+ Healthy Schools

The mission of the Ochsner Healthy Schools Program is to improve equitable access to care and wellness while fostering a healthy and supportive school environment for all. We support children’s physical and emotional well-being in a school-based setting, while extending support to the educators and school leaders who have been impacted by the challenges and uncertainty of the past two years. Our trained medical professionals on campus can help identify children struggling with chronic physical and mental health conditions and connect them to Ochsner’s comprehensive healthcare system.

Healthy Schools provides:

• Hearing and vision screenings for students

• CPR training for staff

161 schools with 99,428 total students enrolled in our program across the Greater New Orleans region, the Northshore and Mississippi.

Ochsner’s School Nurse Program now includes 17 partner schools with 12 school nurses in Jefferson, New Orleans and St. Tammany parishes, who completed 15,000 visits in 2022.

Two school-based health centers in Jefferson Parish had 1,951 registered students and more than 4,000 visits and 1,244 physicals completed by clinical staff.

Our partnership with Ochsner has demonstrated many benefits for our students and the families of Jefferson Parish. Ochsner supports two of our school-based health centers by fully covering the cost of nurse practitioner positions, providing medical supplies, and providing medical directors at a reduced cost and a liaison to assist us with planning wellness activities for our students and staff.

EDNA METCALF, LCSW-BACS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR HEALTH & RELATED SERVICES AT JPPSS

• Connections to important community resources like:

+ Nutrition education

+ Tobacco use prevention

+ Free virtual mental health visits for teachers and staff assisting students through grade 12 1

+ Resources and webinars for neurodiverse students 2

+ Yoga, mindfulness and anxiety management classes

+ STEM activities

+ Career chats

1 Through a partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education

2 Through a partnership with the Michael R. Boh Center for Child Development

• Ochsner Health physicians were on-site, responding directly to community health and wellness questions.

• Ochsner also offered Eat Fit healthy cooking demonstrations in the Culinary Zone; a Career Café focused on workforce development and talent acquisition; supplier diversity education; and an exciting Kids’ Zone with STEM-focused educational outreach, reaching 344+ children.

• In the Movement Zone, Ochsner Fitness Center transformed the convention center space into a gym.

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of premature death and is the leading risk factor for cancer, lung disease, hypertension and heart disease, which are major health issues in Louisiana. Louisiana ranks at or near the bottom of most health indexes with the third-highest mortality rate for cancer and the fourth-highest rate of smoking.

community health screenings and educational interactions were provided

1,146

3,419+ community members attended

This first Healthy State community-focused event, presented by the Urban League of Louisiana and Ochsner Health, was specifically designed to address many of the identified drivers adversely affecting Louisiana’s health ranking, such as chronic conditions, smoking, physical inactivity and obesity.

“The ULL was pleased to partner with Ochsner Health for the inaugural Big Health Event,” said Judy Reese Morse, President and CEO, Urban League of Louisiana. “The event made a huge impact on more than 1,100 people, giving them access to healthcare, medical information and an opportunity to prioritize health and wellness. We left the day feeling inspired and more deeply committed to advancing health equity. The event also showed the connection between health and other social determinants, while centering community input and feedback.”

• Ochsner currently has 34 free smoking cessation centers that have treated 24,000+ patients, as well as virtual groups.

• We serve 8,000+ patients annually who are actively trying to quit with our program.

• In 2022, the program’s 12-month quit rate was 31.4%, more than twice the national average.

• We reached 62,000+ Louisiana residents through educational materials.

• In 2022, we began working with schools across southern Louisiana, providing vaping education to 15,000+ students and launching the first-ever vaping intervention program in St. Charles Parish.

As part of a $100 million commitment, Ochsner will open 15 Community Health Centers across the state, supported by a $5 million gift from the Brees Dream Foundation. Five centers have been opened so far that employ a holistic, multidisciplinary approach that addresses patients’ social needs alongside their medical ones. Making progress means breaking down barriers to access while aligning with distinct community needs in a culturally competent manner. This is accomplished through extended hours on evenings and weekends, Community Health Workers, transportation partnerships, and providing signage, materials and services in multiple languages.

16,718 3,000+ patients served by Community Health Workers patient visits to date

Ochsner partners with Lyft to support patients with transportations concerns in areas of high need. In 2022, 909 rides were given to patients to the Community Health Centers.

38% 98% of patients are enrolled in Digital Medicine of patient messages answered the same day

Our quality metrics are above state performance for similar centers when it comes to screenings and treatments for eligible patients:

• Provided mobile COVID testing and vaccine units across Greater New Orleans, which were also used as disaster relief units after hurricanes and tornadoes.

• Launched the custom mobile health unit Jag Mobile in partnership with the School of Nursing at Southern University in Baton Rouge. Services had a specific focus on serving people who are underinsured, uninsured or have inadequate access to community services.

• The Be Well Bus, a partnership with Slidell Memorial Hospital and Healthier Northshore, provides health screenings at community events and preventive outreach throughout the Northshore.

• Ochsner LSU Health provides a mobile mammography unit at health events and community organizations.

• Ochsner hosted 1,340+ community vaccination events, providing lifesaving shots across Mississippi and Louisiana, including our 24-hour, drive-through Vax Fest — the biggest vaccine event in Louisiana’s history. To create vaccine events designed for Louisiana’s unique populations, Ochsner assembled an internal equitable vaccine committee made up of Ochsner employee resource group officers, clinical experts and regional diversity leaders who worked closely with community organizations and leaders.

Community Health Center employees helped vaccinate community members at a Brees Family Center.

• Through a partnership with Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Ochsner provided walk-up vaccination appointments seven days a week, open to all eligible travelers, as well as more than 4,000 airport employees.

• Ochsner established vaccination clinics in local shopping malls and teamed up with the Greater New Orleans Foundation and Uber to provide 20,000 rides to local vaccination sites for community members with transportation issues.