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Ochsner St. Mary has earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit watchdog focused on patient safety.
Leapfrog assigns grades to general hospitals across the country based on over 30 measures of errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent them.
“This is a truly an honor for our entire staff because everyone has an impact on safety,” said Ochsner St. Mary Administrator Jennifer Wise. “Patients are our highest priority, and this recognition shows our commitment to them.”
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade stands out as the only hospital ratings program focused solely on preventable medical errors, infections and injuries. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.
To see full grade details and access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit HospitalSafetyGrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram and via The Leapfrog Group newsletter.
To learn more about Ochsner St. Mary and the healthcare services it provides to the community, visit ochsner.org/locations/ochsner-st-mary.

Nicholls’ 116th Commencement Ceremonies will take place on Saturday, May 17, in Stopher Gymnasium, featuring alumni guest speakers.
Session I at 9 a.m. will feature the Al Danos College of Business and the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences.
The guest speaker will be Dr. Jenna Chiasson, deputy superintendent of teaching and learning at the Louisiana Department of Education.
In this role, Chiasson has collaborated with policymakers, industry partners and education leaders to transform early literacy instruction across almost 200 school systems and led support for educators and families through the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Session II at noon will feature the College of Liberal Arts and the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute.
The guest speaker will be Elise Hotard Blanchard, senior user experience designer at Mozilla. In this role, Blanchard has led all user experience, interaction, accessibility and qualitative research on mozilla.org, working with leadership and developers to grow the company’s presence and design system, implement marketing campaigns and optimize user flows to install Mozilla products like Firefox, Mozilla VPN and Mozilla Innovation Projects. 
Session III at 3 p.m. will feature the Thibodaux Regional Health System School of Nursing and the College of Sciences and Technology. The guest speaker will be Dr. Barry G. Landry, retired general surgeon and lieutenant colonel who served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 2015 to 2023. Throughout Landry’s career, he served as chief of surgery and staff at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, a member of the Louisiana State Medical Society Board of Governors, president of Thibodaux Physicians Investors, a general surgeon at Thibodaux Surgical Specialists and Nicholls Athletics’ team physician for 30 years
Landry is a founding member, president and currently, the medical director of the Bayou Regional Surgery Center.
He earned three Army Commendation Medals, two with a Combat Device, and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with a Campaign Star for heroic service in a combat zone. 
This is a ticketed event. To learn more, visit www.nicholls.edu/commencement. 

Even as Republicans in Congress walk back their most aggressive proposal to slash federal Medicaid spending, they are weighing other options that could force states to cut services for children and other vulnerable populations.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters last week that his caucus won’t reduce the 90% federal funding match that states get to cover working-age adults who became eligible for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. However, the GOP is still considering capping federal spending by setting a fixed amount for how much states receive for every Medicaid enrollee.
That move would fundamentally change the nature of the program, which has been an open-ended entitlement since its passage 60 years ago.
Another Republican congressional proposal would limit states’ ability to increase Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals by using tax revenue they collect from health care providers. States draw down additional federal dollars by utilizing the strategy, and the extra money helps many hospitals stay afloat.
Any federal cuts to Medicaid — large or small — would strain state budgets and likely lead to service cuts and coverage for fewer people, according to a new analysis released last week by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The agency predicted that to make up for lost federal dollars, states would have to reduce payments to health care providers, curb benefits or reduce enrollment. Some advocates also suggest that states might seek savings in other areas of their budgets, such as K-12 education.
Child health advocates say any of those actions would have a significant trickle-down effect on children and their caregivers. They’re concerned states would have to reduce or even eliminate services that help tens of millions of children access routine care that’s critical from birth, such as vaccinations and physical exams.
Half of U.S. kids
About half of the nation’s 72.8 million children are covered by Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, another joint federal-state program that covers children from families who earn too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid.
“I think what is missing from some of these debates is [Medicaid] is not only the primary payer for children’s health, it’s also supporting the safety net for children’s health, by paying for hospitals, clinics, physicians and offices,” said Heather Howard, a former New Jersey health commissioner who is now a faculty affiliate with the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University.
“It’ll mean that hospitals will close in rural areas, but even in urban areas, we’re going to see, as hospitals see their funding cut, they’re going to have to pull back on services,” Howard added.
“And that clearly is going to impact kids.”
Mississippi pediatrician Dr. John Gaudet said the importance of Medicaid for children begins at birth; Medicaid covered 41% of all U.S. births in 2021. The program also covers a benefit package called Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment, which covers an array of critical services meant to take care of childhood mental and physical health, such as dental and vision care, vaccinations, lab tests and physical exams.
The program serves children struggling with severe emotional distress, as well as physical disabilities. Medicaid pays for long-term and home-based care services.
