From the Heart: A regular dose of news and notes from St. Tammany Health System

February 2026 | Vol. 7, No.2

Diet mythbusting

Don’t look now, but we are officially one month into 2026. How’s that New Year’s resolution going?

Yeah, we haven’t lost any of the weight we put on over the holidays, either.

That’s one of the many beauties of Carnival season in South Louisiana. Once all the indulging and excess is over, Lent gives us a shot at redemption by once more providing an opportunity to consider paths to self-improvement.

That makes this the perfect time to listen to the latest episode of “Northshore Healthbeat,” the official STHS podcast. In it, we enlist friends of the show Sarah Brignac and Jessica Greer, both of whom are STHS clinical dietitians, to help us bust dieting myths, set the record straight about the pros and cons of various fad diets, and offer the single piece of nutritional advice they would advise listeners to adopt above all others.

You can tune in at your favorite podcast platforms. (Don’t have a favorite? Click here for a list of options.)

We also invite you to read on for the latest batch of good-news headlines from our STHS newsroom.

We hope you enjoy them – and we thank you, as always, for trusting St. Tammany Health System with your family’s healthcare.

Community Checkup

The new year has gotten off to a “fast and furious” start at St. Tammany Health System, according to President and CEO Joan Coffman in this, her latest video message to the community.

Watch

A day of service

Accredited in 2023 and set to welcome its third class of resident physicians this March, the St. Tammany Health System/Ochsner Family Medicine Residency Program continues to build a strong foundation for training family medicine physicians committed to caring for the communities they serve – including the West 30s area of Covington.

Family medicine physicians are called to be active members of their communities, and for residents in the program, that commitment extends well beyond the clinic. The residency curriculum emphasizes hands-on community engagement, including participation in a patient advisory council, involvement in Healthier Northshore initiatives and direct work assessing community health needs and developing improvement plans.

Those values were put into action Dec. 3, when resident physicians volunteered alongside West 30s Redemption Co. to help renovate a home for one of the organization’s clients.

The build day offered residents a meaningful opportunity to better understand the social drivers of health in the community while also giving back in a tangible, lasting way.

New Cardiology Center

St. Tammany Health System has announced plans to open a new outpatient cardiology center in spring 2026. This project, which will be located across South Tyler Street from our hospital, will broaden the health system’s cardiology footprint while also creating new clinical career opportunities on the Northshore.

Coming to Money Hill ...

Residents of the Bush/Sun area will soon have expanded access to specialty care close to home with the addition of cardiology and pulmonary services at the St. Tammany Physician’s Network clinic at Money Hill.

The next generation

A group of future nurses and allied health professionals took center stage recently as St. Tammany Health System presented its Spring 2026 Board of Commissioners’ Nursing and Allied Health Scholarships at St. Tammany Parish Hospital. In all, 11 scholarships were awarded, worth a total of $131,750.

Home Health honors

Congratulations are due to St. Tammany Health System’s Home Health team, which has earned Home Health Heart Failure certification from the American Heart Association. This certification recognizes the health system’s alignment with AHA’s rigorous, science-based standards for heart failure patients, including program management; patient and caregiver education; and support, care coordination, clinical management and quality improvement.

Senior Support

Congratulations are also in order to 16 STHS colleagues who recently received Geriatric Resource Nurse or Geriatric CNA certification from the group Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE), demonstrating their dedication to the unique healthcare needs of older adults.

Cancer Center class schedule

As part of its mission to treat the whole patient, St. Tammany Cancer Center – A Campus of Ochsner Medical Center hosts free monthly classes on a variety of topics for diagnosed cancer patients, from meditation to tai chi to music therapy and more.

See February schedule

St. Tammany Health System