Public appeal issued in Terrebonne for elderly heat health
March 22, 2011"The Metal Children" (Baton Rouge)
March 24, 2011
Terrebonne Regional Medical Center is not just a local hospital. As a growing health care facility it has made its name with opportunity and innovation.
The roots of TGMC date back to 1935, when the 27-bed Ellender Memorial Hospital opened at 221 East Park Ave. in Houma.
By 1946, residents of Terrebonne Parish had experienced rapid growth in population, and with that came the need for a larger medical treatment facility. In 1950, a poll conducted by graduate students from Tulane University on the greatest want in Terrebonne Parish resulted in the recommendation that a new medical center be constructed.
Ground was broken in 1952, and by July 1, 1954 the new Terrebonne General Hospital opened with 76 beds, 58 employees and 16 physicians on active staff. Once the new hospital on Main Street was up and running, the Ellender facility closed.
By the 1970s, the medical staff at Terrebonne General Hospital had grown to 59 physicians and 619 employees, and reflected the expanded population of the region. It was also a time when new advances in medicine and technology led to a $47 million expansion of the facility and the newly named Terrebonne General Medical Center was opened in 1984.
In 1985, Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government sold its undivided interest in the medical center to the Hospital District 1 under the authority of Louisiana Ordinance 3714.
During the past half century, TGMC added to its already expanding property, staff and services. This included opening the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (which marks its 40th anniversary this year), the Cardiovascular Institute of the South, and the TGMC Women’s Center.
“In last 50 years, [TGMC] has grown a great deal,” TGMC CEO Phyllis Peoples said. “We have been such an intricate part of the community and the community has been an intricate part of us.”
Peoples said that TGMC has worked to provide a level of care that would not require patients and families to go far from home to have their needs met.
“We have a 49,000 square foot cancer center [under construction]. That will be a one stop cancer center for many patients. We also try to make it easy to be mobile around the campus,” Peoples said.
As the head TGMC, Peoples credits the staff of more than 1,300 people that work this multi-acute facility of 321 beds, laboratories, surgery areas, and files of records for making the medical center more than steel, stone and glass.
“Without the people and the skill sets and all of that with our physicians and general staff members who share a vision to provide care I don’t think we would be this big,” Peoples said.
As for the future, TGMC is prepared to deal with health care reform and focus on educating the community as to the necessity and practical application of preventative medicine. “You will see a lot of organizations move to try and help patients be accountable for their care,” People said. “We are going to have to become better stewards [and be] responsible for being healthy.”
Seventy-six years ago the medical community dealt solely with immediate need. Today, those that keep TGMC working know their mission is to be a community leader by delivering services in innovative ways to transform healthcare for the future.
Terrebonne General Medical Center CEO Phyllis Peoples (left) and Director of Marketing Rhonda Alford highlight the advances made as far as medical treatment and health care awareness TGMC provides for the region.
