STPH holds grand opening for Family Medical Clinic

Family Medical Clinic opened its doors for a ribbon cutting and grand opening last Thursday, October 29 at its new location in Folsom. Officially known as STPN-Folsom, attendees received an up-close look at the new 6,500 square foot state-of-the-art facility built by St. Tammany Parish Hospital just 17 miles south of Franklinton.

An overflow crowd of people showed up for the grand opening of STPN-Folsom (St. Tammany Physicians Network-Folsom). With many Franklinton residents in attendance, the automatic doors had to be left open at one point to provide enough room for everyone. In addition to receiving a tour of the new facility, visitors were treated to boiled shrimp, pasta, an assortment of fruit, cake and punch.

"The response to the open house from the friends of Family Medical Clinic and the folks of Folsom and Western St. Tammany Parish was not only overwhelming but humbling," said Dr. Gerald Foret, founder of Family Medical Clinic in Franklinton.

STPN-Folsom, or Family Medical Clinic, is the only primary care provider in Folsom. Dr. Libeau Berthelot, Dr. Mark James and Dr. Christopher Foret bring over 75 years of experience with them as board-certified physicians. Their affiliation with STPH provides access to all resources the hospital system has to offer. The new clinic in Folsom has the same staff that was employed on their last day in Franklinton with the exception of one employee who accepted a position with STPH.

“I am so proud that St. Tammany Parish Hospital is bringing a primary care office to Folsom,” said James Core, Vice-Chairman, STPH Board of Commissioners, and resident of Folsom. “The care and experience these physicians bring will be an excellent addition to our community.”

Family Medical Clinic had been located on Riverside Drive in Franklinton since 1968 when Dr. Gerald Foret opened the practice. After nearly 50 years of service, the clinic closed its doors on October 15, 2015 when the Board of Directors of Riverside Medical Center and St. Tammany Parish Hospital failed to reach an agreement that would have kept the practice in Franklinton. STPH had served as the employer at Family Medical Clinic since 2003.

Folsom Mayor Bettye Boggs was on hand to welcome the new clinic to the Village.

"The Village of Folsom is very pleased to welcome Family Medical Clinic to our area," said Boggs.  "We are very glad to have the clinic here to provide for the health needs of our community as well as for the outlying areas around the Village of Folsom."

The doctors of Family Medical Clinic are extremely appreciative of the support received from STPH while also looking forward to continuing to provide first-class health care and friendships for current and future patients.

"I am excited about adding a new group of patients from the Folsom area," said Dr. James. "But we won't forget about our old patients in Washington, Tangipahoa Parish, and Walthall County. The staff and physicians look forward to serving you at our new location."

"We have been honored to have treated our neighbors and been part of the (Franklinton) community for over 47 years," said Dr. Chris Foret. "I have been privileged to work with great people like Mark James,  Libeau Berthelot and my father, Gerald Foret. The time has come for us to begin a new chapter in our lives and we appreciate the support of the St Tammany Parish Hospital Board and administration through a very difficult situation."

With 35 years of service at Family Medical Clinic, the longest tenured doctor expressed a heartfelt thank you to his patients.

"My family and I arrived here in June of 1980," said Dr. Berthelot. "We consider Franklinton and Washington Parish our home. My wife and I raised three beautiful and successful children here. We have been an integral part of the community for 35 years. However, because of a desire to remain employed by my current employer, I have been forced to relocate my practice of medicine to our new location in Folsom."

"For those of you who follow us to our new location, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. For those who cannot, I want to thank you for your previous support and I hope and pray that you can find adequate healthcare elsewhere. I will always consider you as friends."

According to STPH Director of Communication Melissa Hodgson, the STPN-Folsom office was designed after the Network's Madisonville office.

"The design of our Madisonville office has been a patient and staff satisfier, so the Folsom office is based on that model," said Hodgson.

The new clinic features offices for the doctors with each having three examination rooms. A modern nurses station with individual computer terminals provides a spacious area for the doctors' assistants to work. New x-ray equipment and additional equipment for various tests provides patients with the ability to have most tests performed and read in-house.

Construction on the new STPN-Folsom began in April 2015 and the clinic began seeing patients on October 19. Due to the sudden need to build a new facility and have it ready to receive patients by their expiration date in Washington Parish, STPH went with a long-term lease which enabled construction to begin almost immediately after the board realized remaining in Franklinton wasn't an option.

