Local Health and Service Providers

 

The healthcare industry is always abuzz with news and developments, from new programs at hospitals, tips from insurance providers, and advancements in procedures to services from your neighborhood pharmacy and community initiatives aimed at improving lives and helping one another. This month, stay on top of the latest from a variety of local health service providers and you may find ways to improve your own health or that of a loved one looking for specialized care. As the summer season sets in, increase your physical activity and your community involvement—the health and wellness of your body and others’ could benefit from movement in the right direction. Check out the following resources in health and enjoy knowing that New Orleans is full of caring and competent providers for all your wellness needs. 


Hurricane Prep

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is devoted to its mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. It’s hurricane season, and forecasters predict an active one. Watch weather alerts for your area and follow guidance from state and local officials. As you plan for what your family will do in a storm, consider your healthcare: Keep your coverage information handy. Blue Cross and most insurers let customers get digital ID cards, which is an easy way to keep this information with you.

Make a list of your family’s health information, including medications you take and names of your healthcare providers with their contact information. Store this on your phone or keep a written copy you’ll be sure to take with you if you evacuate.

Sign up for telehealth services so you can be treated online when away from home.

For more tips, visit www.bcbsla.com/summer or call 1-800-495-2583. 

 

Orthopaedics

Westside Orthopaedic Clinic

Serving the West Bank and Greater New Orleans region, Westside Orthopaedic Clinic provides superior general orthopaedic treatment with a specialty in spinal care. Known for its excellent and  personalized care, the clinic has been in operation since 1961, making it one of the longest standing orthopaedic clinics in the city.

Dr. Ralph Katz is a board certified and fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon who has been performing minimally invasive procedures for 20 years with consistently excellent outcomes. For the right patient who has failed conservative treatment (e.g. medication, physical therapy, injections), a minimally invasive procedure can be done in an outpatient setting. The procedure typically takes about an hour. Most patients can return to normal activities within three to six weeks. Additionally, Dr. Katz performs cervical and lumbar spinal fusions, utilizing small incisions with minimally invasive systems. He is one of few local surgeons who perform both cervical and lumbar disc replacements.

 Westside offers full-service, in-house x-rays, as well as physical therapy services with access to new rehabilitation equipment. Call for an appointment today.  For more information, visit WestsideOrtho.com or call 504-347-0243. 

 

Pharmacy & Medical Equipment

Patio Drugs

With a motto of “Large Enough to Serve You, Yet Small Enough to Know You,” Patio Drugs in Metairie has helped people manage their healthcare needs for over 60 years. Since 1958, Patio Drugs Retail Pharmacy has helped individuals and families understand their medications, both prescription and over the counter. Their full-service community retail pharmacy offers both sterile and non-sterile compounding. They also provide free prescription delivery throughout the East Jefferson area. The pharmacist team at Patio Drugs offers a comprehensive medication review with each patient to discuss any questions or concerns about medications, diet, and overall health.

Patio Drugs Long Term Care Pharmacy works with many different healthcare providers. They offer multi-dose packaging options for adherence with medications. Patio Drugs Long Term Care Pharmacy administers Behavioral Health Injectable medications through the Patio Drugs Rx Clinic Department. Patio Drugs is accredited by the Joint Commission in Long-Term Care Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy Services. Patio Drugs Compounding Lab is PCAB Accredited through ACHC and Joint Commission in both Sterile and Non-Sterile Preparations. The Patio Drugs team is passionate about serving this community.

 

Senior Care

Touro

Touro’s new Senior Care Services combines practices from experts in every specialty to provide individualized, comprehensive care to patients 65 years of age and older. Touro’s caring team of physicians specialize in countless areas, from cardiovascular care to orthopedics and everything in between. With an accredited Senior Care Emergency Room and a dedicated Inpatient Senior Care Unit, Touro Senior Care is designed to care for patients 65 and up.

Touro’s Senior Care Emergency Department and Inpatient Senior Care Unit features hospital beds with advanced mobility to make it easier to get in and out of bed, mattresses to prevent bed sores and skin irritation, slip resistant flooring, and special lighting and room signage. These features combined with a multidisciplinary team of physicians and nurses, specially trained in caring for senior patients, makes Touro the experts in aging.

To learn more about Touro Senior Care, visit touro.com/seniorcare.

 

Blood Donation & Antibody Testing

The Blood Center

For a limited time, The Blood Center is screening all blood donations for COVID-19 antibodies. This free service informs the donor if they carry the COVID-19 antibody, which has been used via plasma transfusions to help critically ill patients battling the coronavirus.

Scheduled donations are required to practice social distancing and insure a safe, stable blood supply. Results post three to five days after a completed blood donation. Following donation, donors need to visit TheBloodCenter.org and log into My Account for their results. Donors testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies may be eligible to donate COVID Convalescent Plasma (CCP). 

“We’ve seen promising results from patients who’ve received CCP, but there’s only a few recovered patients eligible to give at this time,” says Dr. Tim Peterson, Medical Director for The Blood Center. “The scarcity of donors with the COVID antibody make this test extremely beneficial to patient care.”

Testing also provides statistics to the Louisiana Department of Health about what percentage of the population was exposed to COVID-19. To schedule your blood donation and help save lives, visit TheBloodCenter.org or call 1-800-86-BLOOD.

 

Investments in Health

LSU Health Foundation, New Orleans

LSU Health Foundation, New Orleans (LSUHNO) is proud to inspire donors to invest in the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and to properly steward those contributions, helping to meet the ever-evolving needs of LSUHNO by providing new philanthropic and business resources, partnerships, programs, real estate and property leases, auxiliary businesses and other services that support and strengthen the educational and community mission of the LSU Health Sciences Center.

The LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans has teaching, research, and health care functions statewide, through its six professional schools and eight Centers of Excellence. With schools dedicated to Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Graduate Studies, Dentistry, and Allied Health Professionals and Centers of Excellence focused on improving lives for a variety of patients, LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans takes a comprehensive approach to improving the region’s healthcare needs. It also maintains affiliations with more than 100 hospitals and other health science related institutions throughout the state, region, nation, and world.

For more information, visit LSUHealthFoundation.org

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