For 80 years Ochsner Health has provided the highest quality healthcare to the region. As an integrated healthcare system, Ochsner strives to fulfill its five-fold mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate, and Innovate. With a mission that encompasses the multifaceted nature of health, Ochsner opens avenues stretching far beyond just healing those who are ill.
“For years Louisiana received the bottom two placements in national healthcare rankings. In early 2020 we asked, ‘Why should we be last?’” says Robert Hart, MD, FAAP, FACP, Ochsner’s Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Ochsner developed Healthy State by 2030, a collaborative initiative to lift Louisiana to 40th in national health rankings by 2030. Improving this score parallels Ochsner’s mission in that it not only relies on enhancing health outcomes within the region, but factors in education, access, and individual behaviors. Healthy State by 2030 entails partnerships with the state, nonprofits, other healthcare institutions, churches, and schools to launch Louisiana to a better place.
Ochsner continues to grow community health clinics in areas that struggle with access to healthcare, has formed a partnership with Xavier University to advance the state’s initiatives in health equity, the Ochsner Xavier Institute for Health Equity and Research, and has tripled mental health personnel. While weathering the pandemic and natural disasters, Ochsner has learned the importance of talented leadership, trusted partnerships, and innovative healthcare programs in continuing to provide better care.
“Having worked at Ochsner for 27 years, I’m pleased with the direction that we’re headed,” says Dr. Hart. “We’re taking on a larger role in the state as we look for ways to improve the health of our communities. It is exciting for me to see this work beginning and what can be accomplished. A lot of this work is going to take place beyond the four walls of our hospitals; it requires the participation of our community to improve the wellbeing of our state and the people within it.”
Board-certified in internal medicine and pediatrics, Dr. Hart joined Ochsner Health in 1994 and served as the Associate Medical Director for Primary Care and the Medical Director for Ochsner’s Baton Rouge Region until 2014. Dr. Hart was appointed Regional Medical Director of Ochsner Medical Center New Orleans in 2015. He has been in his current role since 2016.
ochsner.org // 866-624-7637 // 1514 Jefferson Highway, New Orleans, LA
