Every community wants a good hospital. The reasons for that are obvious.
The tricky part is, not every community has the wherewithal – and the will – to do what it takes to establish such a hospital.
That was not the case with St. Tammany Health System’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital, which only came about because a dedicated group of citizens rolled up their sleeves and toiled for years to rally their neighbors, enlist the support of their elected officials and pursue much-needed federal funds to help make it become reality.
From the day the hospital was dedicated, that yeoman’s effort was evident – and celebrated.
Which brings us to today’s installment in our 70-part series highlighting artifacts from the health system’s history in celebration of its impending 70th anniversary.
Installment No. 43: ‘Community spirit’
Today’s artifact: A yellowed newspaper clipping containing an editorial published Nov. 29, 1954, in New Orleans’ States-Item newspaper lauding the opening of St. Tammany Parish Hospital as “an outstanding example of a cooperative community spirit.”
Why it is significant: Seven decades after it first opened its doors, St. Tammany Health System takes particular pride in its community roots.
But don’t just take the health system's word for it.
Members of the press could tell from the start, so much so that The States-Item held it up as an example to other communities in an editorial published the day after local elected officials joined with hospital officials to dedicate St. Tammany Parish Hospital.
Clipped and preserved in a scrapbook by Cecile Hebert – the wife of Oliver Hebert, St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s first board chairman – it is reprinted in full here, in honor of those determined citizens who made it all happen: