The words “groundbreaking” and “game changing” seem to get thrown around a lot, but we can’t think of two better words to describe the recent opening of our St. Tammany Academic Center in Covington. 

A result of our already-fruitful partnerships with Southeastern Louisiana University and Northshore Technical Community College, the nearly 12,000-square-foot facility was designed to train the region’s next generation of healthcare professionals, right here, close to home.  

What’s more, by helping local students build their future, the academic center will also bolster the local healthcare workforce, providing a direct pipeline of talent to St. Tammany Health System and other local healthcare organizations.  

Classic win-win. How can you not love that? 

In fact, the more we think about it, maybe “groundbreaking” and “game-changing” aren’t good enough. 

How about “trailblazing”? Or “pioneering”? Maybe even “revolutionary”? 

You decide. Here’s the full story. (Readers of NOLA.com can also check out its coverage of the center’s opening here.) 

You can also keep scrolling for more headlines from the St. Tammany Health System newsroom. We can’t promise they’ll all be game changers, but we hope you’ll enjoy them anyway. 

Be well – and have a happy and healthful Mardi Gras. 

Western St. Tammany Parish’s oldest full-service orthopedic clinic is growing. 

St. Tammany Health System’s Bone and Joint Clinic, which was founded as a private practice in 1969 and joined the health system in 2013, recently unveiled an expansion of its facility on Louisiana 21, nearly doubling its physical footprint from 7,700 square feet to 12,900 square feet. 

In addition to giving its orthopedic staff more clinical space in which to operate – and also freshening up the previously existing space – the project expands the clinic’s capabilities to include on-site physical therapy and the addition of a fifth physician, Dr. Matthew Webb, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in total joint replacement. 

He joins longtime Bone and Joint physicians Dr. Mark Hontas, Dr. Roch Hontas, Dr. Joey LaMartina and Dr. McCall McDaniel.

Mardi Gras hours 

St. Tammany Health System has announced the hours of operation for Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras 2024 at its various clinics and other locations throughout the community. (Note: As always, the health system’s emergency services will remain open 24/7.)

Recipe: Pyre pork chops  

Couldn’t make it to this month’s free Eat Well, Live Well cooking demonstration? No worries. Here’s Pyre BBQ Chef Jeff Mattia’s recipe for Grilled Pork Chops and Bourbon Roasted Carrots, which are guaranteed to get you fired up about flavor.

70 for 70: The first nurses 

When St. Tammany Parish Hospital opened in 1954, local newspapers listed the names of all the doctors at the hospital but largely overlooked its nurses. In one of the latest installments in our 70th anniversary history series, we set out to remedy that.

Be prepared  

St. Tammany Health System’s Palliative Medicine and Advance Care Planning Steering Committee has announced the continuation of its free Advance Care Planning and Education Walk-Up Workshop series in 2024. Click below for dates and times.