Terrebonne General has big plans for summer, remainder of 2010

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With a new deal in effect and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana negotiations behind them, Terrebonne General Medical Center (TGMC) is moving full speed ahead in providing quality service to Tri-parish residents – even if they have less funding to do so.


“Last year, TGMC and other community hospitals received severe Medicaid funding reductions, and this year’s Executive Budget proposes even deeper cuts,” said TGMC’s CEO Phyllis Peoples. “TGMC is proactively implementing cost-saving measures to ensure our viability to serve our community’s health care needs for years to come.”

In 2009, Peoples said TGMC provided care to more than 125,000 patients and delivered more than 2,200 newborns, while giving more than 1,300 jobs to the community. Those jobs make the hospital one of the Top 3 employers in all of Terrebonne Parish.


“In the next few years, we anticipate the demand for these services to continue to increase,” Peoples said.


Although there have been cuts, TGMC continues to expand in certain areas to provide the best service to the community.

“Since February 2009, community hospital reimbursement for many services has been cut approximately 15 percent or $140 million,” Peoples said. “On the statewide level in the proposed Executive Budget for SFY 2010-11, there are additional reductions of reportedly 3 percent. This would total a 15 percent in reductions to community hospitals by July 2010.”


The CEO said if these cuts continue, every hospital would be adversely affected.


“Continued cuts will be devastating to quality of health care that can be provided to the citizens of our region,” she said. “Never before has there been a more critical need for the people in our community to voice their concerns in the upcoming legislative session. As a community hospital, TGMC needs our community’s support to protect the vital health care services we provide.”

On site of the hospital is the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, which Peoples said allows TGMC to have, “the largest comprehensive, multidisciplinary cancer program in the region.”


Construction is currently under way on a new, 49,000-square-foot facility that would allow the hospital to bring all of its cancer care services into one building.


The estimated date of completion for the facility is May 2011.

“The Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at TGMC provides strategic, long-term solutions for battling cancer in the Bayou Region, so that residents can receive care close to family and friends without having to travel outside of our region,” Peoples said.

The hospital CEO said cancer claims 24 lives a day in Louisiana and 61 people a day are diagnosed with the disease daily.

The need for the Cancer Center is even larger in our state because Louisiana’s cancer mortality rate is higher than across the country.

Peoples said experts say that statistic exists because of a “lack of access to care, delayed diagnosis and treatment, limited educational awareness and low utilization of prevention services.

“These are areas in which Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at TGMC is providing solutions for better morality rates through screening programs, education and access to care.”

With President Obama’s healthcare overhaul being officially made law in late March, Peoples said her hospital’s physicians have been frequently asked what the bill means.

The CEO said she believes there is both some good and bad in the bill and she is not sure how things will ultimately play out.

“Health care-reform will provide insurance for many who lack it,” she said. “The concern is the reimbursement insurance provided has not been explained at this time. Currently, we don’t have enough information to fully assess this, but there is a rising concern that the expansion of Medicaid will add to the increasing healthcare burden affecting state and community hospitals.”

But regardless of how the health care-overhaul plays out and no matter how much more the hospital’s budget gets slashed, TGMC’s focus remains squarely on one thing – its patients.

“They are the reason that we are here,” Peoples explained. “TGMC is here for its patients and has gained their trust through experience and expertise that we will be here whenever needed, especially for the most serious of illnesses and injuries.”

Construction is currently underway on Terrebonne General Medical Center’s new Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center that will allow the hospital to bring all of its cancer services into one building. * Photo by CASEY GISCLAIR