North Oaks Health System

History

North Oaks Health System of Hammond is dedicated to providing excellent medical care and health education as well as community outreach and support to residents of the Florida Parishes Founded in 1960 as a communitybased hospital organization North Oaks has grown into an advanced health care system offering a wide range of general and specialty medical and surgical services

As a communitybased hospital organization North Oaks commitment to service extends far beyond the confines of its facilities Throughout the year North Oaks continued to respond to the needs of a growing community with the health system providing almost 1 million in community outreach and corporate partnerships along with 275 million in uncompensated care Foremost on North Oaks agenda of community involvement remained a commitment to preventative health education Over 850 community education programs were offered to 22452 participants including free support group meetings and classes on topics as varied as smoking cessation formulating advance directives prenatal health CPR and even babysitting Nearly 60 screening events were hosted including blood pressure checks cholesterol and glucose screenings lung capacity evaluations infant and child car seat safety checks each with lifesaving potential North Oaks Sports Medicine Physical Day continued its popularity with 1504 junior high and high school studentathletes from 22 schools receiving free physical exams The fourteenth annual event held in May 2006 was made possible by 150 North Oaks employees and volunteers as well as 28 physicians and nurse practitioners Through HOT Team a community relations program whereby staff members volunteer their personal time 263 members logged 2616 service hours valued at 4591080 at 61 events

Since inception a fiveperson Board of Commissioners has directed North Oaks mission of providing for the health care and health educational needs of the citizens of Tangipahoa and the Florida Parishes With their vision services have expanded over the years with one goal enabling area residents to access high quality health care services close to home Their formula has proven effective almost every conceivable health care service can be attended to locally

Today with over 2500 employees physicians and volunteers the health system includes

North Oaks Medical Center

North Oaks Heart Health Center located within
North Oaks Medical Center

North Oaks Diagnostic Center

North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital

North Oaks Hospice

North Oaks Clinics

North Oaks Occupational Health Services

North Oaks Outpatient Rehabilitation Services

The North Oaks medical staff has grown to more than 160 physicians who represent over 35 specialties

North Oaks Health Systems history is rich in advancement In 1969 an east wing was added to the presentday North Oaks Medical Center primarily to enlarge the obstetrics postnatal care areas and nurseries In the late 70s the elevated portion of I55 and its intersection with I12 was completed and Hammond grew rapidly North Oaks Medical Center followed suit by renovating 43000 square feet of existing space and adding a 95000 square foot threestory wing in 198283 This allowed for the enlargement of all hospital departments

In 1992 MaternalChild Services was centralized to the new Womens Pavilion and North Oaks Hospice was officially licensed The following year another Hammond hospital Westpark was purchased and by 1996 transformed into North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital The Family Medicine Clinics began in 1994 to meet the demand for more primary care physicians In 1998 a 250000squarefoot fourstory signature building was opened and followed by the renovation of 45000 square feet of renovations to the original medical center building The project transformed the health systems flagship into a 500000squarefoot health care complex and again allowed for all service areas to grow

In 2002 the Telemetry Unit relocated to a 32342squarefoot new home on the fourth floor of the signature building to provide heart and stroke patient care at its best This fourth floor was formerly an unimproved shell to plan for future growth The 10 million project encompasses 40 patient rooms 20 private and 20 semiprivate 60 beds and advanced monitoring equipment The original unit housed 37 beds and often demand for services would cause a bed shortage making it necessary for telemetry patients to be admitted to other nursing units The opening of the new Telemetry Unit cleared the way for its former location to be converted into 76 additional Medicine Unit beds and brought the North Oaks bed count to 355 in 2003

