Simien named  to state board

Marshall J. Simien of Lake Charles has been appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards to the State Board of Commerce and Industry.

The board meets bimonthly and advises on applications for tax incentive programs, including Enterprise Zone, Industrial Tax Exemption, Quality Jobs and Restoration Tax abatement.

Simien is the president of Simien Law Firm. He will serve at-large.

 

EXIT welcome team members

Local EXIT Realty affiliated offices are pleased to announce the addition of the following individuals to their teams of dedicated real estate professionals.

Amy Kratzer, Joshua Floyd, Kaitlyn Arrington, Kayleigh McCombs, Laci Slaydon, Michelle Hydle and Morgan Darby have joined EXIT Realty Southern located at 2915 Common St.

Christian Smith, Lindsey Isaac, Lauren Labove and Michelle Rigdon have joined EXIT Realty Southern located at 2730 Maplewood Drive, Sulphur.

 

Hospital celebrates 1,000th procedure

Christus Ochsner Health Southwestern Louisiana is celebrating Matias Nauts, D.O., for completing his 1,000th robotic-assisted procedure using the daVinci Surgical System.

Nauts completed his first daVinci case on Oct. 29, 2015. His 1,000th procedure was completed on Aug. 26, 2021.

Instead of making large incisions as in traditional surgery, the daVinci robot only requires a series of small incisions. This means less blood loss and less scarring. Also, because of the minimally invasive nature of robotic-assisted procedures, patients recover quickly and can usually return to normal activity within a week.

Nauts expertise in robotic-assisted procedures using the DaVinci Surgical System includes: inguinal hernia, ventral/incisional hernia repair, colon, small bowel, gallbladder and other general surgery.

Nauts has been serving patients of Southwest Louisiana since 2015. He graduated from California State University at Fullerton and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his surgical internship and residency at Rowan School of Medicine in New Jersey.

 

Lakeside Bank rated 5-Star

BauerFinancial, the nation’s leading independent bank rating and research firm, has released its star ratings of banks and credit unions, and once again, Lakeside Bank has been awarded their highest 5-Star rating. This recognition indicates that Lakeside excels in areas of capital adequacy, profitability, capital ratio, asset quality, liquidity and more.

BauerFinancial has been reporting on and analyzing the performance of U.S. banks and credit unions with rigorous standards since 1983.

Lakeside Bank has two Lake Charles locations with additional branches in Sulphur and Westlake. A new branch in Moss Bluff will open this fall.

 

Imperial Health Lab recognized

The laboratory of Imperial Health medical group recently completed its biannual inspection by COLA Inc. and received full accreditation as well as the COLA Laboratory Excellence Award.

Accreditation is given to laboratories that apply the highest standards of quality in day-to-day operations, demonstrate continued accuracy in the performance of proficiency testing, and pass a rigorous on-site laboratory survey. In addition, award recipients must have demonstrated successful proficiency testing for the prior three testing events and have no substantiated complaints against the laboratory.

Imperial Health’s lab’s supervisory team responsible for the recognition are Julie Miller, laboratory director, Jennifer Rodriguez, assistant laboratory director, and Dr. Todd Peavy, medical laboratory director. In addition to the in-house laboratory at the group’s main office in Lake Charles, there are seven convenient draw site locations across Southwest Louisiana.