Ochsner, St. Tammany create new family medicine residency | News
Responding to the demand for doctors – particularly family medicine physicians who provide care to a large number of patients – St. Tammany Health System and Ochsner Health are teaming up to create a family medicine residency program based on the northshore.
The program will be located at an 18,000-square-foot clinic under construction in Covington. The first group of eight residents will begin in July 2024, and will be followed by additional groups of eight to 24 residents each year, said Joan Coffman, president and CEO of St. Tammany Health System.
Dr. Lisa Casey will serve as director of the program and will be joined by a team of faculty who will work alongside residents at the clinic, which will offer X-rays, lab work and physical therapy, according to a news release.
The goal, Coffman said, is to bring more doctors to the region.
“Workforce has become all of our challenge,” she said. “We’re always looking to create a pipeline.”
The U.S. could face a shortage of nearly 50,000 primary care doctors by 2034, according a report from the Association of American Medical Colleges. A Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners report in 2022 showed there were just over 18,000 licensed doctors in Louisiana.
While there’s no guarantee the doctors will stay in St. Tammany after they finish the three-year program, Coffman said “when they train in that community, they tend to stay in that community.”
Ochsner Health and St. Tammany Health System, which have been involved in a decade-long partnership, have both worked in recent years to bolster flagging health care worker shortages in the region.
Ochsner, for instance, is teaming up with Xavier University in New Orleans to create a medical school. St. Tammany Health System, meanwhile, has partnered with Southeastern Louisiana University on a program to accelerate nursing degrees.
Dr. Timothy Riddell, CEO of Ochsner Northshore and Mississippi Gulf Coast Region, called the family medicine program a “perfect fit” for the region and community.
“We are seeing healthcare change, so it is more important than ever that we adapt to families’ needs,” he said.
The family medicine residency continues a wave of health care expansion across St. Tammany Parish. Among the largest projects are a $75 million outpatient surgery center at St. Tammany Health System slated to open in 2024, and a $50 million, three-story addition at Slidell Memorial Hospital.
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