Services at LaSalle General Hospital

LaSalle General Hospital, Highway 84 in Jena, continues to make great strides in providing quality health care to LaSalle Parish and the surrounding area using the latest in medical technologies.

LaSalle General Hospital offers services in the field of medicine, surgery, radiology, laboratory, pulmonary, pharmacy, anesthesia, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.

LaSalle General Hospital demonstrates its commitment to LaSalle Parish residents in that in the past two years it has upgraded its radiology services with two new X-Ray rooms, and a permanent CT Scan Unit, with scans available 24 hours per day.  LGH currently performs about 300 Cat Scans per month.  Complete Teleradiology services provide a medium of transmitting cat scans, x-rays, and nuclear medicine studies to Rapides Radiology/Central Louisiana Imaging for prompt interpretation 24 hours per day.

The Cardiopulmonary Department at LaSalle General Hospital offers echocardiograms, EEGs, and Doppler studies with a physician’s order.

The hospital has ambulance service 24 hours, seven days a week.  The Ambulance Department has been upgraded to a “Paramedic” service to better serve the needs of the community utilizing fully equipped paramedic ambulance through the LaSalle Ambulance District.

The same reliable patient care is available by order of the patient’s physician, through the Home Health Department of LaSalle General Hospital. LaSalle General’s Home Health agency is housed adjacent to the hospital and provides skilled nursing care, home health aide services for personal care, and assistance with durable medical equipment.  Pediatric care and IV therapy is also available.  Home Health now provides staffed occupational therapy and speech therapy in addition to the staffed physical therapy that has been offered in the past.  They accept Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and private pay.

Due to the current trend toward home-based medical care, the home health agency is in more demand than ever before.  Office hours are 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Monday through Friday with a nurse on call 24 hours a day.  The agency was established in September, 1979 and now 26 years later, they provide care to more than 200   patients annually living in LaSalle Parish and within a 50 mile radius.  LaSalle Home Health also has a branch office in Jonesville to serve the needs of that community.

The Emergency Room is staffed by professional emergency room physicians 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Dr. Gabriela Rohr serves three days a week as the emergency room physician, and currently serves the hospital as Emergency Room Medical Director. Dr. Rohr has 20 years experience in emergency medicine as well as private practice background in surgery, and ear, nose and throat, making her one of the best diagnosticians in Central Louisiana.

LaSalle General Hospital has seven physicians on Active Staff, including Dr. Riaz Chaudhry, Dr. Sanit Sirikul, Dr. I.C. Turnley, Jr., Dr. Naseem Jaffrani, Dr. Tariq Ahmed, and Dr. M. Moosa.  There are numerous physicians on the hospital’s Courtesy Staff.  The Consultant Staff at LGH consists of Dr. Todd Drury, Orthopedics; Dr. Ab Elias, Pathologist; Dr. C.C. Gaddis, Dentist;  and the Radiologists at Central Louisiana Imaging.  The Radiologists at Central Louisiana Imaging provide interpretation services for all of the cat scans, x-rays, and nuclear medicine studies at LaSalle General as well as Christus St. Frances Cabrini and Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria.

Dr. Riaz Chaudhry received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees from Punjab University in Lahore, Pakistan.  His internship was at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, New York.  In addition to serving on the Medical Staff at LGH for 28 years, he is also the Medical Director at LaSalle Nursing Home and Golden Age Nursing Center.

Dr. Sanit Sirikul received his M.D. degree from Chulalongkorn Hospital Medical School in Bangkok.  He served his rotating internship and surgery residency at Berkshire Medical Centre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  He also served as a resident in general surgery at Ohio Valley General Hospital Medical Centre in Wheeling, West Virginia.  Dr. Sirikul has served on the staff at LGH for 32 years.  In 2003, Dr. Sirikul was recognized for his exemplary service to LaSalle Parish when he was presented the Rural Practitioner of the Year Award by the Louisiana Rural Health Association.

Dr. I.C. Turnley, Jr. received his M.D. degree from LSU Medical School.  He has been in private practice since 1956 and has served on the Medical Staff at LGH since the hospital opened in 1970.  He has also served on the Board of Commissioners of LGH for 25 years.

Dr. Naseem Jaffrani attended Sind Medical College at the University of Karachi.  His residency and fellowship were served at Finch University of Health Sciences, Chicago Medical School.  He has practiced internal medicine and cardiology at LGH for seven years.  Dr. Jaffrani is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Interventional Cardiology.  He is one of only an extremely few physicians in Central Louisiana possessing this certification.

