Charles Dowdy: OK, Anne (Pablovich of St. Tammany Health System) is back. How are you, Anne?
Anne Pablovich: I’m great. How are you?
Charles: I’m good. So what are we talking about today, because we have kind of jumped in this feet first?
Anne: Yeah, we are talking about an event we are putting on. It is called Be Well, Stay Well.
Charles: All right, and we have got Kelly here as well. Kelly Rabalais, how are you?
Kelly Rabalais: Great, thank you so much, Charles.
Charles: Give me your background. Have you been in here before?
Kelly: Charles, I have not. Thank you, first time.
Charles: I know your background, but I am going to let you share it. Give it to our listeners.
Kelly: Currently I am assistant vice president of strategy for St. Tammany Health System. Prior to joining the health system, I was with St. Tammany Parish government as the chief administrative officer.
Charles: Perfect. Well, we are glad to have you. The jobs similar? You enjoying yourself? You having a good time?
Kelly: I love St. Tammany Health System and helping them just execute their strategy across West St. Tammany.
Charles: All right, my strategy is to not go to St. Tammany (hospital). Is that OK?
Kelly: That is a good one. But, yes, you can come for wellness – and that is what we are here to talk about.
Charles: Look at you! That is well done. So, Anne, what is this event? Tell me about it.
Anne: So, (for) Be Well Stay Well, we are partnering with the Southern Hotel. We are offering our quarterly comprehensive health screenings that I have been on to talk about before, but we decided to up the ante. We are partnering with the Southern so you can take care of your health and wellness but enjoy a nice luxurious stay at our favorite hotel. You will get a dinner out of the new Gloriette Restaurant with Chef Stephen Marsala and a program with our famous, fabulous duo of Dr. Torcson and Dr. Hill. All of that is included in our package.
Charles: So, Kelly, I guess the idea is we are trying to make it as easy as possible for people to check all of these boxes.
Kelly: Sure, make it easy, take care of yourself – and, hey, pack a bag, come for a couple of nights, really so it is something that you want to do. But what we wanted to do is really draw upon the history of St. Tammany Parish as a place you go just to take care of yourself and for wellbeing.
Charles: So we are inviting people from outside the immediate area? So anybody can come do this?
Kelly: Sure, anyone can come.
Charles: Who is the target? I mean, who is going to take advantage of this?
Anne: I think it is great for retirees, but really anybody can take advantage of it, anybody that can spare a day. The event is on the heels of Mardi Gras, so right as you kick off Lent it is a time to just come in and take care of tests and screenings. It is a full line-up (and) very convenient at our Outpatient Pavilion. Then you can enjoy your stay at the Southern Hotel with the two nights there and all of the things that Covington has to offer.
Charles: I will take that a step further. Kelly, when I think of getting all these tests done, I don’t think of fine food. I don’t think of sleeping in a fine hotel. So, the idea kind of is, let’s make this an experience that will be enjoyable for the people that are doing it.
Kelly: Sure, and you know engaging in wellness and all these screenings doesn’t have to a negative experience. It is a positive experience and something that you would want to do. And then, oh, by the way, we are putting a package together so that it just feels good – and you have an opportunity to do it in a setting where it is relaxed. It is not high pressure. It is not worrisome.
Charles: And it is all done at once. You are not setting five different appointments for five different days or whatever.
Anne: That is the beauty of it, and that is really the value that a lot of people have found in this screening. It is so comprehensive, but you are boom, boom, boom through a continuum of services and screenings. It takes an hour and a half.
Kelly: Right, and just to expand a little bit more, we are using our existing facility, our Outpatient Pavilion, but after-hours. So the group that is going to participate in this event will be completely catered to, with regards to these tests, so that we are taking the appointments, the waiting, out of the equation.
Charles: Getting from the Southern to the Outpatient Pavilion? How is that happening?
Kelly: Just with your own car. The thought is, again, for people to drive in within a driving distance of the Southern Hotel (so they’ll be) just taking that quick trip from the hotel to the Outpatient Pavilion.
Charles: But you are going at a different time, kind of an atypical time where you are going to basically be within a group that is just going to be doing that program.
Kelly: Correct.
Charles: Ok, I think I have got it. I do want to talk about some of these tests. I know that we are not doctors in the room, but do we know how many tests we are talking about? And maybe some of the details?
Anne: Yes, absolutely. We offer a really comprehensive lineup. There is blood pressure screening, labwork that includes your lipid panels, a comprehensive metabolic profile, a complete blood count -- those are some basic things, but it is helpful to get a recheck on those pretty consistently. We offer skin cancer screening, head and neck cancer screening. We offer an EKG. We offer ultrasounds of your carotid arteries and your abdominal aorta. And then we also offer an osteoporosis screening so you can check your bone density to see if you have any risks there. And then there are a couple of add-ons.
Charles: But those are all if I come to this event.
Anne: That is all inclusive, yes. And then Ochsner’s sports performance team comes out and they offer an in-body analysis, which tells you your body content makeup. … Then the two add-ons are a colorectal cancer screening via FIT Kit and then a lung cancer screening. We have those as add-ons because they may not be applicable to everybody. Some people may get their colonoscopies regularly, so a FIT Kit is not necessary for them, and similar with the lung cancer screening.
Charles: OK, we are going to run through the whole thing again one more time in just a second. So, we got guests in the studio and we are talking about something called. What Anne?
Anne: Be Well Stay Well.
Charles: And this is a new concept.
Anne: It is.
Charles: And if you were going to sell it to somebody right now, give me the elevator pitch. Kelly, we are on an elevator that only has about three stops. What do you think?
Kelly: Come to quaint southern Louisiana to just enjoy the town and the Southern Hotel. And then knock out the wellness screenings in a concierge-type of event, have a great dinner, learn some stuff about some healthy habits and Kick off Lent in the right way.
Charles: The main thing, too, is this is done in such a way that it really on your schedule.
Kelly: Correct. We are going to cater to the individual and then make it easy to get all of your wellness screenings in one evening.
Charles: Alright, and we are calling it a weekend, but it is really a Thursday night, all day Friday, and then into Saturday. Is that right?
Kelly: That is correct. It was specifically designed that way so that it wouldn’t be so prescriptive about what anyone wants to do with their time, because there are so many other things to do across St. Tammany Parish. So we wanted to just leave it open for anyone to come in then and decide what they wanted to do after they got their screenings done.
Charles: Alright. … What is that website?
Anne: BeWellStayWell.health.
Charles: Anything else? Have we covered everything, guys?
Kelly: We did. Look us up on the website and then come join us.