Baton Rouge Health District Expands Team

BATON ROUGE, La. – Today, the Baton Rouge Health District announced 2 new team members, Korey Patty and Myrthe Maes.

About Korey Patty

Korey Patty will serve as the Regional Economic Competitiveness Officer for the Gulf Coast Health Science Corridor. In this new role, his focus will lie on coordinating resources and facilitating collaboration within the south Louisiana health and life sciences industry, through collaboration with numerous coalition partners including the Baton Rouge Health District, Pennington Biomedical, Xavier University, Tulane University, LSU Health Sciences Center, GNO Inc., Louisiana Economic Development, the Greater New Orleans and Baton Rouge Area Foundations, and the New Orleans BioInnovation Center – among others.

“Korey is a great addition to the team and we are excited about his leadership on the portfolio of projects across our Corridor, especially our planned Health District gateway enhancements and the development of the new Center for Innovation & Commercialization in Implementation Science at Pennington Biomedical.“ said Steven Ceulemans, Executive Director of the Health District. “His strategic presence in both the Baton Rouge and New Orleans hubs of the GCHSC will be instrumental for the advancement of our collaborative goals."

The Baton Rouge Health District, as a leading coalition member in the GCHSC, is currently a finalist in the $1B Economic Development Administration (EDA) Build Back Better Regional Challenge. This grant is designed to assist communities in accelerating the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. It is also designed to build local communities that will be resilient to future economic shocks. The Regional Competitiveness Officer position was called into life to lead this effort.

“The future of the biosciences industry in south Louisiana is bright,” said Patty. “I look forward to working with public, private, academic and civic leaders to accelerate the collaboration necessary for expansion of this industry through the opportunity with the EDA Build Back Better Regional Challenge.”

Prior to his new role, Korey served as the Executive Director of Feeding Louisiana, the state’s association of Louisiana’s 5 Feeding America food Banks. He is experienced in business and economic development for the state of Louisiana, as well as in management, public policy and advocacy across various industries.

About Myrthe Maes

Myrthe recently joined the Health District team as an Innovation Analyst - Intern. In her new position, she will focus on innovation-related project coordination, research, engagement, and outreach, with a particular emphasis on supporting the Baton Rouge HealthTech Catalyst, a regional healthcare technology innovation program led by the Baton Rouge Health District. Her main activities will include providing technical assistance through program support, outreach and economic development marketing initiatives. She will also conduct market and partnering research.

Ms. Maes is originally from Belgium but has moved to Baton Rouge to fulfill her internship. She is currently finalizing a Bachelors degree in International Business Management, with a focus on international business and trade. Ms. Maes held a previous administrative position at PMC Global Engineering, a specialized Engineering firm serving the pharmaceutical and petrochemical industry in Europe.

About the Baton Rouge Health District

The Baton Rouge Health District is a nonprofit organization that promotes collaboration among healthcare providers, government officials, higher education institutions and others to implement a master plan that will enhance healthcare and economic development in Baton Rouge. Health District Members include the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Baton Rouge General Medical Center, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Ochsner Health System, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, and Woman's Hospital. For more information, visit brhealthdistrict.com.

About the Gulf Coast Health Sciences Corridor (GCHSC)

The Gulf Coast Health Sciences Corridor is a coalition of health and life science leaders from government, business, nonprofits and academia across the South Louisiana – Gulf Coast region. The GCHSC was recently awarded a $500,000 Phase I grant from EDA to develop a plan to transform the region into a national leader in health sciences with a focus on addressing obesity and chronic diseases and are currently a finalist for a Phase II implementation grant. The coalition is currently a finalist in the $1B EDA Build Back Better Regional Challenge for a phase 2 funding award to implement this plan. For more information, visit https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/558555243/baton-rouge-healthdistrict-selected-as-eda-build-back-better-finalist-partner-in-gulf-coast-health-sciences-corridor