Lake Charles Memorial Health System Joins Gulf South Quality Network
Lake Charles Memorial Health System, the largest healthcare provider in Southwest Louisiana, has joined the Gulf South Quality Network (GSQN), the largest clinically integrated physician-governed network in the state of Louisiana. Partnering with GSQN will strengthen each member hospital’s healthcare infrastructure and physician network. With the adoption of GSQN’s clinical initiatives, Lake Charles Memorial Health System will offer patients the benefit of enhanced quality, service and cost-effective patient care.
"GSQN is pleased to have Lake Charles Memorial Health System and its medical staff as members of our network. They support our goal of becoming a statewide delivery system,” stated Bill Bopp, president of GSQN. “GSQN offers hospitals and their physicians the opportunity to lead the way in better coordination of patient care."
“GSQN is dedicated to improving patient care and outsourcing by focusing on quality measurements, decreasing costs, while providing better access to care,” said Larry Graham, President & CEO of Lake Charles Memorial Health System. "In today's ever-changing healthcare environment, clinical integration is necessary to facilitate the coordination of patient care in order to achieve care that is safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-focused. This partnership supports our mission of improving the health of the people of southwest Louisiana.”
GSQN members collaborate on a much higher degree with physicians who are focused on quality of care, not quantity; have an opportunity to identify and develop quality metrics to provide best practice pathways of care; gain economic benefit for delivering high-quality metrics; and help eliminate inefficiencies to reduce costs.
GSQN recently expanded to the Lafayette and Alexandria, Louisiana markets to add to the existing facilities in the New Orleans, Louisiana market. Hospitals participating with GSQN now include Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria, Louisiana and in Lafayette, Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, the Regional Medical Center of Acadiana and Women’s & Children’s Hospital. Hospitals participating with GSQN in the New Orleans, Louisiana market include Children’s Hospital, East Jefferson General Hospital, Lakeview Regional Medical Center, Slidell Memorial, Tulane Medical Center, Tulane/Lakeside Hospital, Touro Infirmary and West Jefferson Medical Center.
“Our network enables hospitals and physicians to remain independent, but collectively focus on improving patient care and efficiently utilizing medical resources in our community,” Bopp said. “GSQN’s success with integrating physicians around technology is vital as the healthcare industry prepares for changes in healthcare reform.”
About Gulf South Quality Network
Gulf South Quality Network is a physician governed clinically integrated network focused on improving the health status of citizens in the State of Louisiana. Gulf South Quality Network currently has over 1,800 physicians. GSQN is focused on engaging physicians around data to improve patient care and managing patients with one or more chronic disease states to improve the overall healthcare of the community.
For more information, go to www.gsqn.org.
About Lake Charles Memorial Health System
Lake Charles Memorial Health System is the region's largest not-for-profit, community healthcare system, serving the healthcare needs of Southwest Louisiana. Memorial Health System is locally-owned and operated by a Board of Trustees from the community it serves. The hospital is a shareholder of Voluntary Hospitals of America (VHA), and is fully licensed by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. CEO Larry Graham joined Lake Charles Memorial Health System in 2006, bringing more than 30 years of experience in healthcare administration.
The only full-service healthcare system in Lake Charles, Memorial was established in 1952. Today, our health system includes 298 licensed beds on our Oak Park campus, 38 beds at our Women's campus, 29 beds at our long-term care specialty hospital, outpatient clinics serving uninsured and under insured at the W.O. Moss Memorial Health Clinic, and over 90 employed physicians and specialists that are a part of the Memorial Medical Group.
As the healthcare market leader in the Lake Charles region, our success can be attributed to a dedicated team of over 2,500 employees and 300 staff physicians representing more than 60 specialties and subspecialties, as well as the largest emergency services department in southwest Louisiana. Memorial is also the area's only teaching facility for physicians through the Memorial/LSUHSC Family Medicine Residency Program, and serves as a clinical training site for nursing, medical technology and radiologic technology students through various universities, including McNeese State University.