Lakewood Foundation donates $310K to nursing schools

Two nursing schools in the region recently received a total of over $300,000 in donations from a Morgan City-based foundation after the board decided to dissolve the organization.

Lakewood Foundation Inc. was formed in 1965 to acquire and maintain buildings and property for the promotion of medical services and health care within Wards 6 and 9 of St. Mary Parish.

The foundation board recently voted to dissolve the foundation and donate its remaining $310,000 to the nursing programs at Nicholls State University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Each university will receive $155,000, according to a news release.

An estimated $1 million in contributions have been made from the foundation in the past 30 years.

Nursing education has been the foundation’s longest funded project.

“One of the main missions of the Lakewood Foundation was encouraging nursing careers to support our area’s hospitals,” Foundation President B.A. “Red” Adams Sr. said in a statement.

The board chose to donate the money to the Nicholls and UL -Lafayette nursing programs because they are the two schools most attended by students from the area who receive their nursing degrees and then return to Teche Regional Medical Center in Morgan City to practice, Adams said.

“It’s a gift that’s going to last,” said Jeremy Becker, executive director of The Nicholls Foundation.

Nicholls State officials plan to invest the funds and use earnings only on the investments, he said.

“The impact is going to be seen for years and years and years to come,” Becker said.

The dean of the nursing school will be able to the funds on a yearly basis as needs arise, particularly to keep up with the latest technology to help students in their careers, Becker said.

“This very generous gift will be used to provide the UL-Lafayette Department of Nursing additional resources to improve the educational experience of our nursing students,” said Gail Poirrier, dean and professor of Louisiana-Lafayette’s College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, in a statement.

“We are very grateful to the Lakewood Foundation for this investment in future nurses who will provide excellence in the delivery of health care in the Acadiana region and beyond,” Poirrier said.

In 1973, area residents approved a 10-mill ad valorem tax to finance a bond issuance for construction of the current seven- story Teche Regional Medical Center, formerly known as Lakewood Medical Center.

In December 2001, St. Mary Parish Hospital Service District 2 executed a lease agreement for Province Healthcare Corp. to begin operating Teche Regional Medical Center. Province merged with LifePoint Hospitals in 2005.

Through the years, the foundation undertook numerous upgrade projects for Lakewood Medical Center in addition to funding nursing and medical scholarships thru various fund-raising efforts. Supporters for the project were from the Tri-City area as well as various oil companies in New Orleans, Lafayette, Houston and Dallas area.

Lakewood Medical Center served the emergency needs of many Gulf of Mexico offshore operators. Since these individuals provided no tax base from which the hospital could operate, they generously participated in the fundraisers to help keep the medical facility strong, the release stated.

Adams, who assumed the foundation presidency from longtime president, Frank J. Domino, in 1986, stated that the foundation has had no operating or administrative expenses whatsoever. Ninety-nine percent of the contributions received were utilized for hospital improvements, as well as nursing and medical scholarships, he stated.

Members of the foundation say they are proud of the foundation’s contribution to the community during past 52 years and feel the founders would approve of the management, progress, and prosperity of their original endeavor, Adams said.

Other foundation members include Vice President R.E. “Bob” Miller, Treasurer Greg Roussel, Secretary Nick LaRocca, Scholarship Chairwoman Jodi Adams, Ben Adams, F.C. “Butch” Felterman, Thane Aucoin, Bill New, Carl Blum, Mike Domino, Sharon Howell, Michael Patterson, and Dr. Charles Parsiola.