LHC : and Lourdes expand partnership to include hospice care

LHC Group and Lourdes expand partnership to include hospice care

LAFAYETTE, La. - LHC Group and Our Lady of Lourdes are expanding their partnership to provide hospice service to patients and families in Lafayette and the surrounding Acadiana region. The provider will operate under the name of Lourdes Hospice. The full-service hospice agency will continue high-quality end-of-life care to patients in the privacy and comfort of home.

Lourdes Hospice is the second joint venture partnership between Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center and LHC Group. The first joint venture, Lourdes Home Health, was launched in February 2007 and has touched thousands of lives in the Acadiana area. Over the past year, the two organizations have worked to further blend their resources and experience in anticipation of this hospice announcement.

'We are excited to introduce Lourdes Hospice and look forward to an enhanced ability to meet the palliative needs of patients with end-stage diseases,' said Keith Myers, LHC Group chairman and CEO. 'Working together, we are as committed as always to the care of the patients and families who have placed their trust in us.'

'At Lourdes, we felt called to extend our ministry into the continuum of home based palliative care,' said Donna Landry, chief operating officer for Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. 'It was a natural fit to partner with a company like LHC Group, which has the experience and expertise to help us deliver on our commitment to compassionate, loving care to those patients in end stages of disease.'

Hospice professionals provide the emotional, spiritual and medical support needed when patients are facing the final stages of life. Hospice services help patients live comfortably, with dignity, when a cure is no longer possible. Hospice care programs can be provided in any place a patient calls home, including nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Since 2007, LHC Group and Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center have worked together as partners to provide patients with quality post-acute care services, facilitate better coordination of care delivery and seamlessly transition patients from the acute to the post-acute setting.

About LHC Group Inc.

LHC Group Inc. (LHCGroup.com) is a national provider of post-acute care services, providing quality, cost-effective health care to patients within the comfort and privacy of their home or place of residence. LHC Group provides a comprehensive array of healthcare services through home health, hospice and community-based services locations in its home-based division and long-term acute care hospitals in its facility-based division.

Our Lady of Lourdes

Founded by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady in 1949, Our Lady of Lourdes (LourdesRMC.com) is a regional acute care medical center focused on the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. The hospital employs more than 1,500 people and offers a physician staff of over 400 doctors in a variety of medical and surgical specialties. As a local healthcare leader, Lourdes provides a wide-ranging network of facilities and services including Centers of Excellence in the areas of Orthopedics, Stroke and a Robotics Surgery Program. The hospital is home to the only burn unit in Southwest Louisiana and a Commission on Cancer accredited oncology program.

###