Hospital district sees first money from tax; scholarship recipient named

The first proceeds of a 9-mill property tax for Hospital Service District No. 2 are in the bank. And the first scholarship supported by those funds has been awarded.
At Wednesday’s district board meeting, legal counsel Bill Bourgeois told members that the district has received $2.3 million raised by the tax in 2025. The tax passed Dec. 7, 2024, by a 70%-30% margin.
The tax is dedicated “to be used to improve, maintain, operate and support hospital and other health care facilities in the District, including but not limited to repairing existing facilities, acquiring equipment, and otherwise supporting the provision of hospital services.”
The ballot language said the tax is expected to raise about $3.4 million per year.
The impetus behind the call for a new property tax was repairing the damage inflicted by 2024’s Hurricane Francine at Ochsner St. Mary, the hospital owned by the district and operated under lease by Ochsner Health.
But the “supporting the provision of hospital services” language includes some other goals brought up in pre-election discussion, including putting the hospital in position to add new service lines and to provide scholarships for local students in health-related fields.
The first of those scholarship recipients is Landyn Leigh Lacoste, a Bayou Vista resident and Berwick High senior who plans to train as a radiology technician at Fletcher Technical Community College.
The scholarship is for about $2,500, Bourgeois said after the meeting, depending on the number of credits on the recipient’s schedule. Recipients will also be required to work in health care in St. Mary for two years.
The district hopes to leverage the property tax into something larger than the yearly tax proceeds. The board received approval from the St. Mary Parish Council and the State Bond Commission to borrow $6.7 million against future tax proceeds.
Francine caused water to infiltrate the hospital’s exterior. A temporary resealing has already been completed, with a more permanent fix in the plans.
Also needed is a new heating-ventilation-air conditioning system and other repairs throughout the building.
Bourgeois told the board Wednesday that repairs on an overhang on the hospital’s exterior are complete. The board also awarded a generator contract to DXI Electric of New Iberia on a low bid of $1.4 million.
Still to come are the exterior sealing work, new flooring in the hospital kitchen, a new water heater and heat exchanger, and replacement of the staff elevator.
Also Wednesday, the district OK’d its meeting schedule for 2026. The board will stick to its usual first-Wednesday meetings with no holidays to affect its schedule.