Health care/Hospitals

Attorney General Jeff Landry wants Blue Cross to delay sale to Elevance

By STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer
Sep 21, 2023

Officials with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana said this week they are again seeking to postpone a key regulatory hearing on the proposed sale of the Baton Rouge-based nonprofit, raisi…

Nurse midwives could ease Louisiana's infant mortality crisis. Why hasn't the state embraced them?

BY ANDREA GALLO | Staff writer
Sep 21, 2023

Not a single doctor provides obstetric care in 17 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes.

A fresh batch of COVID vaccines is arriving in Louisiana. Here’s what you should know.

By EMILY WOODRUFF | Staff writer
Sep 20, 2023

A new coronavirus shot that protects against the latest variant is now available at many chain pharmacies and should be widely available statewide by the end of the week, according to state he…

LCMC CEO: Move of Tulane Medical Center to East Jeff to be complete by January

By STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer
Sep 19, 2023

Nearly 10 months after LCMC Health purchased Tulane Medical Center, LCMC CEO Greg Feirn said he expects the planned move of some 500 Tulane physicians and medical residents from the downtown h…

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Chamber business expo at Harbor Center on Thursday

Staff report
Sep 18, 2023

The public is invited to the St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce’s Explore Northshore: Business and Community Expo presented by CenterWell Senior Primary Care on Sept. 21 in Slidell. Admission is …

Cancer center: 'Together We Triumph'

Staff report
Sep 18, 2023

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center will launch its “Together We Triumph” Cancer Series on Oct. 4 at the Greater Covington Center, a free educational event for local cancer patients, survivors, he…

Mother's calling to help others was heard at her child's bedside

BY JESSICA SAGGIO | Contributing writer
Sep 11, 2023

There was something about that day in 2008 that spoke to Madisonville’s Ann Ollendike.

Picking a Safe Harbor 'Superhero'

BY DARREN COOPER | Contributing writer
Sep 4, 2023

It’s a fun time for a serious cause.

As fentanyl overdoses plague New Orleans area, law enforcement response shows limits

BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer
Sep 3, 2023

State and federal prosecutors vary in their approach to surge in overdose deaths

Mark Ballard: Here's how drug price negotiations would help Louisiana Medicare enrollees

BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer
Sep 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — It was the biggest news of the week — or at least the news with the most fanfare — and its success could mean that many of the roughly 883,000 Louisiana seniors on Medicare would …

Lions collect and recycle eyeglasses to those in need

BY SHEILA GRISSETT | Staff writer
Aug 30, 2023

Many Americans are so accustomed to excess that years' worth of eyeglasses often collect in drawers and boxes and baskets, never to be used again.

State's new poet laureate is Covington writer

BY KADEE KRIEGER | Contributing writer
Aug 29, 2023

As Louisiana's newly-named Poet Laureate, Covington resident Alison Pelegrin will canvass the state encouraging even atypical audiences to embrace and engage with poetry.

Jessie Smallwood, New Orleans housing and health care advocate, dies at 90

BY JOHN POPE | Contributing writer
Aug 26, 2023

HANO executive director remembered as 'quite the pistol'

Dillard University orders masking as COVID cases rise in Louisiana

BY JILLIAN KRAMER | Staff writer
Aug 25, 2023

Loyola also alerts students and employees, but without mask mandate

COAST does more than bus seniors around

BY JULIE AGAIN | Contributing writer
Aug 23, 2023

Chances are, everyone living in St. Tammany has seen the large, white passenger vans bearing COAST logos traveling around the parish. But they may not know what else COAST has to offer. They m…

Blue Cross to toss proxy ballots, start process over in proposed sale to Elevance Health

By STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer
Aug 22, 2023

Amid growing political pressure on state insurance regulators to slow the proposed sale of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana to Elevance Health, Blue Cross officials said this week they …

Health department spent millions on Medicaid for people not in Louisiana, audit says

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Aug 21, 2023

The Louisiana Department of Health spent $112 million on Medicaid coverage for nearly 14,000 adults who don't appear to live in Louisiana, according to a state legislative audit?released Monday.?

'It's the entire freaking city': No relief from fentanyl's deadly grip on New Orleans area

By JOHN SIMERMAN and SOPHIE KASAKOVE | Staff writers
Aug 20, 2023

Drug overdoses killed 900 people in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes last year.?

Amid Louisiana's maternal mortality crisis, researchers win major grant to improve care

BY ANDREA GALLO | Staff writer
Aug 18, 2023

As Louisiana struggles to tame maternal and infant mortality rates that are among the highest in the developed world, a group of researchers on Friday said they’ve?received a multimillion-doll…

Support families with sick children while tailgating, watching the game

Staff report
Aug 18, 2023

Join a new initiative, Tailgates & Touchdowns, on Sept. 16 to help seriously ill children, all while eating some fine food, visiting with friends and neighbors and watching the day's big L…

Louisiana Insurance Commission postpones hearing on Blue Cross sale until October

By STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer
Aug 17, 2023

A crucial hearing on the proposed sale of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana?to Elevance Health that was scheduled for next week has been postponed until early October, state regulators s…

Political pressure builds to delay Blue Cross sale to Elevance Health

By STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer
Aug 16, 2023

Political pressure is building on state regulators to slow the proposed purchase of?Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana?by Elevance Health, with state lawmakers on Wednesday raising concer…

Hope House hosts free Trafficking 101 Class

Staff report
Aug 16, 2023

The Children's Advocacy Center – Hope House will host Human Trafficking 101, a 90-minute training session geared toward parents and adults who work with children and youth. This free, in-perso…

As state officials weigh Blue Cross sale, a central question: Will patients benefit?

By STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer
Aug 13, 2023

Since the announcement in January that one of the country’s largest insurance companies planned to acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, officials at the Baton Rouge-based health in…

NAMI offers free online classes for dealing with mental illness

Staff report
Aug 11, 2023

NAMI in St. Tammany will offer free online classes starting Sept. 5 to help individual adults, close friends and family members living with mental illness. The four-week course will meet every…

Northshore Humane Society fundraiser cut short, but Cleo gets new home

BY SHEILA GRISSETT | Staff writer
Aug 5, 2023

Animal activist Kris Rotonda had to unexpectedly leave the Northshore Humane Society in Covington on Thursday, Aug. 3, after spending about 50 hours in an outdoor dog kennel to publicize the p…

5 reasons why Louisiana's infant mortality crisis is among the worst in the developed world

BY ANDREA GALLO | Staff writer
Aug 4, 2023

Two major factors are culprits in?the deaths of about 2,000 Louisiana babies over the past decade, helping make the state's infant mortality rates some of the highest in the developed world.

Interactive: Compare infant mortality rates in different parishes, states

BY JEFF ADELSON and DAN SWENSON | Staff writers
Aug 4, 2023

Louisiana is in the grips of an infant mortality crisis. Babies born here are far more likely to die before their first birthday than those in other states.