New Orleans-based Ochsner Health System signed an agreement to lease the former Louisiana Heart Hospital in Lacombe, La., and revealed plans to convert and update the facility with the help of two other providers.
The two other organizations involved in the partnership include Covington, La.-based St. Tammany Parish Hospital and Slidell (La.) Memorial Hospital.
During the next year and a half, officials will open a 30-bed long-term acute care unit; a 25-bed skilled nursing unit; and a 30-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit at the facility.
The building will also house the North Shore Service Center, which will provide administrative and nonpatient care services.
"With each of our partners, St. Tammany Parish Hospital and Slidell Memorial Hospital, we are deeply committed to the North Shore region and providing patients with increased access to post-acute care services close to where they live and work," said Warner Thomas, President and CEO of Ochsner Health System. "Over the next five years, we expect to invest nearly $15 million to deliver new and innovative models of care while also growing jobs and expanding administrative services in St. Tammany."