Somewhere in a warehouse complex in western St. Tammany Parish sits a large metal capital letter T.
Faded and chalky from years in the sun, it was once part of an illuminated sign reading “St. Tammany Parish Hospital” that until December 2020 looked down upon South Tyler Street from a perch on the hospital façade.
In addition to literally putting the “T” in “Tammany,” it survives as a letter-perfect symbol of St. Tammany’s evolution from country hospital to regional health system.
It gets the spotlight in today’s ongoing “70 for 70” series on the health system’s history.
Installment No. 11: Putting the ‘T’ in Tammany
Today’s artifact: A metal letter T from the illuminated sign that hung on the hospital’s façade for years, until 2020.
Why it is significant: Dec. 1, 2019, was a big day at St. Tammany Parish Hospital.
For starters, it marked the 65th anniversary of its founding, which was reason enough for celebration.
In addition, though, leadership used to opportunity to announce the rebranding of the hospital’s governing organization as St. Tammany Health System, in recognition of its evolution from a single, small country hospital to a multifaceted regional healthcare operation boasting more than two dozen specialized locations through the parish.
With that new name came a new logo that echoed the twin-hearts logo the hospital had been using in one form or another since 1985 but with an updated, more modern flair. That new logo has since become a noticeable and dominant presence along the Louisiana 21 medical corridor.
“Now that the logo has been in service for nearly three years, I’m confident that we made the right decision,” STHS Senior Marketing Specialist Tim San Fillippo said in a February 2023 article about the history of the health system’s logos.
He continued: “(It) has an easy-to-read, modern sensibility that has cascaded into other projects such as refreshed monuments and all-new pole banners. What was once an organization with a dated logo that was hard to render at times now boasts a versatile brand image that can be clearly presented as a miniature digital icon or enlarged for an illuminated sign.
“Will it last 17 years? Who knows? But if I were a betting man, I’d say yes.”
That faded letter T is among the last remaining vestiges of that old logo. As such, it is a reminder of how far the health system has come in its first seven decades, evolving to meet the needs of the growing Northshore community while also positioning itself to continue to minister to the healthcare needs of local residents for generations to come.