In 2011, officials working on FuturEBR, a comprehensive blueprint for East Baton Rouge Parish, pointed out the need to improve traffic flow throughout the Essen Lane/Bluebonnet Boulevard medical corridor. New hospitals and clinics totaling $500 million were proposed for the area, and, without attention, the congestion was only going to worsen.
At the request of the FuturEBR implementation team, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation hired planners to create a strategy for the area. They quickly concluded that focusing only on traffic would be thinking too small.
Other cities, most notably Houston, have created designated districts to leverage their health care assets into something greater than the sum of their parts, becoming regional or national destinations for care and research while creating jobs and wealth. Baton Rouge’s health care institutions were doing great work, but it was all happening within their respective silos, BRAF Executive Vice President John Spain says.
“What if we tore the silos down?” he recalls thinking.
A decade later, the Baton Rouge Health District is an official entity with a staff and a $1 million annual budget. While visible progress has been scarce, and there have been snags along the way, members say their collaboration is proving beneficial behind the scenes and they’re hopeful about what’s next.
Read the full story about the district’s plans and progress from the latest edition of Business Report. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com.