"We are excited to open STPN-Folsom at 82525 Highway 25, the new home for our long-time Family Medical Clinic doctors," said Hodgson. "We announced the move after it became clear the Washington Parish Council would not be able to renew the agreement that enabled STPH to practice in their service district.

"We are committed to Family Medical Clinic, its staff and the patients it serves, so we immediately began to look for ways to continue to serve the need from inside the confines of our service district after the October 27 expiration. The Village of Folsom turned out to be the perfect location for a new office, and we were thrilled everyone involved was able to move so quickly to ensure there was no interruption in medical service for our patients in this area."

A grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Thursday, October 29 for the new Family Medical Clinic in Folsom, LA. Included in the ribbon cutting ceremony were numerous STPH board members and personnel, FMC Doctors Libeau Berthelot, Mark James and Christopher Foret, Dr. Gerald and Mrs. Gayle Foret, X-Ray technician Katie Bulloch and Folsom Mayor Bettye Boggs.

RMC CEO speaks about negotiations with STPH

Dear Editor:

After hearing the response from the public, Riverside Medical Center is making one final attempt to seek a formal, binding agreement with St. Tammany Parish Hospital regarding their operation of Family Medical Clinic. At the Riverside Medical Center Board meeting on Jan. 29 the Riverside Board of Commissioners approved a resolution expressing its desire for St. Tammany Parish Hospital to return to negotiations — specifically, to enact a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 46:1077 and health care privacy laws.

For additional background on what has led Riverside Medical Center to these current circumstances, below is a time table of events outlining what has happened:

• July 7, 2014, members of Family Medical Clinic approached the Washington Parish Council to enact a 20-year resolution. This resolution was not approved by Riverside Medical Center.

• Aug. 25, 2014, a public meeting of the Washington Parish Council directed Riverside Medical Center and St. Tammany Parish Hospital to work on a mutually beneficial agreement. Mr. William Jones said this needed to be done expeditiously in a 30-day window.

• Board members of Riverside Medical Center and St. Tammany Parish Hospital met to discuss plans for an agreement on Sept. 12, 2014. Both parties felt positive about the meeting and recommended a follow up meeting with board members, administration and general counsel for additional discussion.

• Board members, general counsel and the CEOs of Riverside Medical Center and St. Tammany Parish Hospital met on Sept. 18, 2014. A verbal, mutually acceptable agreement was reached. After close of the meeting, the attorneys discussed who would draft the agreement. Mr. Jones took the responsibility of drafting but refused to make it a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement.

• Mr. Matthew Brown reached out to Mr. Jones on Oct. 2, 2014, to inquire as to the status of the agreement. Mr. Jones responded that he had just completed the most extensive agreement in St. Tammany Parish Hospital history and would turn full attention to drafting the Riverside Medical Center/St. Tammany Parish Hospital agreement.

• On Nov. 14, 2014, Riverside Medical Center received the St. Tammany Parish Hospital draft of the Memorandum of Understanding. It was an extensive 14-page document, mostly favorable to St. Tammany Parish Hospital, with requirements that had not previously been discussed. The document was reviewed at the Nov. 20, 2014, board meeting, and the attorney was given specific changes by the board, which he began to draft in the form of a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement, according to LA RS 46:1077.

• On Jan. 9, 2015, a revised draft was sent to St. Tammany Parish Hospital, which very simply outlined what had been agreed to at the Sept. 18 meeting. Subsequently, St. Tammany Parish Hospital officials accused Riverside Medical Center and the board of stalling.

• Jan. 13, 2015, the board of Riverside Medical Center received an ultimatum from St. Tammany Parish Hospital instructing Riverside Medical Center to sign the Memorandum of Understanding as presented by Jan. 23, 2015, at 3 p.m., or the negotiations would end, and St. Tammany Parish Hospital would cease operating Family Medical Clinic on or before Oct. 27, 2015.

• Jan. 19, 2015, the Riverside Medical Center board held an emergency meeting to discuss the ultimatum. 

The board passed a resolution requesting a meeting between the hospital boards resulting in a resolution and letter sent to St. Tammany Parish Hospital. The resolution and a letter were sent to St. Tammany Parish Hospital on Jan. 20, 2015.

• St. Tammany Parish Hospital denied the request for the board members to meet and demanded Riverside Medical Center furnish a detailed list of the issues by Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015 at 3 p.m.

