[StBernard] The St. Bernard Parish Hospital appoints committee to oversee medical staff

[Westley Annis]

The St. Bernard Parish Hospital appoints committee to oversee medical staff
Published: Tuesday, August 07, 2012, 1:15 PM     Updated: Tuesday, August
07, 2012, 2:22 PM
 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune 

The St. Bernard Parish Hospital Service District has appointed Medical
Executive Committee members to oversee the new about $70 million,
113,000-square-foot public Chalmette hospital expected to open its doors
later this month. The committee will act as the organizational body that
oversees the medical staff's functions, duties, activities and policies, and
it will represent the medical staff and act on its behalf.

St. Bernard Parish Councilman George Cavignac, who is the vice chairman of
the Hospital Service District Board, said during a council meeting today
that the hospital could begin seeing patients as early as Aug. 20.

Construction of an adjacent about $13 million, 60,000-square-foot medical
office building is expected to wrap up this fall. Both facilities sit
between West Judge Perez Drive and St. Bernard Highway.

Since the privately owned, 196-bed Chalmette Medical Center was demolished
in February 2007, the parish has had a health clinic run out of trailers by
the nonprofit Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, but no
emergency room or full-service hospital.

The new hospital has 40 patient beds: eight intensive care, four long-term
care and 28 general inpatient. There also are four operating suites, two
endoscopy suites and 10 beds in the emergency room.

When completed, the medical office building will include a free clinic,
administrative offices and several physicians' offices. The Medical
Executive Committee is composed of Chief of Staff Dr. Abdolreza Vadiee, Vice
Chief of Staff Dr. Mace Scott; Secretary/Treasurer Dr. Mark Jenkins II,
Immediate Past Chief of Staff Dr. Bryan Bertucci; Department Chairman of
Medicine Dr. John Hamide; Department Chairman of Surgery Dr. Kelvin
Contreary, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Paul Verrette.

Dr. Abdolreza Vadiee
Dr. Abdolreza Vadiee, chief of staff, specializes in physical medicine and
rehabilitation. A resident of New Orleans, Vadiee is medical director for
Ochsner Medical Center North Shore Neuroscience Department for Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation, and vice chief of staff for Ochsner Medical
Center North Shore. He earned his doctorate of medicine from Louisiana State
University's Medical Center School of Medicine in 1996, and completed his
residency with LSU's Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department in
2000. Vadiee also operates Total Access Health, a general practice and
urgent care facility in Chalmette.

Dr. Mace Scott
Dr. Mace Scott, vice chief of staff, specializes in emergency medicine. A
New Orleans native, Scott most recently has served as an emergency
department physician at St. Tammany Parish and Terrebonne General Hospitals.
He earned his doctorate of medicine from Louisiana State University Health
Sciences Center in 2001, and completed his residency Earl K. Long Memorial
Hospital in Baton Rouge. Scott became board certified in 2010 by the
American Board of Emergency Medicine

Dr. Mark Jenkins II
Dr. Mark Jenkins II, secretary/treasurer, specializes in radiology and
nuclear medicine. A native of Eunice and a resident of New Orleans, Jenkins
comes from Touro Infirmary in New Orleans where he served as a full-time
staff radiologist. In 1965, Jenkins received a doctorate of medicine degree
from Louisiana State University's School of Medicine at New Orleans, and he
completed his residency at Norfolk Regional Medical Center. He became board
certified by the American Board of Radiology in 1972 and the American Board
of Nuclear Medicine in 1974.

Dr. Bryan Bertucci
Dr. Bryan Bertucci, immediate past chief of staff, specializes in family
medicine and has served as St. Bernard Parish coroner since 2002. A native
of New Orleans and a long-time resident of St. Bernard, Bertucci earned his
doctorate of medicine in 1980 from Louisiana State University Medical Center
in New Orleans. He completed his residency at Earl K. Long Memorial Hospital
in Baton Rouge, and became board certified in family practice in 1983 by the
American Academy of Family Practice. Bertucci, a former board member and
chief of staff at Chalmette Medical Center, has worked as a physician with
the St. Bernard Community Health Center since its inception. He also has
served as a board member and an affiliate member in an advisory capacity for
the St. Bernard Parish Hospital Service District.

Dr. John Hamide
Dr. John Hamide, department chairman of medicine, specializes in radiology
and interventional radiology. A native New Orleanian, Hamide most recently
served as a radiology department physician at Touro Infirmary and Children's
Hospital, both in New Orleans. He earned his doctorate of medicine in 2000
from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, and he
completed his residency in 2005 at LSU's School of Medicine in New Orleans.

Dr. Kelvin Contreary
Dr. Kelvin Contreary, department chairman of surgery, specializes in general
and vascular surgery. A resident of New Orleans, Contreary has most recently
worked at East Jefferson General Hospital. He received his doctorate of
medicine in 1977 from Louisiana State University's School of Medicine, where
he completed his residency. He was board certified in 1984 by the American
Board of Surgery.

Dr. Paul Verrette
Dr. Paul Verrette, chief medical officer, specializes in internal medicine.
Verrette, of Chalmette, received his doctorate of medicine in 1983 from
Louisiana State University Medical School in New Orleans. He completed his
residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans in 1987, and became board
certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1988. Verrette
served as a physician with Chalmette Medical Center and Lifecare Hospital
prior to Hurricane Katrina, and has been on staff at the St. Bernard
Community Health Center since its inception.

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