Ochsner St. Anne taps new CEO

As families try to put the pieces back together following a deadly rampage by a Raceland nurse, leaders of an institution he once worked for struggle in their own way to retain normalcy and a steady course.

Employees at Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital lost not only a boss but in many ways a mentor and friend, after he was shot and killed at his home by former employee Ben Freeman the day after Christmas.

Freeman also wounded Bourgeois’ wife, Ann.

That shooting took place after Freeman shot and wounded Lafourche Councilman Phillip Gouaux, who is his ex-father-in-law, and killed the councilman’s wife, Susan at their home. Prior to that Freeman strangled and drowned his last wife, Denise Taylor Freeman, in Houma. Freeman later took his own life.

At St. Anne, a hospital firmly embedded in the communities of Raceland and Mathews, employees still try to make sense out of the killing of Bourgeois.

In his 25 years at St. Anne, Bourgeois earned a reputation for being firm – sometimes even irascible — but also fair. 

His reputation extended beyond his own hospital. A long-time friend, Phyllis Peoples, CEO of Terrebonne General Medical Center, says she is still trying to cope with the loss and its senselessness.

“He was dedicated and devoted,” said Peoples, who served with Bourgeois on several health and hospitals-related committees. She admired his what-you-see-is-what you-get, no-holds-barred attitude. “If you were lucky enough to have him as a friend, he was a friend for life.”

She also knew – as did other people in the Houma-Thibodaux hospitals community, which Bourgeois was preparing to step down from his post.

“We have experienced a devastating loss and it will take a long time to begin to recover from this tragedy,” said Ochsner CEO Mike Hulefeld. 

One burden Ochsner got spared from was a search for a new hospitals chief. Bourgeois, knowing that retirement was near, had already worked with higher-ups to make that happen.

“Our mission is to help people heal, and Milton would want us to continue the good work he pursued over his 25 years at St. Anne,” said Hulefeld. “From the time we announced his retirement in August 2013, Ochsner’s executive leadership worked with Milton and the Ochsner St. Anne community board to develop a leadership transition plan that included the naming of a new CEO and the creation of a chief operating officer position. Shortly before Milton’s tragic passing, our team officially offered the positions to our top candidates. It’s important that we have a leadership team in place at St. Anne that will allow us to continue our mission of caring.”

Tim Allen, chief of strategy and business development at the Cardiovascular Institute of the South in Houma, was named to take over St. Anne. His prior positions include COO of Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, Colo., and vice president of facilities development and vice president of operations at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center.

His duties begin officially on Jan. 13.

Hulefeld also said that Jonathan Carothers, assistant vice president at St. Anne, has accepted the position of COO. 

“Together, Tim and Jonathan will provide continuity and leadership during this difficult period,” Hulefeld said. “This leadership transition plan, which we developed with Milton and the St. Anne board, will help us continue to provide great care to the community.”

Meanwhile, further delving into Freeman’s state of mind gives no new clues as to why such a drastic action was taken, other than his difficulty coping with a difficult divorce and custody battle.

Report after report of a kindly, if befuddled, and heartbroken man do little to shed useful light.

But they are all that surface.

“He was always so, so good,” said the gunman’s grandmother, Olla Freeman. “He was getting some help but we all feel it was not enough. There is so much that has happened from the time his wife left until now. He loved her so much and wanted her not to leave.”

An attempt to learn whether Ochsner had considered reporting unusual behavior by Freeman in 2011 to the state’s nursing board produced the equivalent of a “no comment.”

“The Ochsner team is working together to heal and cope with the terrible tragedies of December 26th,” reads a statement from David Gaines, Ochsner CEO of System Retail Services & Marketing. “While we appreciate your inquiry into the employment history of Ben Freeman, it is our policy not to comment on previous employees’ work history other than to confirm the actual dates that the individual was employed.”

TIM ALLEN