Landmark Gift from First Guaranty Bank Leads North Oaks Foundation’s Annual Giving Campaign for 2022

A $200,000 gift from First Guaranty Bank to the North Oaks Foundation’s 2022 Annual Fund has made history.

“To date, First Guaranty Bank’s generous gift is the largest the Foundation has ever received and catapults funds raised overall beyond the $1 million mark,” shares North Oaks Volunteer Services/Foundation Director Staci Arceneaux. “More importantly, the bank’s gift puts the foundation halfway to its $400,000 goal to help North Oaks Health System purchase a mobile health unit. We are beyond grateful to have First Guaranty Bank’s partnership in improving access to health services in underserved populations throughout our community.”

Pictured above participating in the check presentation, from left, are: North Oaks Foundation Board of Directors member Joe Miller; First Guaranty Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Alton Lewis; North Oaks Foundation Director Staci Arceneaux; North Oaks Health System President and Chief Executive Officer Michele Kidd Sutton, FACHE; North Oaks Chief Human Resources Officer Jeff Jarreau; and North Oaks Foundation Board of Directors members Cally Berner and Tom Tolar.

The nearly 40-foot, wheelchair-accessible Mobile Health Unit will feature a waiting area and two exam rooms. As a health clinic on wheels, it will enable North Oaks to offer a variety health screenings, immunizations, primary care and diagnostic services out in the community, according to North Oaks Population Health Director Saleta Costanza. It also will be deployed in conjunction with occupational health partnerships and for emergency response purposes as needed.

“When presented with the opportunity to assist North Oaks with the ability to give our community an easier, quicker means to primary care, health screenings and other much needed medical services, we jumped at it,” affirms First Guaranty Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Alton Lewis. “We understand that a healthy community thrives when our residents are healthy. We’re privileged to support the North Oaks Mobile Health Unit.”

Michele Kidd Sutton, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of North Oaks Health System, asserts, “First Guaranty Bank continues to invest in the health of our region as major donor of the North Oaks Foundation. We are pleased to carry on our partnership with them through the North Oaks Foundation to expand health care access beyond the brick and mortar of our facilities. Their gift will help us care for people where they are – out in the community.”

Sutton continues, “The North Oaks Foundation and its donors’ support of North Oaks Health System represents a substantial investment in our ability to deliver quality health care efficiently and is evidence of two important things. First is the spirit of cooperation and social responsibility that our staff shares with many individuals and business entities in our community. Next is the emergence of our region as a growing and economically robust community where this level of support is possible.”

First Guaranty Bank previously donated $100,000 to the North Oaks Foundation to help fund the purchase of a $1.8 million biplane for North Oaks Medical Center’s Interventional Radiology Suite opened in 2020. The biplane is used to help detect and treat patients who have experienced stroke, aneurysm, hardening of the arteries or other vascular and neurological conditions.

The North Oaks Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2015 to support North Oaks Health System. The Foundation provides funding for programs and equipment purchases that may not otherwise be possible for the hospital to fund through its operations.

To learn more about ways to give to North Oaks Foundation and support the Mobile Health Unit project, call the North Oaks Foundation at (985) 230-6674.