City Steps Forward as Medical Center

              Sunday, Jan. 14, 1968
City Steps Forward
As Medical Center
By MARGARET MARTIN
Of The Times Staff
News of the signing of a
contract for a $20-million LSU
Shreveport Medical School build-ing,
the first open heart surgery
over performed here, and a man
kept alive for 36 minutes after
his heart stopped beating all
pointed up the the fact that the
Shrevepor-Bossier City area has
become an important medical
center.
During the calendar year of
1967, all of the local hospitals,
except P & S were approved for
medicare.
LSU Medical School Dean Dr.
Edgar Hull signed the contract
for the 12-story, $20-million Medi-cal
school complex along with
other LSU officials and archi-tects
in March.
LSU has applied for $10 million
in federal matching funds for
construction of the building from
the National Institutes of Health
in Washington, D.C.
The complex will be construct-ed
between the Confederate
Memorial Medical Center and
the Confederate Nursing School
Building on Kings Highway.
Expected completion is 1973, but
classes will begin in the fall of
1969 in the Veterans Administra-tion
Hospital, which became
affiliated with the medical school
last spring.
The medical school now has 17
staff members—12 teaching per-sonnel
and five secretarial work-ers.
Offices are located on the
fifth floor of the VA Hospital and
on the first floor of Confederate
Memorial Medical Center.
HEART SURGERY
One of the biggest medical
stories during the year was the
news of the first open heart
surgery ever done in this area.
A team of three doctors at
Confederate Memorial Medical
Center replaced a ruptured valve
with an artificial valve in the
heart of West Freeman, 38-year-old
Negro who had been charged
with murder. Freeman later died
of an infection.
Three d o c t o r s at another
Schumpert Hospital kept David
K. Powell 46, alive for 36
minutes after his heart stopped
beating.
Powell's heart stopped beating
for 15 seconds, before a team of
doctors mechanically started the
heart beat and kept it beating
until the heart itse|r began to
function properly again. He
suffered no brain damage and no
deterioration to the nervous
system, and he has had :'.o other
complications.
Shreveport hospitals admitted
over 100,000 persons during the
calendar year of 1967, and some
10,000 babies were born during
the 12-month period.
Largest number of admittances
were at Schumpert where there
were 17,000 "mpatients," 18,000
emergency patients and 5,200
outpatients.
There were a total of 23,995
persons admitted to Confederate
during the year.
P & S Hospital reported 7,532
admissions, while Fairfield ad-mitted
1,100; Willis-Knighton,
9,009; Doctors, 6,075; Highland,
4,620, and Bossier General, 4,008.
Reporting number of patient
days of service were Schumpert,
107,000; P & S, 40,724; Willis-
Knighton, 43,581; Doctors, 37,711;
Highland, 27,200, and Bossier
General, 20,371.
A total of 3,251 babies were
born at Confederate and 1,338 at
Schumpert during the year,
while P & S reported ' 534
newborns; Willis-Knighton, 548;
Doctors, 314; Highland, 239; and
Bossier General, 441.
The big news at Confederate
was installation of a computer
for reporting patient care infor-mation
for the purpose of
medicare billing, and announce-ment
of participation in the first
statewide closed circuit educa-tional
hospital television system
in the nation.
S c h u m p e r t Hospital made
headlines during the year when
Sister Mary Christine, adminis-trator
at the institution for the
past six years was appointed
director of hospitals for the
Sisters of Charity of the Incar-nate
Word. Replacing her was
Sister Mary Columba.
Also during 1967, the hospital
further developed its heart cen-ter
and cardiovascular services.
The hospital announced develop-ment
of a heart catherization
facility, a radiographic special
procedures room, and installa-tion
of a high energy cobalt
capsule for use in treatment of
cancer.
FACILITIES
The big news at the VA
Hospital during 1967 was com-pleting
of $390,000 in renovation
work and addition of medical
facilities.
Added to the hospital's medical
facilities were radioisotope and
pulmonary function laboratories.
The surgical suite was moder-nized
by replacement of old
surgical lights, new operating
tables vacuumatic autoclave and
gas sterilizer, and the ninth and
10th floors have been renovated,
and the hospital pharmacy was
modernized and re-equipped.
The hospital library was relo-cated
and modernized and a new
medical illustration laboratory
was added.
During the year automatic
elevators were installed at a cost
of $120,000. Other improvements
are the modernization of the
laundry; addition of a new
incinerator for biological wastes;
additional parking facilities with
new lights; installation of a
centralized dictating equipment
with transcription unit for the
professional staff; added mecha-nized
filing equipment for medi-cal
records; automatic central-ized
tray service from main
dietetic kitchen to all wards;
modernized and centralized dish-washing
facilities for entire
hospital, and installation of flou-rescent
lighting throughout hospi-tal
corridors and stairwells.
Highland "Hospital celebrated
its 50th anniversary during the
year, and Bossier General cele-brated
its first.
Doctors Hospital announced
completion of most of its $1
m i l l i o n renovation program,
which included a new surgery
wing and two new floors, an
intensive care unit, and complete
renovation of the hospital. The
hospital will also get a "new
look" as white aggragate is
added to the brick walls of the
building.
Adding a new physical therapy
department, a $50,000 image
intensifier in the Radiology De-partment,
and a new microbiolo-gy
department was Willis-Knigh-ton.
The hospital also completely
remodeled the part of the old
section of the plant, and pur-chased
$133,000 in property which
will be used for expansion.
Fairfield Hospital purchased
$65,000 in property for expansion
purposes and has announced
option on other property near the
hospital for expansion purposes.
During 1967, P & S Hospital
completed another phase in its
construction program.