Ochsner St. Anne Hospital Partners with Nicholls State University to Protect Local Land

Ochsner St. Anne Hospital and the Lafourche Parish Hospital Service District No. 2 have teamed with the Nicholls Biology Department to help reduce erosion as part of its ongoing commitment to our community.

Volunteers joined Nicholls biology students for a community service project which included the harvesting and planting of native grasses to build up and help protect local land.

Nicholls students harvested more than 400 plugs of native giant cutgrass, Zizaniopsis milacea from the USDA Plant Materials Center in Golden Meadow, which were later planted by volunteers.

They also planted 40 large plugs of native Gulf muhly, Muhlenbergia capillaris (a type of grass) and 10 large plugs of Gulf cordgrass, Spartina spartinae, that were grown at the Nicholls farm.

More than 30 volunteers from the Nicholls Biology department participated in planting the harvested grasses. There are plans to plant native irises along the bayou edge at the drainage outflow in the future. These efforts are part of extensive efforts to prevent land erosion in the Bayou region.

Ochsner St. Anne Hospital joined the efforts, providing food, hand washing stations and free flu vaccines to participants. Ochsner St. Anne supports local organizations through several community service initiatives, including providing free health screens and flu vaccines to seniors monthly at five local senior groups in Larose, Lockport, Raceland, Gheens and Bayou Blue.

Ochsner St. Anne Hospital proudly serves residents of Lafourche and surrounding parishes. The facility offers primary care, surgical and specialty care and 24/7 emergency care, featuring state-of-the-art technology. For more information or to make an appointment, please visit www.ochsner.org/stanne.