December is always a good time for celebrating – not that we in South Louisiana ever really need a good reason to pass a good time together. This December, though, we at St. Tammany Health System have even more reason than usual to kick up our heels. 

Dec. 1 marked 70 years to the day that we first opened our hospital doors, launching us on our continuing mission to care for the Northshore community.  

A lot has changed over the years, of course. There are more people here, there are more cars here, there is more of pretty much everything here, for better or for worse. As we strive to keep pace, it is no coincidence that our 2024 just so happened to be among St. Tammany Health System’s fastest-growing years on record. 

But one thing that has not changed over the decades is the commitment of our team to provide compassionate, world-class healthcare close to home for you, our Northshore friends, family and neighbors. 

That culture of caring – which has been evident at St. Tammany Health System since Day 1 – was very much at the heart of our Dec. 1 celebration, for which we gathered with members of the community at our Covington hospital to mark the big day. 

Also central to the celebration: the people of St. Tammany Health System, who, from top to bottom and from 1954 to today, are the secret behind that compassionate care. Without their passion, their professionalism and their generosity of spirit, we would be just another health system. With it, St. Tammany Health System has become enmeshed in the very fabric of our community. 

That is something worth celebrating, if we don’t say so ourselves. 

So, thank you to those colleagues who are such a key part of what we do every day – and thank you to our patients, as always, for trusting St. Tammany Health System with your family’s care.  

Here’s to another 70 years!

When it opens in January 2025, the new, $75 million St. Tammany Health System Surgery Center on Bootlegger Road will be among the most technologically advanced surgery centers in the region – and, indeed, in the Gulf South. 

But that’s not the only thing to admire about the new facility. 

It is state of the art, no question – but, thanks to St. Tammany Hospital Foundation’s Healing Arts Initiative, it boasts its share of good old-fashioned visual art, too. 

That includes the single largest piece in the foundation’s collection, a mural by Abita Springs artist Zac Maras measuring 18 feet by 20 feet that adds a can’t-miss-it splash of Louisiana flavor to the new facility’s atrium lobby.  

Tune in, St. Tammany 

Got little ones on your “nice” list this holiday season? If so, you should listen to the latest episode of our “Northshore Healthbeat” podcast, in which the parenting experts at our St. Tammany Parenting Center join us to unveil their 2024 holiday toy guide.

Who Dat hero

Do you recognize the strapping young fellow gracing the cover of our latest issue of Heart to Heart magazine? If you are a Saints fan, you probably do. He is Rich Mauti, a fan favorite from yesteryear – and his generosity is making a difference.

Merry Grinch-mas!

He might be “a mean one,” but the Grinch was on his best behavior this week, joining Cindy Lou Who, Santa Claus and volunteers with Ruby’s Kids in spreading holiday cheer to patients of St. Tammany Cancer Center – A Campus of Ochsner Medical Center.

The streak continues

For the 18th consecutive grading period, STHS’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital has earned an “A” grade for patient safety for fall 2024 from the Leapfrog Group, an independent healthcare watchdog organization.