In conjunction with National Sleep Awareness Week (March 5 ' March 11), Our Lady of Lourdes will present a public educational forum on sleep disorders in men, women and children. The free event is scheduled for Wednesday, March 7, from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. in Fitzsimons Auditorium on the hospital's campus. Special guest speakers include Drs. Roger Stueben and Matthew Abraham and Nurse Practitioner Kathy Bull. For more information, call the Lourdes Sleep Disorders Center at 289-5605. Also at Lourdes, Amy Felder has been named marketing specialist. In addition to working to improve communications with internal audiences, Felder will also serve as a resource to the Lourdes Leadership Team by helping market services to customers through printed materials, news releases, speaking engagements and other forms of non-paid advertising. She will also be a contributing writer for all of Lourdes' in-house publications. Felder has a bachelor's degree in mass communications/public relations from LSU and has been employed at Lourdes since October 2006. Additionally, Brickey Dore has been appointed billing supervisor and chargemaster coordinator of patient financial services. Dore, who has been employed at Lourdes since 2002, has a bachelor's degree in health information management from UL Lafayette. She is certified as a registered health information administrator through the American Health Information Management Association.

Autism07, the Sertoma International Conference on Autism Spectrum Disorders, will be held at Lafayette's Cajundome Convention Center April 12-14. The international conference will focus on the etiology, diagnosis and treatment protocols for autism spectrum disorders. It is research-based, theory-intensive and practice-oriented. Accreditation for Autism07 has been obtained for a wide range of practitioners to receive continuing education credits, including physicians, dentists, psychologists, nurses, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, dental hygienists, certified behavior analysts and social workers. Register online at www.autism07.com. For toll free help with registration, call (866) 381-7733 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For more info, contact Dr. John W. Oller Jr., Autism07 organizer and Hawthorne Regents professor, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For exhibitor space, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (337) 280-0206.

Lafayette Surgical Specialty Hospital was chosen Hospital of the Year by the Louisiana Nurses Foundation at its annual Nightingale Gala held in Baton Rouge. The Nightingale Awards are presented annually in a number of categories that recognize outstanding nurses, administrators and hospitals. LSSH won in its category of 100 beds or less. The Nightingale Awards honor a hospital employer of registered nurses that demonstrates recognition of professional nursing and innovation in leadership. Located at 1101 Kaliste Saloom Road, LSSH is a 70,000-square-foot facility with eight surgical suites, 20 patient rooms and a multi-disciplinary approach to high quality surgical care and pain management. Also at the local hospital, Registered Nurse Nancy Boutte has been promoted to interim CEO. She replaces retired CEO Tom Cooper. Boutte, who joined the staff in 2003, previously served as chief nursing officer and clinical operations officer at the hospital. She graduated from UL Lafayette with a bachelor's degree in nursing and earned a master's in nursing administration from Southeastern Louisiana University. She has 31 years of nursing experience, 24 in a nursing leadership role, is certified in operating room nursing and has extensive perioperative experience.

Registered Nurse Barbara Feske has been named fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the nation's leading professional society for health care leaders. Feske is vice president of management and support at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. To achieve ACHE fellow status, Feske fulfilled multiple requirements, including passing a comprehensive examination, meeting academic and experiential criteria, earning continuing education credits and demonstrating professional/community involvement. Fellows are committed to ongoing professional development and undergo recertification every three years. The ACHE is an international professional society of more than 30,000 health care executives who lead the nation's hospitals and health care systems and organizations.

Dr. Ann Laurent, a Lafayette restorative/cosmetic dentist, has completed the Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation course in Dallas, Texas, and received certification to provide conscious sedation for patients who may be anxious about having dental procedures performed. The DOCS is the fastest-growing organization of its kind in dentistry, providing the education necessary for dentists to care for the large population of people who avoid dental visits out of fear. Laurent prescribes a sedative patients take the night before their visit, which ensures both a good night's sleep and a relaxed morning. A companion or friend drives the patient to the office, where additional medication is administered as part of the sedation therapy, and an experienced team monitors the patient throughout the visit. For more information, visit www.sedationcare.com or contact Laurent's office at (337) 406-1110.