Hospitalist Program
A Hospitalist is a physician whose practice primarily focuses on hospital patient care. Many also teach, perform research and assume leadership roles in hospital medicine.
Dauterive Hospital pioneered the Hospitalist Program in the Teche Area medical community in December 2006 with Dr. Burt Bujard, a long-time Internal Medicine physician well known in the region.
The program began as a part-time service offered mainly on weekends for patients without a primary care physician who sought treatment in the Dauterive Hospital Emergency Department. By March 2007, the program expanded to 24 hours a day, seven days a week with PRN Hospitalists assisting Dr. Bujard.
Dr. Manikandan Nagendran, also an Internal Medicine specialist, joined Dr. Bujard in 2008 as a full-time Hospitalist working exclusively at Dauterive Hospital.
Today, the Hospitalists see an average 14 patients a day in the hospital, where they are readily available to patients and their loved ones. Because Hospitalists do not have a traditional practice, they are able to spend more time with patients in the hospital to address any concerns or questions they may have about their individual healthcare needs.
Physicians who participate in the program also benefit greatly from its design. There is no practice to manage or maintain. The physician may focus solely on patient care. Physicians treat a wide range of patients, so there is increased diversity in their work. And, Hospitalists enjoy greater flexibility in their daily schedules.
Meet the Hospitalists
Dr. Burt Bujard
"Dr. Bujard is an Internal Medicine physician who started practicing in the Teche Area nearly 50 years ago after graduating from LSU Medical School in New Orleans and performing a residency at Charity Hospital, also in New Orleans. He was the pioneer Hospitalist who began the program at Dauterive Hospital in December 2006 and currently serves as its Medical Director. Dr. Bujard and his wife of more than 50 years, Corinne Conrad Bujard, have nine children and 20 grandchildren.
Dr. Manikandan Nagendran
Dr. Nagendran earned a bachelor of medicine degree and a bachelor of surgery degree from Rajah Muthiah Medical College, Annamalai University and Madras Medical College in his native India. He later graduated from the LSU Health Sciences Center College of Medicine and, in fall 2008, became the third full-time Internal Medicine physician to join the Dauterive Hospital Hospitalist Program.