If you’ve ever walked down the Radiology hallway at St. Tammany Health System’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital, you’ve undoubtedly seen them. You might have even wondered out loud about them.
They are five distinguished-looking gentlemen, all in various stages of balding or graying, who stare back at visitors from a series of reverential portraits. It’s obvious from the portraits’ prominent positioning, as well as the brass inscriptions attached to each, that each man was important, beloved or both – but who are they?
They are the Five Old Men of St. Tammany Health System, and each had a part to play in its long history.
As part of our ongoing 70 for 70 history project, we’ve previously spotlighted the portraits of Dr. H.E. Gautreaux, Dr. Thomas James Healey, Dr. Jacob H. Kety and Dr. Patrick Hunter.
Today, we introduce you to another of the five: Haller Alexius, who joined the health system in 1964 and oversaw some of the biggest expansion projects in the hospital’s history to that point.
Installment No. 59: A man with a plan
Today’s artifact: A portrait of longtime St. Tammany Parish Hospital Administrator Haller Alexius painted by Marilyn Carter Rougelot and currently on display at St. Tammany Parish Hospital.
Why it is significant: Haller Alexius wasn’t supposed to be a hospital guy. He was supposed to be a hardware guy.
And initially, at least, that’s what he was.
A member of the extended local Alexius family and a product of the local public school system, the Covington native served in the Coast Guard during World War II. After the war, he started his civilian career first as an employee, and eventually as president, of Alexius Brothers Hardware.
Then, in 1964, he decided to make a switch, joining St. Tammany Parish Hospital as comptroller. In 1966, he was chosen to succeed the hospital’s outgoing administrator, H. Shober Roberts.
It was a position Alexius would hold for 19 years, one of the longest tenures of anyone who has served in the post. (The inscription on a small plaque affixed to his portrait errantly says he was administrator for 21 years, although he was in fact comptroller for the first two of those years.)
In that time, Alexius would oversee some of the biggest expansions to that point in the hospital’s history. They included a 60-bed expansion completed in 1968, a 31-bed expansion completed in 1974 and a 64-bed expansion completed in 1978.
When he started in the job, the hospital had 45 beds. By the time he retired in 1985, it had 200.
“I doubt if anyone realized back in 1953, when construction was begun, that our population would increase so rapidly,” Alexius said at the time of the 1978 expansion. “But grow it did, and we at the hospital have tried to meet the demands of that growth.”
Alexius died on Dec. 2, 1989, at the age of 69 – at St. Tammany Parish Hospital.
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.
Next week – Installment No. 60: Food for thought
Last week – Installment No. 58: The shoes off her feet