Gaudet says he’s afraid that a variety of child-related services could be affected by federal Medicaid cuts.
“As a pediatrician, I’m very concerned about prevention and wellness, because that’s going to give you more return on your investment in the long run, if you can prevent an illness rather than wait until it gets more severe and then you’re having to treat it,” Gaudet said in an interview.
School health services
Medicaid cuts also could affect the health services offered in schools.
Between $4 billion and $6 billion in annual Medicaid spending helps pay for school-based health services, including routine health screenings, preventive care, mental health care and physical, speech and occupational therapies.
Children from underserved communities disproportionately rely on school-based health services, according to Abuko Estrada, vice president of Medicaid and child health policy at First Focus on Children, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group.
“We’re not only talking about things like higher emergency room utilization for kids or increased hospitalizations for preventable conditions,” Estrada said in an interview. “We’re also talking about lost educational opportunities, potentially reduced future earnings in adulthood, and perpetuating cycles of poor health that ultimately cost the nation far more than it would potentially save.”
But Brian Blase, president of the Paragon Health Institute, a conservative policy group that is working with Republicans to imagine Medicaid cuts, wrote in an email to Stateline that the ideas circulating on Capitol Hill wouldn’t harm children at all.
Rather, he said, the proposed cuts would shift the funding focus away from working-age adults toward children and more vulnerable populations.
“In my view, it is a moral imperative for Congress to protect the program for the truly vulnerable and end Washington’s discrimination in favor of non-disabled, working-age, childless adults,” wrote Blase, who was a health care adviser to President Donald Trump during his first term.
Chris Pope, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning policy group the Manhattan Institute, said he doesn’t think Republicans in Congress will be able to cut much from Medicaid.
Republicans couldn’t get the votes to make major changes when they tried in 2017, Pope noted, and they have even fewer votes this year. “Unless they can get every Republican to sign off on cuts,” he said, “it’s just not going to happen.”
Republicans in Congress are trying to find roughly $2 trillion in savings to offset the cost of extending tax cuts enacted during the first Trump administration and to make additional tax cuts. The U.S. House committee that oversees Medicaid is supposed to come up with $880 billion of that total.
Despite Johnson’s assertion that reducing the federal Medicaid match for working-age adults is off the table, some fiscal hawks in his own party aren’t ready to give up the idea, which would save more money than any other proposal.
“It’s necessary to stop robbing from the vulnerable to fund the able-bodied,” U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas wrote on X shortly after Johnson’s comments were reported.
In a May 7 letter to House Republican leaders, 32 GOP representatives vowed to find $2 trillion in cuts, calling the House budget framework “a floor for savings, not a ceiling. We must hold that line on fiscal discipline to put the country back on a sustainable path,” the letter said.
Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani is looking into critical Medicaid services for children, including vital EPSDT (Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment). Do you have children who rely on this program, either through traditional Medicaid or a waiver? And do your children have trouble getting access to care? Share your story with Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani at schatlani@stateline.org.

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the Police Department at 985-380-4605.
Thursday, May 8
7:06 a.m. 6700 block of La. 182; Animal complaint.
7:42 a.m. Ditch Avenue/Headland Street; Patrol request.
9:02 a.m. 1300 block of Victor II Boulevard; 911 hang up.
9:23 a.m. Brashear Avenue/Sixth Street; Traffic signal out.
9:33 a.m. 1400 block of Second Street; Warrant.
9:35 a.m. 500 block of Roderick Street; Stand by.
9:48 a.m. 500 block of Roderick Street; Remove subjects.
10:24 a.m. 1100 block of Ditch Avenue; Follow up.
11:26 a.m. 800 block of Sacred Heart Drive; Welfare check.
11:42 a.m. 200 block of Federal Avenue; Welfare check.
12:03 p.m. 7200 block of La. 182; Animal complaint.
1:04 p.m. 7500 block of La. 182; Vehicle accident.
1:07 p.m. 1700 block of Youngs Road; Criminal damage to property.
1:42 p.m. 1100 block of Marguerite Street; Warrant.
2:17 p.m. 7700 block of La. 182; Animal complaint.
2:33 p.m. U.S. 90 East/Bridge; Traffic incident.
3:08 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Arrest.
3:11 p.m. Front/Leona streets; Lost and found property.
3:43 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.
4:03 p.m. 900 block of Marguerite Street; Hit and run.
4:07 p.m. 600 block of Fifth Street; Medical.
4:37 p.m. 3200 block of Youngs Road; Animal complaint.
5 p.m. 1500 block of Bernice Street; Alarm.
5:14 p.m. U.S. 90 West/near Shoneys; Reckless driver.
