Many hospitals describe themselves as a community hospital, but at St. Tammany Health System, it’s not just talk. It truly means something, given that the health system was founded as a direct result of a lengthy but determined local grassroots effort.
Consequently, there’s a sense of ownership in the health system by members of the community that hasn’t waned in the seven decades since the health system’s founding.
When asked in 2021 about the special bond between the hospital and the community it serves, STHS Chief Medical Officer Patrick Torcson said:
“Everybody here is somebody’s neighbor, friend, sister-in-law, brother-in-law. It really is a very well-connected community. I think that’s very different from a big-city medical center. We really are caring for our friends, families and neighbors. We see that every day, and I think that contributes to the overall success we have achieved.”
He continued: “It’s truly a symbiotic relationship between the hospital and the community. I think that’s the special sauce. There’s no detachment. This is not an interloping corporate initiative. This is very much an organic part of this community.”
That sense of community connection is embodied in today’s installment in our ongoing “70 for 70” history project.
Installment No. 5: A cause is born
Today’s artifact: A 1946 clipping from the St. Tammany Farmer in which the Women’s Progressive Union of Covington urged the citizens of St. Tammany Parish to join its then-newly announced effort to secure the needed funding to build the parish’s first hospital.
Why it is significant: If hospitals were issued birth certificates, this brief announcement from the WPU would be St. Tammany Health System’s.
Addressed to “the citizens of St. Tammany Parish,” it announced that the Women’s Progressive Union – a civic organization for which Norma Core served as president and Aimee Moake was chairwoman – would be dedicating its attention to getting that long-awaited hospital built once and for all.
“We plan to visit every civic, business and educational group in the parish for the purpose of asking the assistance in this movement,” it read.
And that’s exactly what they did, mounting a grassroots advocacy campaign targeting everything from the biggest local churches and civic groups to the smallest knitting circles.
The thinking: If they could get the parish’s residents on board with the plan to get a hospital built, local elected officials would have little choice but to line up behind the idea.
It took a while, and it endured a few bumps in the road, but the work of the WPU was ultimately successful, with the hospital finally opening its doors Dec. 1, 1954.
A lot has changed since that day. The sprawling, modern campus occupied by the hospital today – which has continued to evolve with the community – doesn’t at all resemble the one-story, 30-bed facility that opened seven decades ago.
One thing hasn’t changed, though: the unique bond between the hospital and the community that willed it into being.
Do you have a St. Tammany Parish Hospital story or artifact to share? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at CommDept@stph.org.
Next week – Installment No. 6: The scrapbooking historian
Last week – Installment No. 4: The face(s) of St. Tammany Parish Hospital