Stephanie Manson, President: FMOL Health/ Our Lady of Lourdes, joins Discover Lafayette to talk about leadership, mission-driven Catholic healthcare, and the most significant hospital expansions Lafayette has seen in years.
Stephanie shares her deeply personal journey into healthcare administration, her love for Louisiana and Lafayette, and how Our Lady of Lourdes is expanding capacity, technology, and compassionate care through the Advancing Acadiana initiative, while staying grounded in a values-based mission that puts people first.
Stephanie has dedicated her professional life to Catholic health care and the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. She began her career as an administrative resident at Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge and steadily progressed through leadership roles, including serving as the firstadministrator of Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital and later as Chief Operating Officer from 2018 to 2023. In March 2023, she joined Our Lady of Lourdes, continuing her work in Louisiana communities she deeply values.
“I grew up in Houma, Louisiana, so I’m a Louisiana girl, and it was important to me to give back to Louisiana.”
Stephanie holds dual master’s degrees in Business Administration and Health Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, along with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from LSU. She describes her path into health care administration as a blend of service and business, exactly the balance she set out to find.
“I set out to find a career that balanced service and business; 100% of healthcare administration checked those boxes. I’ve still not touched a patient. Sometimes I try to help and I get told, no, please don’t do that. You’re going to mess us up. But to see the work we do carried out through the work of our team, that’s extremely fulfilling. It is why I’ve kept going in this ministry for so long.”
A Health System Serving Acadiana
The Our Lady of Lourdes system includes three hospitals, approximately 2,800 team members, and more than 200 employed providers, including physicians and nurse practitioners. Stephanie oversees a rapidly growing regional footprint that now offers comprehensive care from birth through end of life.
“We offer comprehensive services from birth until end of life care. And that’s important for the community to be able to have access to that.”
The system includes:
Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, the legacy acute care campus located at 4801 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, Lafayette LA 70508;
Our Lady of Lourdes Heart Hospital, featuring a 32-bed inpatient unit and advanced cardiovascular care, located at 1105 Kaliste Saloom Road, Lafayette LA 70508; and
Our Lady of Lourdes Women’s & Children’s Hospital, acquired in 2019, expanding services for mothers, babies, and pediatric patients, located at 4600 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, Lafayette LA 70508.
Stephanie emphasizes that growth has never been about size—it has always been about mission.
“It was never about growth or being the biggest. It’s about delivering Catholic health care in the communities that need it.”
Advancing Acadiana
One of the most significant initiatives underway is Advancing Acadiana, a multi-campus investment focused on expanding access, improving patient flow, and ensuring the hospital can say “yes” to more patients who need specialized care.
Projects include:
Expansion of inpatient capacity at the Regional Medical Center (approximately 20 additional beds)
Emergency department expansion to improve access and efficiency
A new electrophysiology lab and additional inpatient beds and operating rooms at the Heart Hospital
Major upgrades at Women’s & Children’s, including approximately 20 private NICU family suites, a refreshed exterior, and a new chapel
Our Lady of Lourdes’ Women’s and Children’s Hospital is undergoing $100 million in improvements.
At the heart of the Advancing Acadiana project is the expansion of the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, featuring significant exterior upgrades and private suites, each with a full bathroom and a dedicated family area within the room. The NICU will expand from 51 to 60 beds and will feature 19 new private suites.
“Talk about a sacred moment and a tender moment… a private opportunity for them to be together as a family is so important.
Leadership as a Climb Toward Excellence
Stephanie Manson describes her leadership philosophy using a Mount Everest metaphor, introduced by President and Chief Executive Officer and leader of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System E.J. Kuiper, with five “camps” on the climb toward excellence.
“The idea is that the foundation or the base of the mountain is our mission, and that everything we do should be grounded in our mission. That’s why we’re here. And that’s really what the sisters ask of us every day, to perpetuate the mission, to always do more for those most in need, with particular regard to the poor and the underserved. And so many of our services, such as the Saint Bernadette Clinic and Northside High, some of our free health screenings are all about the mission. It’s important to us that you can feel that difference and that mission at work. The best time is when you think nobody’s watching and we catch you doing good.“
From mission, the climb moves through:
Being the best place to work and practice medicine
Delivering an exceptional patient experience
Ensuring strong quality of care
Achieving sustainable market share and finances that allow reinvestment in the community
“We measure all of these things… team member engagement, turnover, patient experience, quality results.”
The summit, she says, is aspirational.
“I don’t know that we’ll ever get there… we’re never quite done with progress and being better.”
Caring for the Caregivers
Stephanie speaks with deep respect for physicians, nurses, and advanced practice professionals.
“None of us (in administration) can admit a patient. We really rely on the physicians trusting us to care for the patients.”
She shares a moving moment involving a nurse practitioner grieving alongside a family transitioning to hospice care, who was apologizing for her emotions. “I said, no, please. I think this is beautiful because it means after all these years, you care.’ We can never stop caring.”
That human connection, she says, is irreplaceable—even as technology advances.
Innovation, Technology, and Early Detection
Stephanie highlights investments in robotic surgery, advanced imaging, and lung cancer detection technologies.
“We recently invested in a da Vinci 5 robot… our patients recover faster, there are better health outcomes.”
She also discusses robotic bronchoscopy and early lung cancer detection. “What we’ve seen is that we’re able to detect cancer a lot earlier… and hopefully that leads to survivorship.”
Community screenings, often offered free of charge, are another key part of preventive care. “Utopia is that fewer people need us because we’re healthier.”
Mission in Action
Stephanie underscores Lourdes’ unwavering commitment to caring for all patients, regardless of insurance.
“In our emergency departments, we care for the patient first. You can worry about insurance later.”
She points to the Saint Bernadette Clinic, adjacent to Catholic Charities on St. John Street, as a living example of mission-driven care. “Regardless of ability to pay, you come into Saint Bernadette Clinic. We don’t charge….ever.”
Life Beyond the Hospital
At home, Stephanie treasures family, experiences, and balance. She and her husband, Briggs, have been married 26 years and are proud parents to Anna Claire, a graduate student in health care administration, and Lily, a college sophomore. Their dog, Scout, acquired after a persuasive PowerPoint business plan presentation by her daughters, remains a beloved part of their family story.
She loves music, travel, sports (especially football), fantasy football, and watching people do their best.“My kids said, ‘Mom, you like experiences.’ And I think that’s it. Any type of competition and the ability to watch people excel, whether that’s live music or a sporting event, I’m in.”
A Guiding Principle
In her office hangs a sign passed down from her grandfather who had worked in leadership with the Lafourche Police Department, to her mother, and then to Stephanie: “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
“My grandparents and my parents, instilled a lot of the values of who I am at the core in terms of caring for people, a strong work ethic. There is an awful amount of authority in leadership and you can lose your way and your grounding and believe maybe that you’re more important than you are. I think the most important thing is how do we how do we treat people? How do I interact with people every day?There are important decisions to be made. Remember how you made them feel. That’s what’s most important to me. And so even if it’s a difficult conversation, we can do that with dignity and kindness. The sign is a reminder of those tenets of being a good person first.”
Stephanie Manson leads with humility, clarity of purpose, and a deep respect for the people who make health care possible. Her vision for Lourdes, and for Acadiana, is rooted in mission, measured progress, and compassion that never loses its human touch.
