For the past decade, Baton Rouge’s largest health systems, hospitals and research institutions have been engaged in an exercise that may seem counterintuitive on its face.
In an industry defined by competition—for patients, for employees and for research dollars—the city’s health care leaders are attempting to prove that collaboration can be just as powerful.
The Baton Rouge Health District was born out of that premise.
Launched in 2014 with support from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and other partners, the health district set out to knit together the individual institutions spread along the city’s 1,000-acre medical corridor into a cohesive hub for research, workforce development and health care innovation.
Over a decade later, the health district is entering a new phase. A number of transformative projects—from research infrastructure to corridor improvements—are moving from planning to execution. At the same time, a new program is being launched to tackle one of the most pressing challenges facing hospitals locally and across the nation: the workforce shortage.
“All of this is ultimately about creating a virtuous cycle,” says Steven Ceulemans, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Health District. “It’s about formulating good ideas that have merit, getting people to invest in and support those ideas and then making them happen. And when we make them happen, we can use the results to leverage into bigger goals, bigger investments and more results.”
Perhaps the biggest development for the health district over the past year has been the expansion of its BRHireD workforce initiative.
Through the program, the health district and a coalition of regional partners are attempting to build a pipeline of entry-level health care workers—certified medical assistants, specifically—to help meet growing demand among local hospitals.
In June, the district secured $2 million in funding to expand the initiative. The state contributed $1 million through the Louisiana Department of Health’s H.E.R.O. Fund, and a group of local partners that includes philanthropic organizations and the city of Baton Rouge itself contributed the other $1 million.
Over a two-year period, the program aims to recruit, train and place 100 nursing support professionals into jobs at five of Baton Rouge’s leading health systems: Baton Rouge General, Mary Bird Perkins, Ochsner Health, FMOL Health and Woman’s Hospital. It’s a scholarship program of sorts, as participants receive free education, training and support services.
Read the full story, and check out the full Trends in Health Care package from this month’s Business Report. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com.
