Meet Gracie Chatman: First to Pursue LSUE’s Surg Tech Program at LSUA

Bringing Surgical Technology Training to Central Louisiana

In all operating rooms, there are surgical technologists who work elbow-to-elbow with surgeons to make sure they have the right instruments at the right time, and everything in and near the patient remains sterile. The workforce demand for surgical technologists is high and rising, especially at smaller hospitals and in rural areas. Now, LSU Eunice and LSU Alexandria are leveraging the strength of the statewide university to bring surgical technology training to Central Louisiana.

Starting this semester, LSUE surg tech students can attend lectures and do labs in LSUA’s Allied Health Building in downtown Alexandria and complete their clinical rotations with hospital partners in Central Louisiana, such as Rapides Regional Medical Center, CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital, and Central Louisiana Surgical Hospital. One of those students is Gracie Chatman from Oberlin, Louisiana, who is the first in her family to pursue a healthcare degree and career. She completed most of the prerequisites already in high school, thanks to dual enrollment with LSUE.

“My mom stays at home and my dad works in the oil field and goes offshore,” she said. “I have a whole bunch of blue collar and farmers in my family. And then there’s me, medical.”

“LSU recognized the need, and by extending the LSU Eunice surgical technology program to LSU Alexandria, we can now collaborate to be part of a solution that will have an immediate impact in filling job openings within our organization—something our community needs.”

Katlin Bolton, chief nursing officer at Rapides Regional Medical Center