SLS 23RS-2018 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 51
BY SENATOR PEACOCK
COMMENDATIONSCOMMENDATI ONS. Commends LSU Health Shreveport School
of Medicine on the celebration of its fiftieth anniversary.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To commend LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine on the celebration of its fiftieth
3 anniversary.
4 WHEREAS the Louisiana Legislature recognizes the immense impact of the creation
5 of the LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine which occurred on June 7, 1965, at 4:30
6 p.m. when Governor John McKeithen signed the act into law establishing a branch of the
7 Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport; and
8 WHEREAS, local business leaders and community physicians fought tirelessly to
9 accomplish the goal of locating a medical school in Shreveport, understanding the important
10 role a medical school would play in the health and economy of the community and state; and
11 WHEREAS, a local doctor, Dr. Joe E. Holoubek, chaired a medical school study
12 committee, leading to what would become a fifteen-year effort, 1950-1965, to overcome
13 political opposition to the establishment of a medical school in Shreveport; and
14 WHEREAS, the first class of thirty-two medical students were selected from among
15 five hundred applicants and started class in 1969 at the VA Medical Center; and
16 WHEREAS, construction funding was received in 1970 with groundbreaking for a
17 medical school occurring in 1971; and
18 WHEREAS, the first class of the Shreveport medical school graduated in 1973 and
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SLS 23RS-2018 ORIGINAL
1 have practiced throughout Louisiana and beyond with distinction; and
2 WHEREAS, the first class of Shreveport medical school graduates are now
3 celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their medical school graduation, having served as
4 extraordinary representatives of the LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine, LSU, and
5 the state; and
6 WHEREAS, the LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine has continually
7 increased the class size, having gone from thirty-two initial students to a current class size
8 of one hundred fifty; and
9 WHEREAS, the LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine has now conferred four
10 thousand eight hundred fifty medical degrees since its inception with each physician
11 contributing an average of two million dollars to the economy of their practice location; and
12 WHEREAS, the LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine ranks in the top fifteen
13 percent in the nation in their graduates practicing in-state, yielding a vital contribution to the
14 health of Louisiana citizens; and
15 WHEREAS, the LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine ranks in the top eight
16 percent in the nation of graduates practicing in underserved areas and in the top eighteen
17 percent in the nation for their graduates practicing in rural areas demonstrating the schools'
18 impact in meeting the needs of countless citizens with limited access to healthcare; and
19 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Legislature acknowledges the importance and impact of
20 fifty years of educating physicians in north Louisiana and commends those whose vision
21 made the establishment of a medical school in Shreveport a reality; and
22 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Legislature thanks those first thirty-two students who took
23 a leap of faith by attending the new school of medicine in Shreveport, resulting in a long and
24 proud legacy of outstanding physicians who have admirably and successfully served our
25 state, region, and nation.
26 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
27 commend LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine on the celebration of its fiftieth
28 anniversary.
29 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
30 LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine.
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SLS 23RS-2018 ORIGINAL
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Nicholas Davison.
DIGEST
SCR 51 Original 2023 Regular Session Peacock
Commends LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine on the celebration of its fiftieth
anniversary.
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