Women’s Health Care in Central

 

 

    Women in Central have a choice when it comes to healthcare.  They can go into Baton Rouge, or they can stay right here in town.  Bayou Regional Women’s Clinic has office hours here at North Point Health every Tuesday and Wednesday morning.  Drs. Joshua Best (top) and Keith Elbourne (bottom) are committed to offering the finest in women’s healthcare at a location that is convenient to their patients.  

    Affiliated with Lane Regional Medical Center, Dr. Elbourne and Dr. Best are both graduates of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.  They are both residency trained in obstetrics and gynecology.  Dr. Elbourne is board certified by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Dr. Best is board eligible.  Both reside in Zachary, and are active in the community and their churches.  Both understand the importance of community.  “The people of Zachary and Central have a sense of pride in their community,” said Dr. Best, “We love it out here.  We wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.” 

    Equipped to offer all OB/GYN services in Central, the doctors are happy to be able to spend the time a patient needs to feel comfortable about their treatment and be fully educated about their options.  Routine prenatal care, women’s health preventative care, women’s health problem visits, and minor office procedures can all be done here in Central.   The doctors will write orders for mammograms or other imaging services, which the patient can then have at the facility of their choice.   Lane Regional offers mammography as well as all other imaging needs, while Central Imaging offers many radiologic services, and both leave travel time to a minimum.  “In the past, women in the north part of the parish had to rely on facilities in Baton Rouge for their healthcare.  It’s big news that quality women’s health care is now available right here in their community.  Now the patient has a choice,” Dr. Best said.

    Both doctors expressed how they are not satisfied if a patient walks out of their office with unanswered questions.  They both feel it is a priority that their patients have a thorough understanding of what is going on with their health and what their treatment options are.   Dr. Elbourne stated, “It’s very individualized according to the patient’s needs.”  “It is comforting to our patients to know that they have control over what’s going to happen to their bodies,” affirmed Dr. Best, “There is no other medical relationship like that between an OB/GYN and their patient.  It’s all about trust.”

Lane Regional Medical Center has also made a commitment to the community.   They have just completed a $525,000 renovation of their facility, turning what was once the special procedures suite into a brand-new wing for their state of the art Labor/Delivery/Recovery/Post-Partum unit.  12 rooms, all beautifully and comfortably appointed, offer a woman the chance to labor, deliver, and complete her hospital stay all in the same room.  “Our patients usually have the same nurses taking care of them throughout their stay,” said Julie McLin, Lane Director of Marketing. “Everyone who works at Lane takes as much pride in their hospital as people here do in their community,” Dr. Elbourne said with conviction.  

    Also reassuring to the prospective parents is the news that neonatologists are on call at all times at Lane.  “It’s the benefit of being near a big city,” Dr. Best stated, “NICU is available 24/7.”  The doctors, along with fellow OB/GYN Dr. Lydia Lewis of Zachary OB/GYN Services, delivered about 500 babies last year.   “This is the only hospital we operate out of because we live in this community.  Our patients can rely on the fact that their baby will be delivered by a doctor whom they know and who knows them.  They know they can trust us,” Dr. Elbourne shared.   

    Changes the doctors have seen in women’s health care include minimally invasive management of problems such as those associated with menstruation or menopause.  “Hysterectomies are no longer the only surgical option.  Some procedures used to treat problems require no down-time at all,” Dr. Best informed.  Also innovative is the technology that allows a doctor anywhere to check in on their patient’s labor progression through their laptops.  In a secure system, Drs. Best and Elbourne can monitor their patient’s blood pressure, contractions, and even the baby’s heart rate from anywhere.  As Dr. Best put it, “The more tools we have in our arsenal to treat our patients, the better off our patients are going to be.”  

    Visit the Bayou Regional Women’s Clinic at their North Point location, 18901 Greenwell Springs Rd., at their Zachary location at Suite 2000, 6550 Main St., or look them up at www.bayouwomensclinic.com.  Appointments can be made by calling 658-1303.  Listen in on the doctors on your Central Now App as they appear on “The Central Story”, WPFC, 1550 AM, between 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10!

 

 One of Lane's new LDRP rooms