Dr. Tariq Ahmed is  Board Certified in Pediatrics since 1996.  He has served LaSalle and Catahoula Parishes for 7 years. Dr. Ahmed  has office hours in Jena on Monday (morning), Tuesday, and Thursday.  His office in Jonesville, located in the Rural Health Clinic of LaSalle General located in a newly renovated section of the Catahoula Hospital, serves patients on Monday (afternoon), Wednesday, and Friday.  Dr. Ahmed assists the Office of Public Health in KidMed screening and in immunizations for children.

Dr. M. Moosa, the most recent addition to the Medical Staff, completed his medical training in Rochester, New York.  He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine. He has office hours in Jena on Wednesday and Friday.  He practices in the Rural Health Clinic of Jonesville also, with office hours on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday there.  Terry Knapp assists Dr. Moosa as his Office Manager.

Speech & Occupational Therapy

LaSalle General Hospital has recently added two new department heads, who were reared and educated in this area, to their healthcare team.  Julie Strozier Bird is now on staff at LGH as the Department Head of the Occupational Therapy Department.  Occupational Therapy programs help patients develop, regain, or maintain their ability to perform daily activities.  The Occupational Therapist teaches skills/techniques and how to use adaptive equipment for participation in life’s activities.  Amanda Price has also joined the hospital as the Department Head of the Speech Therapy Department.  The Speech Therapist administers diagnostic evaluations and provides treatment for speech, voice, and language disorders in children and adults.  We are excited to be able to offer these services through organized departments. 

The LaSalle Primary Healthcare Center

The Rural Health Clinic of LaSalle General Hospital is located in Jonesville, in the newly renovated Catahoula Parish Hospital Building.  Heath Veuleman serves as the Director of the RHC.  Drs. Ahmed and Moosa practice in the RHC, and are assisted by Abigail Davis , Nurse Practitioner. The clinic is open with physician and nurse practitioner coverage five days per week

Wellness Program

The LaSalle General Wellness Program is located in the Physical Therapy facility near the hospital and is directed by Scott Hargrove, Exercise Trainer.  Memberships in the program are currently in great demand.  Health, fitness, and wellness are the goals for the program.  The program director is available to evaluate members at the start of their membership, to recommend a trim-lined exercise program designed specifically for each individual.  He will work with members periodically as needed.

Members of the Wellness Program must be 18 years of age or older.  Anyone under the age of 18 must have a physicians’ referral and must be accompanied by an adult.  Equipment available for use by members include the circuit weight training, tread mill, free weights, stair climbers, and stationary exercise bikes, all state of the art equipment used in the physical therapy department.

An initial evaluation, by appointment only, is required before members can begin their exercise regime.  The program runs on a monthly basis at a cost of $35 per month per family.  For seniors, 55 years and older, the fee is discounted to $25.00.  The Wellness Program is in operation Monday through Friday from 7:00 am until 1:00 pm and from 3:00 pm until 8:00 pm.  The facility is open on Saturday from 8:00 am until 1:00 pm.  To schedule an initial evaluation or to obtain further information, clients may call the Wellness Program at 992-9270.

Physical Therapy Department

The department professionals work with doctors to help patients reduce pain, restore function, and prevent future injuries.  A wide range of rehabilitation services are offered for neck/back pain, headaches, Fibromyalgia, temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ), post surgical rehabilitation, neurological and nuero-muscular rehabilitation, wound care, hand therapy, burn rehabilitation, and neurological rehabilitation.

In sports injury services, LGH physical therapy also provides advanced strengthening and conditioning as well as on-site game coverage.  Work injury management is accomplished through work hardening/work conditioning programs.

The permanent members of the department’s staff are Janet Bolton, Licensed Physical Therapist and Abe Flowers, Licensed Physical Therapist.

Nuclear Medicine

State of the art nuclear testing is available at LaSalle General Hospital with Tracy Dean, Board Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist.  Nuclear medicine testing, which must be ordered by a physician, uses small, safe amounts of a radioactive substance to record better internal images.  It is often used with other tests to help doctors in making a diagnosis.

Physicians in the Alexandria area often order these type of tests and patients might not be aware that these scans can be performed right here at home.  Types of scans are nuclear stress tests, scans of the whole body including bone scans, kidney, liver/spleen, gallbladder, cardiac, gastrointestinal, brain, lung, thyroid, parathyroid, breast and blood clots.  Patients from a 150 mile radius of Jena come to LGH for the special scans.  Nuclear Medicine is housed in the hospital’s radiology departments.  Appointments are scheduled through the Outpatient Department.