In the club’s second-to-last meeting of July, Rotary President Nicole Wenger announced a grant, for which the club applied in conjunction with the two Opelousas Rotary Clubs, was approved to help purchase kitchen equipment for The Refinery in Opelousas.
“The Refinery is transition housing for men,” Wenger said. “It’s basically a homeless shelter where they train the men and get them job ready. They have very high employment rates for the guys.”
Later in the meeting, the Rotary Club heard from Representative Bernard LeBas who spoke about the state budget and other items which were recently passed during the regular session of the Louisiana Legislature. His remarks were similar to the ones he gave previously at a Legislative Recap event held at the Evangeline Chamber of Commerce.
The following week, on July 30, the Rotary Club had a chance to find out a little bit about one of its newest members, Debbie Vidrine.
“I was born and raised here, and the furthest I’ve ever been was when I went to New Orleans,” said Vidrine. She is a 1974 graduate of Sacred Heart and a 1978 graduate of USL with a bachelor of science degree. “My husband was in anesthesia school then, and my first job was as a nurse at East Jefferson Pediatrics and Adolescents.”
Vidrine’s second job was then at New Orleans Charity. “That was a trip,” she said. “It was interesting. I’m happy I have that experience and those memories. That was really wild.”
After that, Vidrine went on to work in Opelousas, Ville Platte, Mamou, and Eunice before settling in to teach nursing at LSUE where she stayed for 25 years before retiring in 2013.
While teaching at LSUE, Vidrine went on to receive her master’s of nursing degree in maternal child nursing and became a nurse practitioner.
Recently, Vidrine opened a clinic in Pine Prairie and Ville Platte and now is affiliated with the recently opened SouthStar Urgent Care in Ville Platte.
After introducing herself to the Rotary Club, Vidrine introduced SouthStar’s Marketing Manager Erin Batiste.
Batiste said the first SouthStar clinic opened in New Iberia and has expanded into 11 communities across Louisiana. “We are very excited to bring access to care to rural areas who may have limited access as far as hospitals and limited practices with their communities,” she said.”
The SouthStar clinics are opened seven days a week. They are opened 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. They also accept most major insurance providers.
Batiste then spoke about what sets SouthStar apart from other medical care facilities.
“When you walk in, nothing about our clinic feels like a cold, sterile hospital,” Batiste said. “It feels warm and inviting from the furnishings to the decor and to the friendly face who is greeting you as soon as you get there.”
Batiste continued, “We take a lot of time in investing in our employees. The hiring process is pretty rigourous, and we hire for culture. We have to make sure that people are a good culture fit because the last thing people want when they’re feeling bad is to walk in and have someone behind a desk who’s not kind, rude, impatient, or intolerant. The very first person you meet when you walk in is kind.”
Batiste then added the kind person greeting each person when they walk into a SouthStar clinic will “get you checked in, get your insurance information, and offer you a complimentary drink or snack. We want everyone who walks in our clinic to feel relaxed, and we really strive to make that happen.”
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TONY MARKS Editor