07/21/2025
Despite recent headlines and national conversations surrounding the โBig Beautiful Bill,โ our local hospitals are not closing and they remain committed to serving the people of St. Mary Parish.
At St. Mary Chamber of Commerce, weโve heard concerns from members and residents about what this legislation could mean for rural healthcare in our region. To provide clarity, weโre sharing official statements directly from Bayou Bend Health System and Ochsner St. Mary, unedited and in full:
๐๐ญ๐๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ:
"Like many of you, we at Bayou Bend Health System are aware of multiple news articles listing Franklin Foundation Hospital (name changed to Bayou Bend Health System in March 2023) as one of the rural hospitals potentially facing closure under proposed cuts in President Trumpโs โBig Beautiful Bill.โ We understand that these news articles questioning the fates of rural hospitals like ours have caused our community some concern.
I would like to take this opportunity to express that Bayou Bend Health System is financially sound and not in danger of closure. Please keep in mind that as we learn more about this bill, things can change over the next 2 years, but at this time, Bayou Bend Health System is stable.
We are aware of the changes coming to Medicaid over the next few years and what that might mean for our community. Our Senior Leadership Team is thoroughly monitoring these changes and making plans to continue providing uninterrupted care for all. As a member on the Rural Hospital Coalition board, I can assure you that we are doing everything in our power to protect rural hospitals in Louisiana.
While we know the future is always uncertain, especially in healthcare, we are steadfast in providing quality healthcare services that improve the health and wellness of our community every day. Bayou Bend Health System is dedicated to standing strong in order to continue serving all of you with dignity, respect, and compassion."
Stephanie Guidry, Chief Executive Officer
Bayou Bend Health System
๐๐ญ๐๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ก๐ฌ๐ง๐๐ซ ๐๐ญ. ๐๐๐ซ๐ฒ:
โWe are honored to care for the St. Mary Parish community, and focused on ensuring accessible, high-quality care is available to all. With respect to OBBBA, weโre grateful that State and Federal policymakers and healthcare leaders from across the State worked together to make changes to the bill that mitigate the effects of many problematic proposals that would have had immediate impacts on access to care in many communities. Advocacy for our team, patients, hospitals and communities continues as we work to navigate significant funding changes and challenges ahead and seek long-term solutions that support the health and well-being of the communities we serve.โ
Jennifer Wise, Chief Nursing Officer and Administrator
Ochsner St. Mary
๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ: ๐๐ต. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ด, ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ต. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ.
