“With one snip of the scissors today, St. Tammany Parish and the rest of the Northshore just got significantly healthier.”

Those were the words of St. Tammany Health System President and CEO Joan Coffman at the April 26 ribbon cutting of the new St. Tammany Physicians Network primary care clinic in North Covington. And although STHS has been doing a whole lot of ribbon cutting lately as it continues to expand to meet the needs of the community, this one stands out.

That’s because it is not your run-of-the-mill doctor’s office. It is also a doctor factory.

In addition to providing access to quality medical care for more local patients, it is also home to the first-in-the-region St. Tammany Health System/Ochsner Family Medicine Residency Program, which – amid a nationwide shortage of physicians – will train the next generation of family medicine practitioners.

That sort of innovative solution is no small thing, and we couldn’t be more excited to greet the program’s inaugural class of residents upon their arrival in July.

“The realization of years of work and planning, this clinic is a sterling embodiment of our commitment to serving the community, as well as a symbol of the power of the partnership between St. Tammany Health System and Ochsner,” Coffman said. “What a blessing.”

What a blessing, indeed.

It’s not the only one, either. We have been doing a lot of blessing counting around here lately, as illustrated by the stories you’ll find below. 

Upon reading them, you will likely agree this is an exciting time for the St. Tammany Health System family – and we couldn’t be happier that you are a part of it.

Jeff Schoen is no stranger to St. Tammany Health System.

He’s lived in Covington his whole life. His family has been on the Northshore for some 150 years. As a managing partner in the local Jones Fussell law firm, he has even done legal work for the health system.

So, when the then-70-year-old woke up at 5:30 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving 2022 with severe chest pains – “like an LSU linebacker was just pushing down with his foot on my chest” – he knew what to do. 

Rather than driving himself to the hospital, which experts strongly advise against, he alerted his wife, who loaded him into the car.

“And off we went to St. Tammany, which has always been my hospital of choice for a lifetime when I needed some type of medical care and help,” he said.

There, he knew, he would get world-class healthcare upon his arrival. 

What he didn’t expect was a life-changing experience.  

New pediatrics clinic now open  

St. Tammany Health System’s newest pediatrics clinic is open for business in Mandeville. The new seven-days-a-week clinic, boasting an integrated Express Care for Kids walk-in and afterhours clinic, began seeing patients April 27 at 3663 U.S. Highway 190.

‘The sky is the limit’

When MD Anderson Cancer Center joined the partnership at St. Tammany Cancer Center – A Cancer of Ochsner Medical Center last June, it came with a promise of bringing innovation to the Covington facility. A year later, it is clear it is keeping good on that promise.  

From the recipe files  

It might not be your traditional idea of hospital food, but St. Tammany Health System’s classic BLT Soup recipe is a bowl full of comfort. That’s why a reader of The Times-Picayune wrote in hoping to get it in 1992 – and it’s why we’re resurfacing it now. 

Leading the way 

In a nod to its 70 years of caring for the community, and in recognition of the men and women who led the way, STHS leadership recently unveiled an installation honoring the dozens of doctors who have served as the hospital’s chief of staff over the decades.