Hospital district board agrees to help MCHS health programs

The April 5 meeting of St. Mary Parish Hospital District No. 2 focused mainly on discussions about a property tax that would keep labor and delivery services at Ochsner St. Mary.

But another parish medical effort also got a boost at the meeting.

The district’s board voted to authorize an agreement with the St. Mary School Board that could add $50,000 in district funds to Morgan City High’s allied health program.

Allied health refers to professions in health care other than nursing or medicine. It covers a wide variety of occupations, including medical assistants, dental assistants, lab technicians and medical records technicians.

Instructors Sheila Fontenot and Anna Aloisio and student Gracie Gagliano made a presentation to the district’s board on behalf of the MCHS allied health programs.

The programs educate 150 students a year, Aloisio said, in seven classes that include Medical Terminology, Allied Health I, Psychology and Behavior, and Child Development.

In addition, she said, another 150 students each year receive some training related to allied health in Morgan City High’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program, where Col. Cory Williams teaches cadets basic trauma treatment skills.

Students can leave the Medical Response class with emergency medical responder certification.

“We’ve got a lot of alums from Morgan City High School walking the halls of Ochsner St. Mary,” Aloisio said.

But running those classes isn’t cheap, and the allied health program representatives were looking for financial help.

Among the needs are electronic blood pressure cuffs, spinal boards used in trauma treatment, cervical collars and electronic child and infant mannequins that can be used to monitor how well students can take care of a young one.

The board’s attorney, Bill Bourgeois, offered to see whether Ochsner St. Mary can use its parent company’s purchasing power to get the school programs a better price for supplies and equipment.