6:53 p.m. Amelia ; Complaint.
7:09 p.m. U.S. 90; Reckless driver.
8:14 p.m. 6400 block of La. 182; Vehicle accident.
8:37 p.m. 800 block of Arizona Street; Complaint.
8:39 p.m. 6600 block of La. 182; Suspicious person/vehicle.
9:03 p.m. 300 block of Third Street; Suspicious person/vehicle.
9:39 p.m. Seventh/Clothilde streets; Suspicious person/vehicle.
9:47 p.m. 100 block of Poncio Street; Complaint.
10:03 p.m. Oak Street; Suspicious person/vehicle.
11:15 p.m. David Drive; Suspicious person/vehicle.
11:20 p.m. Shannon/Terrebonne streets; Suspicious person/vehicle.
11:34 p.m. 700 block of First Street; Medical.
11:35 p.m. 500 block of Terrebonne Street; Suspicious person/vehicle.
Friday, May 9
12:22 a.m. 3000 block of Allison Street; Disturbance.
2:40 a.m. 1100 block of Brashear Avenue; Alarm.
3:39 a.m. 900 block of Poplar Street; Complaint.
9:43 a.m. 1000 block of Marguerite Street; Assistance.
10:30 a.m. 700 block of David Drive; Medical.
11:16 a.m. 700 block of Belanger Street; Medical.
12:32 p.m. La. 70/U.S. 90 Junction; Accident.
12:53 p.m. Federal Avenue; Reckless driver.
1:43 p.m. 1100 block of Fourth Street; Disturbance.
3:03 p.m. 100 block of Louisa Street; Welfare check.
3:09 p.m. 1400 block of Second Street; Suspicious vehicle.
3:59 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.
4:40 p.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Complaint.
4:53 p.m. 1300 block of Federal Avenue; Reckless driver.
5:17 p.m. 3200 block of Vine Drive; Reckless driver.
5:19 p.m. Cypress Street; Disturbance.
7:18 p.m. 1500 block of Bernice Street; Medical.
7:48 p.m. 3100 block of Susan Street; Welfare concern.
8:29 p.m. 300 block of Everett Street; Complaint.
8:45 p.m. 1600 block of Willow Bend; Complaint.
9:29 p.m. 1100 block of Brashear Avenue; Subject removal.
10:25 p.m. 200 block of Mallard Street; Medical.
10:27 p.m. 200 block of Second Street; Suspicious subject.
11:16 p.m. 700 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard; Arrest.
Saturday, May 10
Midnight Federal Avenue/Bush Street; Arrest.
12:06 a.m. Front Street/Railroad Avenue; Arrest.
2:09 a.m. Fourth Street/Railroad Avenue; Arrest.
9:20 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Alarm.
10:02 a.m. 800 block of Franklin Street; Medical.
10:14 a.m. 1500 block of Bernice Street; Subject removal.
10:20 a.m. Marquis Manor; Animal complaint.
11:22 a.m. 700 block of Belanger Street; Medical.
11:32 a.m. 700 block of Myrtle Street; Welfare check.
1:03 p.m. Federal Avenue; Disturbance.
3:32 p.m. 7500 block of La. 182; Disturbance.
3:54 p.m. Railroad Avenue; Suspicious vehicle.
4:19 p.m. U.S. 90 West; Fire.
4:37 p.m. 700 block of General Hodges Street; Frequent patrols.
4:39 p.m. 1400 block of Second Street; Hit and run.
4:46 p.m. 1700 block of Maple Street; Animal complaint.
4:50 p.m. 1000 block of La. 70; Accident.
5:10 p.m. 400 block of Myrtle Street; Utilities.
6:08 p.m. La. 70/U.S. 90; Stalled vehicle.
6:20 p.m. 600 block of Duke Street; Arrest.
6:33 p.m. 500 block of General McArthur Street; Medical.
6:48 p.m. 1100 block of Marguerite Street; Assistance.
7:01 p.m. 700 block of David; Complaint.
7:30 p.m. 6600 block of La. 182; Two arrests.
7:58 p.m. 2300 block of La. 70; Arrest.
8:59 p.m. 2300 block of Tupelo Street; Complaint.
9:37 p.m. 600 block of General McArthur Street; Juvenile complaint.
9:53 p.m. Fourth/Greenwood streets; Arrest.
10:49 p.m. Railroad Avenue/Myrtle Street; Suspicious subject.
Sunday, May 11
12:53 a.m. 700 block of Belanger Street; Medical.
1:16 a.m. 100 block of Glenwood Street; Suspicious subject.
2:36 a.m. 700 block of Everett Street; Arrest.
2:56 a.m. 700 block of Everett Street; Arrest.