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Your investment in the CHRISTUS Ochsner SWLA Foundation is an investment in a healthy future for Southwest Louisiana.

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By donating to the CHRISTUS Ochsner SWLA Foundation, you support programs that will positively improve the outcomes of patients at CHRISTUS Ochsner Lake Area and CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick hospitals now and in the future. Whether you choose to make a one-time donation or schedule donations throughout the year, we are so thankful for your generosity!

Click here to download a printable donation form.

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One Time & Recurring Gifts

One of the easiest ways to make a difference through CHRISTUS Ochsner SWLA Foundation is simply to make a donation. You can make a one-time gift or set your donation to repeat at your preferred interval. You can even spread your donation out over time, known as “pledging to give.”

Click below to make your gift via the appropriate donation page.

We’re happy to help you decide which method of giving is best for you. Just email the Foundation at [email protected] or call 337-430-5353.

Planned Giving

Planned giving, sometimes referred to as gift planning, is a method of charitable support that allows donors to make larger gifts than they could make from their income. While some planned gifts provide a lifelong income to the donor and then leave remaining assets to the charity upon the donor’s passing, others use estate and tax planning techniques to provide for charity and other heirs in ways that maximize the gift and/or minimize its impact on the donor’s estate.

Major Gifts

Sometimes, individuals or organizations want to make a substantial investment in our health care initiatives. We work with these potential donors to explore their desires to make a difference and match them with various opportunities.

Major Gift Success StoryJohn & Sylvia Stelly Regional Heart Center
CHRISTUS Ochsner Health Southwestern Louisiana’s exceptional cardiology program, now located at the John & Sylvia Stelly Regional Heart Center, was made possible through a generous donation from John & Sylvia Stelly. Thanks to their generosity, we now have a certified primary stroke center, an accredited Cardiac Receiving Center and the only chest pain-accredited facility and Cardiac Center of Excellence in Southwest Louisiana. To express our gratitude, we renamed the Regional Heart Center in their honor.

To discuss making a major gift, please email the Foundation at [email protected] or call 337-430-5353.

Areas of Impact

The CHRISTUS Ochsner SWLA Foundation has countless areas you can impact with your donation. Whether you want to support the area of greatest need or a specific area like women’s health, children’s services, cancer treatment and prevention, or others, we’ll gladly help direct your gift to make the most significant impact.

Area of Greatest Need

Not sure where you want to give? Let us help you decide. A donation to the Foundation’s area of greatest need will support a number of initiatives, from new technologies to patients in need to provider training.

Cardiology

The Foundation strives to provide patients the best cardiac care, to encourage recruitment of top cardiologists, and to continue to give our community an excellent local choice to decrease outmigration for cardiac services.

Through a generous donation from John and Sylvia Stelly, as well as an enormously successful Capital Campaign, the Foundation has been a catalyst for bringing high-level technology to SWLA and establishing the John & Sylvia Stelly Regional Heart Center at CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital. Known as THE heart center in Southwest Louisiana, it has received numerous national awards and recognitions.

Individuals from all five surrounding parishes choose the John & Sylvia Stelly Regional Heart Center when rural hospitals lack the capabilities for complex cardiac treatments. Recent technology upgrades to the Center include:

  • 128-Slice CT Scanner – the new standard for cardiac imaging provides an entire body scan in just 10 seconds with much higher resolution and quality than previous technologies, allowing more accuracy than invasive angiograms. This technology also delivers less radiation exposure to patients.
  • Updated Catheterization Labs – To accommodate the peripheral vascular and venous procedures that are currently the gold standard in cardiac care, we upgraded our cath labs with flat-panel detectors for superior image quality and relocated them to allow patients to more convenient access.
  • Hybrid Surgery Suite – Currently in the design phase, this suite is a catheterization lab that can instantly become a surgical suite, allowing patients to stay in the same room. In this hybrid environment, cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists can effectively collaborate to create the best treatment plan for the patient, even minimizing the number of necessary surgeries. This Suite also allows our team to offer percutaneous or transcatheter aortic valve replacement, which is now available in Southwest Louisiana and was developed first in our area at CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital.
Children’s Services and our Children’s Miracle Network efforts

The Children’s Miracle Network funds both urgent and ongoing needs, as well as funds local miracles for children right here in Southwest Louisiana. The funds address children’s needs, from infancy through adolescence.

Kiwanis Family Fund

Kiwanis has served the children, families and communities of Southwest Louisiana for 100 years. To mark this milestone, Kiwanis partnered with CHRISTUS Ochsner Southwestern Louisiana Foundation’s Children’s Miracle Network program to create the Kiwanis Family Fund, which serves families with children being treated at CHRISTUS Ochsner Lake Area Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Labor & Delivery and Kid’s Team Outpatient Therapy program. The fund helps these families afford (often unexpected) expenses like special adaptive equipment, travel expenses, car seats and more.

