Takeisha Davis applies a population health approach to care delivery while maintaining financial responsibility.

How One Doctor Is Transforming Community Healthcare in New Orleans

At New Orleans East Hospital, the definition of a patient has expanded.

For president and CEO Takeisha Davis, MD, that shift began over the course of her career. Her training as a pediatrician put the focus on the individual before her work with the Louisiana Department of Health widened that scope to entire populations.

Now, leading a hospital that serves a distinct pocket of one of the country's most unique cities, Davis has combined those perspectives, applying population-level thinking to a specific community.

It's really been a journey of determining who is your patient, she told HealthLeaders. Is it an individual, is it the community, or both? And then how do you take that data on a population level and really use it to impact individuals in their ability to have ultimately greater health outcomes?

That framing influences how New Orleans East, part of LCMC Health, approaches care delivery. Instead of relying solely on traditional clinical encounters, Davis shared that the organization uses local data to identify gaps and build targeted programs, including efforts to improve management of chronic conditions that often drive emergency department visits.

Community work, not charity work

Davis pushes back on common perceptions about community hospitals, particularly the notion that their role centers on charity care.

That's the first myth, Davis said. People look at it as charity work. This is hospital work that we all should have access to, quality care no matter where we live.

The hospital's location in New Orleans East shapes that mission. The area is separated by water and bridges, which affects how residents access care. Geographic limitations have dictated a need to meet patients where they are, rather than expecting them to navigate barriers to reach the hospital.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated that approach. Health systems had to find ways to deliver care outside traditional settings, and Davis used that moment to expand outreach strategies that remain in place.

One example is a community health worker program built around training trusted local voices, or 'culture bearers' as Davis calls them, such as jazz musicians, poets, and artists.

Their voice has been able to go out into their communities where they live, work, play, and pray as a trusted one and providing not just education and information to community members, but connection to the hospital and clinic visits, Davis said.

Those workers help residents navigate the healthcare system while addressing reasons patients delay care. Davis described efforts to engage individuals with chronic conditions, connecting them with resources and education that support better self-management and reduce repeat emergency visits.

Pictured: Takeisha Davis, president and CEO, New Orleans East Hospital.

Tackling barriers to outcomes

As critical as preventative care is for improved outcomes, Davis acknowledged that it remains difficult to sustain financially, since reimbursement models favor treatment over early intervention.

That reality has pushed New Orleans East Hospital to build partnerships that address underlying conditions affecting health, such as its collaboration with United Way.

We recognize that poverty is a strong driver of poor health outcomes, Davis said. Poverty is a barrier for people being able to get into their clinic visits, purchase their medications, have access to healthy foods, or safe housing.

She also highlighted practical impediments that can make the difference in whether patients receive care. For example, scheduling remains a major challenge when services are concentrated during standard business hours.

One of the biggest barriers to care is the lack of recognition that most of our preventative care occurs between eight [o'clock] and five, Monday through Friday. Well, that's the time that people work and they're in school too, Davis said.

To overcome that, she emphasized meeting patients at their workplaces and schools, as well as extending hours of operation into evenings and weekends.

Transportation creates additional obstacles. Early-morning procedures can require long commutes on limited transit options, which affects whether patients follow through with care.

Food access presents another gap between clinical guidance and lived experience. Recommendations around nutrition often fail to account for affordability and availability, which can limit patients' ability to follow through.

It's identifying that sometimes the didactics that we're taught don't naturally match our community members' needs, Davis said. So we need to think about the language that we use and making sure that it is culturally sensitive and actually actionable to our community.

Making the numbers work

Inside New Orleans East Hospital, operational decisions reflect a focus on efficiency alongside community impact. According to Davis, it calls for a disciplined approach, from staffing models to supply use, while pushing for more equitable reimbursement.

Like most of us with our checkbook, we start with the things that we have control over, she said.

That includes ensuring the hospital is paid appropriately for the care it delivers, with Davis pointing to the need for data to help create parity in payer contracts.

She also stressed working with payers on opportunities to share in reduction of expenses through value-based partnerships.

It benefits both us and our payers if we have patients who are high utilizers of service with chronic diseases... that if we both partner, we can reduce the overall cost to our system and we both win because we're also providing better care to the patients, Davis said.

That approach ties financial sustainability to the same population-level thinking that drives care delivery. Efforts that begin in the community through education, outreach, and access connect back to reimbursement, utilization, and long-term outcomes.