Guidry named LPA officer

BATON ROUGE — Ricky Guidry, RPh, of Apothecary Alley, LLC, in Lake Charles was installed as the immediate past-president during the Louisiana Pharmacists Association’s 141st annual convention in Baton Rouge.

The Louisiana Pharmacists Association, established in 1882, strives to promote the interests of all pharmacists of the state of Louisiana.

Tademy featured guest speaker

Leroy Tademy of Tademy Photography in Lake Charles will share his expertise at Imaging USA, the first convention and expo of the year designed exclusively for photography and imaging professionals.

Imaging USA will be held Jan. 28-30, 2024, in Louisville, KY.

Women’s Center recognized

SULPHUR — The Women’s Center at West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital recently received Birth Ready Designation from the Louisiana Department of Health and the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative and was redesignated as a Gift facility by The Louisiana Department of Health – Office of Public Health – Bureau of Family Health – Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative, in partnership with the Louisiana Commission on Perinatal Care and Prevention of Infant Mortality.

The Birth Ready Designation is awarded to hospitals that implement quality improvement to enhance birth outcomes for mothers in Louisiana. To achieve the designation, facilities must meet rigorous criteria in five areas, including policy and procedure implementation, promoting patient partnership and addressing health disparities and equity.

West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital was one of five recent hospitals to receive the designation.

The Gift Designation signifies that WCCH has successfully implemented policies that align with the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and continues to improve breastfeeding outcomes for new mothers.

Seeser joins Memorial Group

Lake Charles Memorial Health System is pleased to welcome Daniel Seeser, MD, family medicine physician, as a new member of its medical staff.

Seeser is originally from Alexandria. He completed his undergraduate degree at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston and his medical degree at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.

He is a recent graduate of the Family Medicine Residency at the Memorial LSUHSC Family Medicine Residency in Lake Charles. For the past three years he has been a Volunteer Resident Physician with the Calcasieu Parish Schools, performing sports physicals and game sideline medical care to young athletes.

Seeser also served in the Community Public Health Disaster Relief Field Clinic in response to Hurricane Laura and Delta.

He is accepting new patients at the Memorial Family Medicine Clinic at 2750 Aster St.

Edwards named to national council

CASA of West CenLA announces the appointment of Tommy R. Edwards to executive director of the Rural Leadership Council of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem Association for Children.

Serving a two-year term, Edwards — along with child welfare leaders from across the nation — will play an integral role in voicing the unique needs of 893 local programs that make up the National CASA and Guardian ad Litem network. In 2021, the CASA/GAL network, with its 97,920 volunteers, served more than 242,176 children who have experienced abuse or neglect. With more than 391,000 children entering foster care on any given day, the leadership council will focus its efforts on ensuring that the network achieves its mission of serving all children through best-interest advocacy.

Edwards has been a part of CASA for 15 years beginning as a Volunteer and later joining the staff of CASA of West CenLA. He was promoted to executive director in 2012, and has served in the position for 11 years.

He is a U. S. Army veteran having served 22.5 years on Active Duty. He is a graduate of Haralson County High School in Tallapoosa, Ga., and holds a BS Degree in Business Management from University of Upper Iowa.

Lavergne joins WCCH team

SULPHUR — Malloree Lavergne recently joined West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital  as a marketing and community impact specialist.

In her role, Lavergne will work to increase awareness of WCCH and all its service lines through various print and digital channels. She will oversee the hospital’s digital marketing strategy across multiple channels to optimize the organization’s online presence.

Lavergne will also support and coordinate hospital and WCCH Foundation community outreach efforts and events.

Lavergne brings five years of marketing and community relations experience to her new role. She holds a bachelor of science degree in mass communication from McNeese State University and is a member of SWLA PROs.

Jeff Davis Electric wins award

Jeff Davis Electric earned the coveted statewide safety award at the annual Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives’ meeting in July.

The cooperative’s employees have worked 646,290 hours since January 2017 without a lost-time accident.

This is the first time Jeff Davis Electric has won the award individually. The award is based on the cooperative’s incident plus severity rate. Those rates consider manhours worked, no-lost time accidents, lost or restricted accidents, number of lost days, number of restricted days, miles driven, vehicle accidents, and occupational illnesses.

This achievement is a testament to Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative’s commitment to ensuring the safety of its employees and members, said Director of Safety Ben Hetzel.

He said Jeff Davis has implemented rigorous safety protocols and procedures, and the team has worked tirelessly to maintain a safe work environment.