Green.

“This place is just an extension of this community,” said Robichaux. “I think [the patient] feels that. They feel like family and they’re treated like family.”

It also seems the hospital is in good hands, regardless of the obstacles that arise.

Because Green is a nurse by trade and has clinical experience, her job as a CEO is two-sided. “I know the money, I know the budget and I know what we’re facing. Clinically, I know what’s needed and what’s best for our patients. Having both of those backgrounds helps me to do better for the hospital,” she said.