East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden visited St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis on Monday in an effort to solidify and expand its affiliation with Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.
The visit was also related to the medical expansion outlined in the FUTUREBR plan for land use and development in East Baton Rouge Parish. A stronger relationship between the city and St. Jude’s could encourage the growth of a local medical district, Holden said in a news release.
“Our national planning team saw the potential of our medical community and made recommendations for improving transportation and infrastructure to help build a district that can be more easily accessed by citizens throughout the parish as well as those coming to Baton Rouge for treatment,” Holden said.
Invited to St. Jude’s by Baton Rouge families who are being treated there, Holden met with administrators at St Jude’s to learn more about expanding operations at OLOL Children’s Hospital to aid the local community. This move could help develop that expansion as an economic driver, he said.
“There is a great deal of support in our community for St. Jude’s because of what it means to local families,” Holden said. “From our Baton Rouge city police participating in fundraisers to local families planning family outings that allow patients to take a break from their treatment, St. Jude’s is very special to our