Given our chosen vocation, it will probably come as no surprise to you to learn we have more than a few fans of “ER” walking the halls of St. Tammany Health System.

That explains why the Arctic blast that has plunged South Louisiana into the deep freeze this week has us thinking of that old NBC hospital drama – and specifically of Season 4 Episode 11.

Coincidentally, that episode first aired 27 years ago this week (!!), boasting a storyline centered on a similar, albeit fictional, cold snap. Its title: “Think Warm Thoughts.”

Good advice, that. For many, such an exercise might conjure images of luaus, swimming pools or daytime baseball – all of which sound perfectly divine amid this frigid time of pipe wrapping and plant protecting.

For us at St. Tammany Health System, however, little has warmed our hearts in this still-young new year as much as the sight of our new St. Tammany Health System Surgery Center, which is located next to our Cordes Outpatient Pavilion on Highway 1085.

If you travel that stretch of roadway – better known to locals as Bootlegger Road – you have watched construction continue apace over the past couple of years, transforming a once-undeveloped parcel of land into what is being hailed as the most technologically advanced surgery center in the region.

What’s more, it is as beautiful inside as it is functional.

We cut the ribbon on it just before the holidays and, pending the necessary inspections and signoffs, we expect it to welcome its first patients any week now.

If you have yet to see this game-changing facility for yourself, we invite you to read all about it – and see photos – at StTammany.health.

We cannot promise it will warm your heart as much as it does ours, but we feel certain it will at least serve as a temporary distraction from the teeth-chattering weather.

Should you need further distraction, you can find a collection of additional headlines from our STHS newsroom below.

Enjoy, think warm thoughts – and thank you, as always, for trusting St. Tammany Health System with your family’s healthcare.

Spring is still weeks away, and it sure feels like it given the winter chill currently blanketing South Louisiana – but with one notable exception.

The soothing landscape paintings and oversized florals of local artist Mary Helen Seago are adding a dash of springtime warmth for staff and visitors to St. Tammany Parish Hospital as part of “Celebrations in Bloom,” a solo exhibition continuing until Feb. 5 through St. Tammany Hospital Foundation’s Healing Arts Initiative.

“The idea is simple but profound: to promote healing and mental well-being through the arts,” foundation Executive Director Nicole Suhre said. “And I have to say, Mary Helen’s stunning work, with its emphasis on natural beauty, is a perfect illustration of that.”

Meet Dr. Grayson Terral 

On Jan. 9, local native Dr. Grayson Terral officially becomes part of the STHS family with the opening of the St. Tammany Hand Center, a new specialty clinic at the health system’s St. Ann Drive facility in Mandeville.

It’s a girl!

St. Tammany’s Baby New Year has arrived. The first baby born in 2025 at St. Tammany Health System’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington was a baby girl born to Trinity Carr and Derek Lounge.

Tune in, St. Tammany

It is the diagnosis nobody wants to hear, but diabetes can be managed – if you know how. To learn more, we spoke with St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy Mark Christman about his diabetes journey on the latest episode of “Northshore Healthbeat,” the official St. Tammany Health System podcast.

Simply the best

Women’s Choice Award has ranked St. Tammany Health System among the Best Hospitals in America, placing it in the top 10% of 4,675 hospitals in 10 distinct specialty areas for 2025. That includes a top 4% ranking in patient safety as well as inclusion among the top 100 hospitals for patient experience.