LSU starts moving departments to old armory

So pressed for room that a storage facility had to be rented across town, LSU-Bogalusa Medical Center has now taken possession of the former National Guard Armory on Avenue B and begun consolidating operations.

Kurt Scott,
LSU-BMC CEO

“We’re excited about it,” Kurt Scott, LSU-BMC’s chief executive officer said in an exclusive interview with wpnewsblog. “When the armory was vacated (in August 2008), it got to the point where it was going to be put on a state surplus list. They called to see if we had any use for it,” Scott said, adding, “We told them we could certainly put it to good use.”

Scott said that following the completion of some remodeling, the hospital’s receiving, stores and warehouse moved from rental space on South Columbia Street last Tuesday (June 14).

“The building has that great, big drill hall that worked out very well for the warehouse,” he said.

“Next (to relocate) will be the HR (Human Resources) Department from our other campus (on Memphis Street) and we will also be moving our IT (information technology) department,” Scott explained. “HR was not in a good location and just didn’t have any room, so this building, with all of the office spaces, will work out well.”

Scott said the building location, at the corner of Avenue B and Willis Ave., is perfect in that it is between the Memphis Street campus and the main hospital.

“It’s much more accessible,” he said.

Those moves are just part of the ongoing expansion at the hospital.

Next up is a project in the hospital’s north tower.

“We let bids yesterday on a $4 million infrastructure project in the north tower … when that is completed, we will have invested $20 million in this facility and community in the past four years,” he said.

And that’s not it, because the doubling of the facility’s emergency department, from eight to 16 beds, is on the calendar as well.

“The ER is the front door to the hospital,” he explained, noting that LSU-BMC sees about 50,000 patients annually in its ER, only about 2,100 patients less than St. Tammany Medical Center.

“We’re working of on a $7.5 million expansion of the ER,” Scott said, noting than about $1.5 million of that is already in-hand. “We’ll expand the waiting room, triage area and admitting in addition to doubling the beds.”

Scott said he was pleased with the progress being made at the facility and the quality of care being delivered.

“We’re a regional hospital now,” he explained. “Our residents don’t have to drive 30 miles for care … and we have people driving from all over the Florida Parishes, from the South Shore and from Baton Rouge.

“We’ve been recognized for our quality of care and we’re still working to do more and to be better.”

Scott points out changes planned during the expansion
of the emergency room. The orange is the present area
and the green is the planned expansion, which will double capacity.
(Photo by John H. Walker)