Neurosurgery and Orthopedics

46% of individuals in need of neurological or spinal care once received treatment in Shreveport or Houston. However, thanks to an investment of more than $1.5 million in new technology for this specialty area by the hospital and the Foundation, SWLA residents can now receive the very best in neurological and orthopedic care at home.

Technology investments in this area include:

  • O-Arm technology – This unit provides a large field of view and distortion-free, flat-panel technology to produce 2D and 3D imagery for microsurgery on the brain and spine; deep brain stimulation for multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease patients; and treatment options for Alzheimer’s Disease, stroke, sports injuries and more.
  • Microsurgical Microscope – This combines brilliant optical quality with superior maneuverability, allowing surgeons to see precise details.
  • C-USA device – Neurosurgeons use the C-USA (also known as a Cranial Ultrasonic Tissue Aspirator) to locate, incise and remove tumors on the lining of the brain.
Oncology (Cancer)

The Foundation and the hospital have invested more than $7 million in CHRISTUS Ochsner Southwestern Louisiana’s regional cancer program to provide advanced state-of-the-art technology. This effort ensures that fewer people who receive a cancer diagnosis will need to travel out of town for treatment.

The Foundation’s investments funded the purchase of:

  • Linear Accelerator – Delivers high-energy radiation to tumors while sparing the surrounding tissue, promoting faster reduction of tumors with fewer side effects and shorter recovery time
  • CT Simulator – Produces 2D and 3D images to provide the most beneficial treatment dosage and beam positions in order to save as much surrounding healthy tissue as possible

James W. Gardiner Breast Center and Women’s Health Services

With the exciting recent technology additions at the Regional Cancer Center, we now shift our focus to becoming a nationally accredited breast center.

The Foundation recently invested $1.6 million to establish the James W. Gardiner Breast Center on the CHRISTUS Ochsner Lake Area campus. As an extension of our Regional Cancer Center, this facility integrates advanced diagnostic and treatment technology and participates in clinical trials and research.

These steps ensure we will continue to build upon our comprehensive cancer program so our facilities and technology are well-prepared to meet the health care needs of our community for years to come.

Physical Rehabilitation Services

The Regional Physical Rehabilitation Center at CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital offers both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services that help patients achieve optimum rehabilitation and maintain their health, while developing the skills necessary for returning to the community, whether they are returning home or to an assisted living facility.

The Facility
Physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist Dr. Thomas C. LaBorde oversees the facility as medical director. The facility includes both inpatient services via the 23-bed CARF (Commission on Accreditation Rehabilitation Facilities) Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit and Physical Medicine Services, and outpatient services to provide complete rehabilitative services for those recovering from strokes, surgeries, injuries and other conditions.

The Services
Providers develop individualized treatment plans for patients, ensuring each person receives necessary treatment and therapies in the environment that is right for them. Physical, occupational and speech therapies are available in both inpatient and outpatient settings and focus on helping patients achieve their functional goals so they can return to doing what they love.

The Need
Appropriate equipment and facilities are critical in providing patients the care they need and deserve. Our therapists recognize the importance of using supportive equipment and techniques to enhance our patients’ abilities to make progress, which may include stationary bicycles, arm strengtheners or gait therapy devices.

The Investment
The Foundation has thus far invested more than $57,000 in our Regional Rehabilitation Center, primarily for specialized equipment and programs, and plans to continue investing in this area.

Spiritual Care

CHRISTUS HEALTH, a Catholic health ministry, is committed to offering spiritual care to patients, families, friends, staff and the community. This is true especially during times of illness and hospitalization. Our Chaplains are trained to provide ecumenical support to everyone.

At CHRISTUS Health, we believe acknowledging the human spiritual nature of our patients is a vital component of our healing ministry. A “holistic” view of patient care attends to the body, mind, and spirit. We respect the patient’s viewpoint and are sensitive to the unique spiritual needs of each person we serve. The Spiritual Care Team leads the effort by offering a variety of support, such as prayer, grief and loss counseling, family team conferences and more.

Donations made to this area will help provide support supplies, materials and more to the Spiritual Care Team to enable them to fulfill our mission of extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. 

Women’s Health Fund

The Women’s Health fund seeks to improve health care for women in Southwest Louisiana through comprehensive services, advanced technology and support for underserved populations, including covering the cost of screenings for qualified patients. This fund is a significant contributor to the future nationally accredited James W. Gardiner Breast Center at CHRISTUS Ochsner Lake Area Hospital.