At first blush, it looks like a standard family scrapbook.
There are beach photos, there are picnic photos, there are newspaper clippings and other ephemera.
But look closer, and you’ll notice something unusual: Nearly everyone in the photos is wearing either scrubs or a lab coat.
Clearly, this is no ordinary family scrapbook.
Which brings us to today’s installment in 70 for 70, our ongoing series documenting the history of St. Tammany Health System.
Installment No. 28: “First place”
Today’s artifact: A photo-festooned blue ribbon tucked away in a circa 1992 scrapbook documenting the founding of St. Tammany Health System’s cardiology program.
Why it is significant: As part of its overarching mission to provide world-class healthcare close to home for the people of the Northshore, St. Tammany Parish Hospital set out in 1992 to build what it declared would be the biggest, best cardiology program around.
“STPH fully intends to have the finest comprehensive diagnostic and cardiac services on the Northshore,” David Crutchfield, the hospital’s then-director of Cardiovascular Services, said at the time. “We are getting the best equipment that money can buy, but that’s only one step. The hospital has (also) been engaged in intensive education preparation.”
Those efforts have yet to cease, as the health system’s best-in-the-region Cardiovascular program continues to grow and innovate. That includes the work of 11 care providers with STHS’s Cardiovascular Clinic who see patients out of the practice’s longtime Covington office as well as a satellite office opened in late 2022 in Mandeville.
There’s also St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s designation as a Chest Pain Center by the American College of Cardiology. There’s the multi-phased Cardiac Rehabilitation program, designed to get patients back on their feet. There’s the hospital’s leading-edge TAVR program. The list goes on.
It took a lot of work to get there, but it’s clear that members of the hospital’s original cardio team relished and embraced the challenge.
What’s more, the familial bonds they formed are evident in the pages of the recently unearthed cardio scrapbook, which – in addition to covering the department’s early work – also includes photos of goofier stuff, like photos taken during a bowling outing and at other departmental get-togethers.
Far and away, though, our favorite item in the scrapbook is that blue ribbon – provenance unknown – artfully adorned with photographic cutouts of members of that original cardio team. Printed on it in gold letters are two one-syllable words that say it all:
“First place.”
Scroll down for a sampling of photos from the STHS cardio scrapbook.
Next week – Installment No. 29: Meet Great Aunt Emmy
Last week – Installment No. 27: “Eat to Your Heart’s Content”
Do you have a St. Tammany Parish Hospital story or item to share? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at CommDept@stph.org.