St. Martin Hospital CEO on Emergency Response panel

St. Martin Hospital CEO Katie Hebert has been appointed to the board of the Louisiana Emergency Response Network (LERN).
Hebert was nominated by the Rural Hospital Coalition to represent hospitals with less than 60 beds and was appointed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
“I am honored to represent small hospitals and the people they care for across Louisiana on the LERN board,” Hebert said. “It is important to understand the contributions, as well as the concerns of these hospitals, when it comes to improving care and being prepared for emergency response situations. Hopefully my years of working in small hospitals can help offer some important insight to the challenges facing our facilities.”
Hebert, who has worked in an administrative capacity with Lafayette General Health since 2007, also serves on the board of directors for United Way of Acadiana as well as the Rural Hospital Coalition. She has been CEO at St. Martin Hospital in Breaux Bridge since 2010, overseeing hospital operations and business strategies there.
“LERN is excited to have Katie Hebert appointed to its board, and we look forward to working together as we continue our mission to defend the public health, safety and welfare of Louisianans from unnecessary deaths and morbidity due to trauma and time-sensitive illness,” said Paige Hargrove, BSN, RN, LERN executive director.
Hebert earned her master’s degree from LSU in Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and has worked in the healthcare industry in Acadiana since 1989. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana.
LERN is an agency of state government created by the Louisiana Legislature in 2004 with a 28-member governing board. It is charged with the responsibility of developing and maintaining a statewide system of care coordination for patients suddenly stricken by serious traumatic injury or time-sensitive illness (such as heart attack and stroke). Additionally, LERN serves as a vital health care resource in the face of large-scale emergencies and natural disasters. Getting to the right place at the right time to receive the right care is a matter of life or death for these patients.
St. Martin Hospital opened in 1969 as Gary Memorial Hospital, changing the name to St. Martin Hospital on Sept. 18, 2000 when it began its affiliation with Lafayette General Medical Center (LGMC).
SMH is a 25-bed critical access hospital, which maintains a staffed 24-hour emergency department, including a staffed physician, as well as state-of-the-art imaging equipment, including a CT scanner, MRI and digital mammograms. Outpatient services include radiology, lab-testing, respiratory therapy, infusion and Coumadin services as well as physical, occupational and speech therapy.
For more information about LERN, visit lern.la.gov.