Not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s hot outside.

Like, REALLY hot.

Still, this is Louisiana. Heat wave or no heat wave, you can count on locals to find reasons to celebrate.

For starters, the LSU baseball team just won the national championship. (Again.) We’ve also got July 4th fireworks and festivities right around the corner. This year’s Satchmo SummerFest recently announced admission to this year’s festival will be free for the first time in nearly a decade.

And we’ve got our own reasons to celebrate here at St. Tammany Health System, too. Below, find a collection of headlines we hope you’ll find either interesting, useful or both.

Happy Independence Day, Geaux Tigers, stay cool – and be well. 

The idea is both simple and time-tested: People who learn healthy eating habits at a young age tend to stick with those habits for the rest of their lives.

So, for its latest quarterly Eat Well, Live Well cooking demonstration, the public health coalition Healthier Northshore – spearheaded by St. Tammany Health System – turned the kitchen classroom at the Bogalusa YMCA over to kids.

“We’re calling this one our ‘small-fry edition,’” St. Tammany Health System Director of Community Engagement Anne Pablovich said. “And I have to tell you, I love this. These kids are so into it. Cooking is a lifetime love, and these little chefs are doing such a great job.”

Read the full story, and get Chef Gavin Jobe’s recipe for Jerk Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes and Summer Vegetable Succotash, at the link below.

'A notable milestone'

On June 22, Ochsner Health and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced a partnership to create Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center in southeastern Louisiana. The fully integrated cancer program will include St. Tammany Cancer Center — A Campus of Ochsner Medical Center.  

Nursing program unveiled

In an effort to address the critical need for nurses in St. Tammany Parish, St. Tammany Health System and Southeastern Louisiana University’s School of Nursing are partnering to establish an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program tailored specifically for Northshore residents.

Leading the way  

Imagine a technology that can diagnose soft-tissue injuries quickly, inexpensively and noninvasively, often sparing patients from opioid exposure. It exists. It’s called Musculoskeletal Ultrasound, and St. Tammany Health System’s Physical Therapy team is leading the way nationally in its implementation.

July 4th hours 

With Independence Day nearing, St. Tammany Health System has announced that its specialty and outpatient clinics will be closed on July 4th, as will all STHS primary care clinics except for its Express Care walk-in clinic, which will operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All emergency services will remain open.