Gulf Island’s tradition in excellence continues
February 24, 2015Lavis Conoco ready at the pump since 1957
February 24, 2015
Thibodaux Regional Medical Center started on Jan. 19, 1930, as a modest 26-bed facility run mostly by the city’s Catholic Church.
It’s pretty safe to say a lot has changed in the past 80-plus years.
From its modest beginnings, Thibodaux Regional has thrived, establishing itself firmly as one of the leaders in Louisiana hospitals, the winner of several awards for both patient care and satisfaction.
Hospital CEO Greg Stock said Thibodaux Regional’s successes and expansion projects are flattering, but added that one thing will always stay the same: a commitment to treating patients with compassion, respect and care.
“We continue to be extremely committed to providing outstanding patient care – that’s something that’s never going to change,” Stock said. “We think that will always be something that’s necessary to survive any challenges that may be present in our industry. … We’ve come a long way, and I think we sit here today able to say that because of that commitment that we’ve made to giving exemplary care to our patients.”
Most people probably don’t realize just how far Thibodaux Regional has come over the years. The massive, state-of-the-art campus we see today is the image we all see when we hear the hospital’s name. But it took decades of quality care and commitment to the Bayou Region to get to that point.
Thibodaux Regional’s earliest roots date back to 1930 when the city’s Catholic Church helped to develop St. Joseph Hospital – the 26- bed setup from which the current hospital’s origins are traced.
“The original origin of the hospital was not much more than just a doctor’s office,” Stock said. “From there, it became sponsored by Catholic organizations and the sisters. They ran it for a number of years.”
As the Thibodaux area continued to grow in the decades from the 1940s-1970s, St. Joseph’s Hospital grew as well. The hospital got a new, full-time 40-bed facility on Jan. 27, 1953 – a structure was added onto several times throughout the late ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
But as medical technologies continued to advance, and the area continued to grow, St. Joseph’s Hospital ran out of space to stay current. That facility closed its doors on April 14, 1975, giving way to the opening of Thibodaux General Hospital – the 101-bed facility that is where the hospital currently sits today.
The hospital was the first in the area to install Ultrasound technology, which was made available through private donations. In 1983, Thibodaux Regional also installed a C-Arm in the surgical department, which enabled surgeons to be more efficient and lower risk of infections.
Then Greg Stock arrived.
Stock said he started his work with the hospital around 1990, during which he immediately made a strategic plan to better the hospital in all areas – including an increase in services and better commitment to top-notch patient care.
After 25 years as Thibodaux General, the hospital formally changed its name in 1996 to become its current namesake: Thibodaux Regional Medical Center.
During Stock’s watch, the hospital has attained a lot of the CEO’s above-stated goals.
Thibodaux Regional has a trophy shelf that is running out of room – a list of accolades that spans decades and is too steep to list in this publication. In 2014 alone, the hospital won the Leapfrog Group Patient Safety Score ‘A’, the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, the Louisiana Hospital Association Safety Star Award and the Hospital of the Year for Clinical Excellence in Pulmonary Disease and Respiratory Care.
Under Stock’s watch, Thibodaux Regional has also grown from a staff of 40 doctors in 1990 to approximately 170 at present.
Stock also has beefed up the hospital’s cardiology, oncology and neuro services, as well as orthopedic surgery and women and children services.
Thibodaux Regional Medical Center now does two or three times more heart surgery than any other hospital, according to Stock. The hospital also now treats five times more breast cancer patients than any other local provider.
“That’s a dramatic change from the early 1990s,” Stock said. “Our cancer program grew 16 percent in the last year. That’s pretty remarkable.”
In recent years, Thibodaux Regional has beefed up its athletic training services, providing trainers to Terrebonne Parish high schools for athletic competition. The hospital also has a partnership with Nicholls State University that enables the Thibodaux-based facility to provide service to the local university’s athletic teams.
Plans are also underway and ground has been dug on a massive, multi-million dollar Wellness Center that will be a game changer in local medicine, providing top-notch sports medicine, athletic training, rehab, injury prevention, weight management, women’s breast health, a pain center and a spine center, among many other features.
The project will span 230,000 square feet and is slated to be complete in 2016.
More growth.
More expansions.
It’s clear that this isn’t a small church-run facility anymore.
But no matter how big it all gets, the patients come first. In 1930 and still today in 2015 – the patient comes first.
“That is our No. 1 priority,” Stock said. “Taking care of our patients and making sure that we do right by them during their time with us.”
My, how things have changed! Thibodaux Regional Medical Center’s first days were the small rooms of this church-run house. Now, the hospital has dug ground to build a Wellness Center that officials tout will be revolutionary to medicine in this area.
