The Shreveport-Bossier City area is the site of many well-equipped medical centers.

Willis-Knighton Health System is a not-for-profit healthcare provider that is locally owned and operated to respond to the needs of local citizens. The hospital that was to become Willis-Knighton opened in 1924 as Tri-State Sanitarium on Greenwood Road. With over 85 years of serving the community, it has grown in the same location and is now Willis-Knighton Medical Center. Also in the health system are Willis-Knighton South & the Center for Women's Health in southwest Shreveport, the first satellite hospital in the state, ; WK Bossier Health Center, serving Bossier City; and WK Pierremont Health Center, convenient to southeast Shreveport and southern Bossier City. The health system also includes fitness and wellness centers, urgent care centers and occupational medicine clinics as well as an active adult lifestyle community for adults 55+, The Oaks of Louisiana. Willis-Knighton maintains strong relationships with hospitals in nearby parishes and with LSU Health Shreveport.

The health system has been recognized for its excellence by national organizations, including U.S. News & World Report, Top 100 Hospitals in America, Top 100 Hospitals Cardiovascular, "Nursing Professionals" magazine as well as online rating agencies.

Since 1894, CHRISTUS Health Shreveport-Bossier has served the community at two fully integrated hospitals. CHRISTUS Highland Medical Center is a general acute care hospital known for orthopedics and cardiology. CHRISTUS Schumpert Medical Center is a destination campus providing comprehensive women's, oncology and children's care.

Located within CHRISTUS Schumpert, Sutton Children's Medical Center is recognized as a top community-based private children's hospital for children birth to age 18. It includes the following Pediatric Specialty Areas: Pediatric Emergency Department, Pediatric Day Surgery Area, Pediatric Inpatient Unit, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and general pediatric and pediatric specialist clinics. Sutton Children's boasts the region's only Pediatric Surgeons and Pediatric Anesthesiologist along with physicians specializing in Neonatology, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Pediatric Medicine, Pediatric Pharmacology, Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery, Pediatric Neurosurgery, and Pediatric Endocrinology.

In addition to the hospital campuses, CHRISTUS Health Shreveport-Bossier offers extensive outpatient services through the Wound Care Clinic, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Breast Clinic and two Wellness Centers. Dubuis Hospital of Shreveport located within CHRISTUS Schumpert offers long-term acute medical and nursing services to help patients progress to a higher functioning level. CHRISTUS Home Care features comprehensive home health, palliative care and hospice services, including Grace Home, the region's only residential hospice.

A faith-based, not-for-profit health system, CHRISTUS Health Shreveport-Bossier employs over 1800 with 600 affiliated physicians and is part of CHRISTUS Health, sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. CHRISTUS Health is among the 10 largest Catholic health systems in the country and one of the 20 largest of all health systems in the nation.

LSU Health Shreveport is one of about 120 academic medical centers across the United States, providing healthcare for patients along with research studies and clinical trials to find new treatments and cures, while training future physicians, scientists and healthcare workers. The health center serves the primary and preventive care needs of a special population: the underserved, along with advanced specialty care needs of patients from across Northwest Louisiana, East Texas and Southwest Arkansas.

The campus is home to state-designated Centers of Excellence including the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center and a Center of Excellence in Arthritis and Rheumatology. Specialty care is also provided in the LSUHSC Children's Hospital, a regional Burn Center and a Level One Trauma Center. The medical center is one of only six hospitals in the nation affiliated with the world-famous St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

With 510 medical students in training at any one time and 100 new doctors graduating annually, more than 70 percent of physicians practicing in north Louisiana are graduates of LSU Health School of Medicine or former medical residents who trained at LSU Medical Center. The School of Allied Health Professions trains more than 400 students in various health-related disciplines, and the School of Graduate Studies provides PhD opportunities in five disciplines as well as a Master's program in Biomedical Sciences.

Along with CHRISTUS Schumpert, Willis-Knighton Health System and LSUHSC, Shreveport is also home to Promise Specialty Hospital, Bio-Medical Research Institute (See Technology Section) and Overton Brooks VA Medical Center. Our community also provides many outstanding rehabilitation, special needs and senior care facilities to treat the long-term needs of people of all ages.

The Shreveport Shriner's Hospital is a 45-bed pediatric orthopedic hospital providing comprehensive and complex orthopedic care to children at no charge. Built in 1922, the Shreveport Hospital was the first Shriner's Hospital and a totally new, modern facility was constructed on the same site in 1986. Today, there are 22 Shriner's Hospitals for Children.

Through the support of volunteer blood donors and the communities it serves, LifeShare Blood Centers is the steward of the community blood supply. Founded by local business, medical and civic leaders in 1942, LifeShare has a long tradition of partnering with local businesses and organizations to provide the blood components needed every day by patients in local medical facilities. Individuals and groups of all kinds are encouraged to participate in the vital community service of volunteer blood donation. Convenient mobile blood drives can be scheduled at businesses, churches, schools and other locations convenient to group blood donation.

LifeShare is the exclusive provider of blood components and related services in over 140 medical facilities throughout Louisiana, east Texas and south Arkansas. LifeShare Blood Centers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community service provider, governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees, licensed by the Food and Drug Administration and accredited by AABB.

For more information about LifeShare, or to learn about establishing a blood donor program at your business, visit www.lifeshare.org, or call 318-673-1471.