Additional Narrative: The Future

As the largest primary medical home over five parishes, St. Mary, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, and St. John, while providing services to the neighboring parishes of St. James and Iberia, Teche Action Clinic stays on the forefront of advocating for awareness in our South East Louisiana Region. We employ certified application counselors who work with our patients to ensure their personal applications are properly processed with the Affordable Health Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid.

We launched an aggressive smoking cessation campaign among our clinics to end smoking in our region. We have collaborated with the Cardiovascular Institute of the South on this initiative. We have also teamed up with parish leaders in Terrebonne Parish, to launch what we both believe is a health model of the future. The Teche Action Clinic board has donated land next to our clinic in Houma, to the parish, to rebuild their state public health unit next to our community health center, where they will connect the public health unit to our clinic.

Teche Action Clinic CEO Dr. Gary Wiltz said Terrebonne Parish leaders have a, "deep regard," for the health and welfare of their constituents.Our site in Houma offers Dental, Pediatric-Dental, Internal Medicine a Pharmacy, and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) services. Wiltz said Teche is "giving up the land" for the public health unit, so that it can work alongside "an incredible partner."

The health unit and the community center will have a combined mission, to address and access the population health of all of the community, as well as the social determinants of health in the parish. "This really is a partnership - the new public health model of a community health center partnering with the public health unit," Wiltz said. "Once the health unit is constructed, we will continue to provide WIC services, but from there instead of inside our clinics. We will also hold classes in a joint community education room. However, we will not be managing the public health unit." Dr. W.S. Chip Riggins Jr, medical director of the state Department of Health and Hospitals, said Teche has already been a great partner in serving the Women, Infants and Children of Terrbonne Parish through the WIC program.

"At any given time, the community is our patient. Yet, community health centers are at the forefront of what we are doing. Teche Action Clinic is a great partner to swim upstream with," Riggins said. Another one of our on-going future initiatives is what we call, "The Chambers of Health."

It is the vision of Dr. Gary Wiltz to advocate for healthier communities, which in turn breeds a healthier workforce. His vision is to begin within our service area, with the hope that the idea would spread statewide. The plan? Target the chambers of commerce within our service area, and entice them to form health sub-committees which promote health and wellness within their parish. Currently, we have an on-going committee in Terrebonne Parish, and are working to get another off the ground in St. Mary Parish. The Terrebonne Chamber, so impressed with Dr. Wiltz's initiative awarded him their Chamber Star in 2018.