CHRISTUS facility allows expansion of services and specialized, state-of-art technology

CHRISTUS Health Shreveport- Bossier allowed a first look into the new West Wing on Jan. 14.

This $60 million project will completely transition the services still left on the Schumpert campus to a more centralized location in Shreveport.

“I can’t say enough that this is our announcement. This is our announcement to the community that it is more than rehab, [labor and delivery], this is our announcement that we continue to be committed – and always have been committed to this community.

“This ministry is alive and well and it needs to be alive and well for the community,” Isaac Palmer, CEO of CHRISTUS Health Shreveport-Bossier, said.

A $55 million capital investment and a $5 million contribution from CHRISTUS Foundation Shreveport-Bossier allowed for the expansion of services, renovations and updates to the CHRISTUS Highland Medical Center and to complete the West Wing.

The West Wing, located on Bert Kouns in Shreveport, holds in-patient rehab on the third floor, a neonatal intensive care unit and a The Birth Place on the second floor and the Cancer Treatment Center on the first floor.

“In our mission statement, ‘to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ,’ we always talk about that word healing means more than just treatment, it means more than just curing, it speaks to community. It speaks to the spiritual nature and ministry,” Palmer said.

These services are moving from the Schumpert campus, which is in the process of possibly being sold to an un-named buyer.

Palmer said no jobs were lost in the transition to the new location; however, the heath facility may bring more jobs to the community as the volume of CHRISTUS grows.

The Cancer Treatment Center features a new state-of-the-art linear accelerator, an open concept infusion area, additional private rooms and a private entrance for patients.

Palmer said the new linear accelerator which provides radiation therapy radiation therapy is not installed yet. Installation will take about two months and after installation, the Cancer Treatment Center at Schumpert will move over to the new space.

“We are very excited about the True Beam that we bought, which is the name of the linear accelerator. It’s called a True Beam because the idea around that is to send a lot of radiation to a very specific part of the body and that is why it’s encased in 6 feet of concrete,” he said.

“But the True Beam is the latest and greatest in the market and what it does is it is more laser focused. Think about killing more cancer cells, and the path it takes to get to those cancer cells where it takes everything around it is at risk for being damaged or dying as well. The true beam has less of that risk. It is a more focused risk that goes right to the cancer cells and that is what we have and we are pretty proud of it.”

Housed on the second floor is The Birth Place, the labor and delivery unit and a NICU, which features high-risk, growing, isolation and bonding rooms.

“What is interesting about this nursery is that we don’t expect it to be used much because more and more mothers are having their baby with them in the room after they deliver,” Palmer said.

“We have designed our space to do either one of those and so you will see that our rooms are pretty large and they can house mom, baby, dad, brother, sister – whoever shows up to help mom out.”

In the shared lobby area of The Birth Place and NICU on the walls are the logos of the 17 Children’s Miracle Network Hospital Programs.

Seven out of the 17 programs will be housed on the second floor of the West Wing.

“Each of these are programs that we have here at CHRISTUS serve this community and kids in some fashion – everything from the care center for abused kids to CHRISTUS Kids Clinic which is our physical, occupational and speech therapy clinic for those kids who may have a disability or who have been injured in an accident.

Palmer said all services will be moved over to the campus on Bert Kouns by April 1.

The most immediate transition will be rehab, The Birth Place and NICU, which will happen the first part of February.

Around March or April, the cancer treatment will move over and housed in the West Wing.

“The main thing is that we are here, and we kept to our promise to be here in this market because we know that we are the only faith-based hospital in Shreveport and Bossier and that is deep to us, and it means something deeply to our board, our founding sisters and congregation,” Palmer said.

–Lydia Earhart