In the summer of 2004 North Oaks opened a newly constructed therapeutic Aquatic Center adjacent to North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital Also near North Oaks Rehabilitation Services outpatient facility the Aquatic Center is utilized to provide waterbased physical and occupational therapy as well as group exercise classes The Aquatic Center opening was followed in the winter of 2004 by the opening of the technologically advanced 49000squarefoot North Oaks Diagnostic Center This facility opening on the Medical Center campus made possible the relocation of many outpatient services from the health systems hospital campuses to one convenient location The Diagnostic Center was constructed at a cost of 148 million with over 5 million invested in sophisticated medical and educational equipment It houses outpatient admissions the Sleep Disorders Center outpatient radiological services Diagnostic Xray MRI CT Scan Digital Mammography Ultrasound Bone Densitometry Nuclear Medicine Phlebotomy laboratory services as well as the E Brent Dufreche Conference Center for health education

Also in the winter of 2004 North Oaks embarked on a cooperative agreement with the local governing authority of Livingston Parish which was started by an invitation to open a health care facility there North Oaks Specialty amp WalkIn Clinics in Walker After studying the parishs health care market North Oaks officials made the decision to offer a support network for the primary care physicians in the area through the provision of specialty health care services including cardiology ENT internal medicine nephrology obstetrics and gynecology and urology with the involvement of physicians on the North Oaks medical staff As a further enhancement to local health care North Oaks WalkIn Clinic was designed to function in the same facility space as an extended hours no appointment necessary facility to treat most illnesses and minor traumatic injuries from 9 am to 9 pm on weekdays It is staffed with family and emergency medicinetrained physicians qualified to care for patients of all ages from infants ages 2 months and older to senior adults and everyone in between

With the area North Oaks serves remaining one of the fastestgrowing regions in the state North Oaks continues to meet the challenges of expansion moving forward with new projects designed to meet current needs and prepare for the future

Anticipated expansions carefully consider resources and protect our position as an economic engine and fullservice health care provider for our community Expansion projects currently underway andor nearing completion include

North Oaks Heart Health Center Enhancements

The North Oaks team also is making plans to host the grand opening of the newly expanded Heart Health Center at North Oaks Medical Center on Thursday August 17 2006 The project represents a 36 million investment in the community The expansion includes two new advanced Philips Cardiovascular Catheterization Labs as well as a facelift for Cardiology Services an additional Exercise Stress Lab and a new outpatient service area for the Anticoagulation Management Clinic

The Heart Health Center grand opening event will culminate 3 years of planning that concentrated on enhancement of cardiovascular services for our community observes Heart Health Center Director Tammy Murphy RN LCEP The August 17 event will showcase the endresult of centralizing all cardiovascular services to provide focused efficient and individualized cardiac care for our community

North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital Enhancements A 62 million project at North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital will add over 2000 square feet by August 2007 capitalizing on the rededication of 29016 square feet of existing space The Rehabilitation Hospitals nerve center the Comprehensive Medical Rehabilitation CMR Unit Gym will more than double its square footage at 9568 square feet In the Cafeteria the Kitchen and Dining Area will gain space and an adjoining outdoor courtyard will be constructed bringing total square footage of 1632 in which to seat 95 people Other renovation highlights include Solariums for the CMR and Senior Care Units and expansions of the Main Lobby and CMR Unit Dining Room

North Oaks Drive amp More Parking at North Oaks Medical Center By years end 2006 the health system anticipates the completion of North Oaks Drive a new northern access road that will connect Emergency Services Drive to Club Deluxe Road on the North Oaks Medical Center campus North Oaks Drive represents an investment in the community of 34 million The 610mile of lighted roadway which is being built to highway standards is designed to

improve safety and convenience

add a secondary access point

serve as an alternative route around traffic
congestion on Veterans Boulevard

open up 32 acres of North Oaksowned land across
Arnold Creek for future development needs

New parking lots also are part of the package

Plans Under Evaluation Further North Oaks Medical Center development plans currently under evaluation and design consideration by North Oaks officials include

an addition to the signature building that would
enable expansion of the Emergency Department the
creation of 14 new OR suites and addition of
patient beds

addition of fourth and fifth floors to the original
medical center building to add patient beds

a medical office building

a parking garage

a resource center for support services

a freestanding Womens Tower

Beyond North Oaks physical growth its health care team also has advanced perpetually seeking out the most technologically advanced staff equipment services and procedures with which to personalize care for patients and their families