Today, St. Mary Parish’s Hospital Service District No. 2 (HSD) and Southern ENT announce the commencement of an innovative Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) focused on the delivery of enhanced ear, nose & throat services to the community. Ths HSD said, “As a direct result of the community’s December 2024’s overwhelming vote on the millage to support the HSD, we have been able to recruit and collaborate with Southern ENT to bring increased services here.”
The HSD pledged to have as many medical services as possible offered locally. To deliver on its promise, the HSD funded a Provider Needs Assessment (PNA). The just completed PNA conclusively tells us how many of each type of specialty we should be able to support locally. Prior to its completion, the HSD readily identified the need for increased ENT services.
Southern ENT provides otolaryngology (ENT) services in Houma, Morgan City, New Iberia, Raceland, Thibodaux and Youngsville. Southern ENT offers a wide range of services for ear, nose, and throat-related conditions. Its board-certified specialists are at the forefront of ENT care in Louisiana, and are equipped to diagnose, manage, and treat various conditions of the ears, nose, throat, and related structures in the head and neck. It manages everything from routine ear infections to complex conditions like head and neck cancers. It also provides dedicated pediatric ENT services, ensuring children receive compassionate, gentle care. Chronic issues such as sinusitis, allergies, and sleep apnea are addressed with the use of the latest advances in medicine. Its audiology department offers complete hearing assessments, hearing aid services, and balance rehabilitation for those with hearing and balance concerns.
Under the terms of the CEA, Southern ENT will transition from 1.5 to 3 days of physician coverage in its Morgan City clinic. To minimize out-of-town travel, it will add diagnostic ultrasounds and needle biopsies for thyroid nodules and other head and neck lesions on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Significantly, for the first time in many years, ENT surgical services will be performed at Ochsner St. Mary (OSM) . Southern ENT will also provide some measure of on-call coverage to back up OSM’s Emergency Department. In cooperation with OSM & the HSD, Southern ENT will conduct Community Outreach services, including hearing screenings and oral cancer screenings.
Dr. Cefalu, the Chairman of the HSD’s Board of Commissioners stated, “I’m especially thrilled to see ENT surgical services being offered locally again. We want to thank the community for entrusting us with the necessary funding to enter into CEAs and to increase specialty healthcare services here. Speaking for the HSD’s Board of Commissioners, we remain committed to providing the community with all of the services that it deserves. To sustain these services, I encourage everyone to support and to utilize our local ENT provider, Southern ENT.”
Dr. Justin Tenney of Southern ENT stated, “We are excited to become a part of the hospital’s medical staff here and to serve the community’s ENT needs. I am also pleased to announce that we have recruited D. Patrick Spiller, who has just completed an ENT residency and will be joining our group in September. Dr. Spiller, along with me, Dr. Vance Broussard and Dr. Guy Zeringue, plan to rotate through our Morgan City clinic, while providing the full range of ENT services. Lastly, I have especially enjoyed our new working relationship with the HSD and look forward to a long-term relationship with the community.”
Southern ENT’s providers see patients at 1231 Kenneth St., Morgan City, LA 70380. Office hours are Monday – Thursday: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Appointments may be made by calling (985) 384-9440 or online at https://southernent.com