Care Coordinators Hired to Manage Long-Term Patient Care

St. James Parish Hospital is extremely excited to welcome two Care Coordinators to its growing team. Kirby Folse, RN, and Nili Rougee, RN, have joined the clinic staff to help better serve patients and manage chronic conditions across the continuum of care. 

Both Kirby and Nili are experienced nurses who have served patients at St. James Parish Hospital through their previous roles as inpatient nurses. Their new role will allow them to help ensure patients are taking advantage of wellness benefits. Through these benefits, such as annual wellness visits, they will identify patients with chronic conditions and work with each patient’s primary care physician to develop personalized care plans to improve their overall health over time.

The Care Coordinators will help their patients seamlessly navigate through the healthcare system. They will be notified when their patients visit the ER or if their patient is hospitalized so that information surrounding their visit can be relayed to the patient’s primary care doctor. This will allow the care team to reassess each patient’s care plan moving forward.
The hospital is investing in care coordination to improve patient satisfaction, quality of care and clinical outcomes. Better managed care and ongoing relationships with patients with chronic conditions also leads to fewer readmissions, ER visits and unnecessary tests—each potentially resulting in reduced healthcare costs.

This new model of care has been embraced by the hospital’s Family Practice Physicians. With their support, Care Coordinators are working to schedule wellness visits with patients. During this visit, the Care Coordinators will get necessary health histories and schedule screenings. The visit will conclude with a visit by the patient’s physician who will use the information acquired to make recommendations.

Both the hospital and its physicians feel confident this is a step in the right direction of improving the overall health in the St. James Parish community.

“I’m most excited that I will be able to help patients get on a healthy path and hopefully extend their lifespan so they have more time with their family,” said Kirby, RN, Care Coordinator.
“Patients can expect to have someone help them get their lives on a healthy path through yearly wellness visits where they will receive encouragement and planning.”

“I feel my new position as a Care Coordinator will allow me to take my nursing career to the next level. I am really excited to be part of this new endeavor and I look forward to helping patients and their families as well as working with some of the best physicians and staff,” said Nili, RN, Care Coordinator.

“Patients can expect to receive quality care and the resources they need and deserve to lead a healthy life. I feel together we can succeed with one goal in common—quality care and patient satisfaction.”