• On Jan. 21, 2015, after being denied a meeting with St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s board, Riverside Medical Center responded with the following two issues, though were willing to accept other provisions: 1)Remove the reporting requirements imposed by St. Tammany Parish Hospital; and 2) revise the dispute resolution process to protect Riverside Medical Center and the residents of Washington Parish to state that if the Memorandum of Understanding is terminated, St. Tammany Parish Hospital would have 18 months to relocate.

• On Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, at 3:15 p.m., Riverside Medical Center received a response from St. Tammany Parish Hospital that they had revoked their offer after it had expired and was no longer subject to acceptance, though the St. Tammany Parish Hospital board would take into consideration Riverside Medical Center’s response and requested revisions at their Jan. 26 meeting but by no means was this to be considered a new offer or negotiations.

• On Jan. 27, 2015, Riverside Medical Center learned in an article published in the newspaper that St. Tammany Parish Hospital was announcing publically that Family Medical Clinic would cease operations in Franklinton, Louisiana, on or before Oct. 27, 2015, before receiving any prior direct notification from St. Tammany Parish Hospital. Furthermore, Riverside discovered in the minutes of the St. Tammany Parish Facilities meeting of Jan. 12, 2015, that St. Tammany Parish Hospital had authorized its representatives to immediately seek to find a new location for Family Medical Clinic, one day before St. Tammany Parish Hospital submitted the ultimatum to Riverside Medical Center on Jan. 13.

As you can see, the Riverside Medical Center Board of Commissioners and hospital administration have made repeated attempts to negotiate in good faith. However, Riverside is unable to approve a Memorandum of Understanding that requires reporting of patient information that would violate federal patient privacy laws. Further, according to state law a Memorandum of Understanding is not sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the law. Our desire is to enact a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement, in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 46:1077, that would allow the continued operation of Family Medical Clinic in Franklinton. If St. Tammany Parish Hospital would like to continue delivering world-class health care to their patients in Washington Parish, we sincerely welcome them to contact Riverside Medical Center by noon on Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, expressing its desire to enact a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement.

Both Riverside Medical Center and Family Medical Clinic are a vital part of health care delivery in this area. Riverside is excited about the growth of this hospital and health care delivery, with the expansion of existing services and addition of new services. These include the opening of the new Family Care Clinic, expanding the Riverside Pediatric and Internal Medicine Clinic, adding additional physicians and nurse practitioners, building a new cath lab, establishing an in-house pharmacy for its employees and staff and continuing to recruit other physicians, nurse practitioners and other specialists. We welcome Family Medical Clinic and St. Tammany Parish Hospital to be a part of this growth.

– Thank you,

E. Kyle Magee, M.D.

CEO

Riverside Medical Center

STPH Termination Resolution

The document below is a resolution from the St. Tammany Parish Hospital Board of Directors regarding Riverside Medical Center and terminating STPH's contract with Family Medical Clinic.

Click this link to view the six page document (document may take a few minutes to load)

Family Medical Clinic to leave Franklinton

The following is an ad in the January 28, 2015 edition of The Era-Leader newspaper from St. Tammany Parish Hospital regarding Family Medical Clinic of Franklinton

January 28, 2015

To Our Washington Parish Patients and Families,
We are sad to report that St. Tammany Parish Hospital must end operation of Family Medical Clinic when our current agreement expires October 27, 2015. Our mission is to deliver world-class healthcare to our patients, close to home, and operation of the clinic through employment of Drs. Berthelot, James, Foret and Battles has been a perfect example of that mission.

All Family Medical Clinic patients should rest assured that while our ability to operate the clinic may end, our commitment to the mission will not. Each patient under our care will receive notification of their physician's new office location as soon as possible.

We have worked for months to secure a resolution that would enable St. Tammany Parish Hospital to continue caring for the community in Family Medical Clinic on Riverside Drive in Franklinton, as we have  since 2003. While we were successful in securing a five-year extension from the Washington Parish Council, we were not able to secure an agreement with Riverside Medical Center. We are saddened for the people who live and work in Franklinton and throughout Washington Parish to lose this convenient location.

The St. Tammany Parish Hospital family takes pride in treating our patients as family too. We thank the Washington Parish Council and the residents of the Franklinton area for their tremendous support of Family Medical Clinic for more than a decade. And we ask each of our patients to be attuned to hear from us regarding their doctor's relocation.

Sincerely,

Patti Ellis, STPH President/CEO   Dr. Libeau Berthelot   Dr. Mark James   Dr. Chris Foret   Dr. Caroline Battles