“I found the care I need right here at my hometown hospital!”
— Peggy Lacheny
Every eight weeks, Peggy Lacheny (right) had to make the long hour-and-a-half
drive from Osyka to New Orleans to receive infusions for her severe asthma.
Fortunately, Stephanie Barnes (left), the RN Infusion Director at Southwest
Health, found a better way. She called Peggy’s doctor in New Orleans
and told her about the Southwest Outpatient Infusion Center. “Now
my husband, Randy, and I only have to drive 20 minutes,” says Peggy.
“When I get my asthma infusion, I feel like a wind-up toy. I can
just go and go and go!” “Patients who were traveling to Jackson,
Hattiesburg, and even Atlanta for their infusion therapy are now coming
here,” says Stephanie. “It’s just so much more convenient.”
Infusion therapy can include blood transfusions, immunotherapy, antibiotics,
fluid replacements, long-term therapies, and iron infusions. People with
multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, infectious disease, Crohn’s
Disease, ulcerative colitis, immune deficiency, osteoporosis, and more
can benefit from the therapy. Stephanie and Peggy have known each other
for many years. In fact, Stephanie was Peggy’s nurse when she had
outpatient cataract surgery at Southwest Health. “God sends angels
into your life and Stephanie has definitely been one for me!” says
Peggy. “The care she gives is fantastic, just like this hospital
and all of the people who work there!”