Terrebonne General Medical Center (TGMC) is pleased to announce that Donny Clause has been named Human Resources Manager.

Clause is experienced in human resources, previously serving as the Human Resources and Safety Manager for Quality Shipyards. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Nicholls State University.

“I look forward to serving our employees and local community,” said Clause.

Diane Yeates has been named Chief Operating Officer at Terrebonne General Medical Center (TGMC).  Yeates has been a valuable member of the TGMC team for over 19 years. She has served in previous leadership capacities at the hospital which include Director of Budget and Reimbursement and Director of Patient Financial Services. Most recently, Yeates has served as TGMC’s Chief Financial Officer since 2002.

Yeates earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree from Southeastern Louisiana University, and Master’s of Business Administration from Nicholls State University. She has also been a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) since 1987 through the state of Louisiana.

In her new role, Yeates will be responsible for growth initiatives of the organization, overseeing operational functions of the facility, and maintaining necessary relationships with the administrative team, board members, and physicians to assure high-quality operations.

By: Bobby Fletcher, Jr. Ph. D.

 As our landscapes languish in the Louisiana heat, a wonderful group of plants called gingers thrive and delight us with bold foliage and attractive flowers. Native to tropical or semitropical regions, gingers flourish in the heat, rain and humidity. Despite their tropical origins, many gingers are hardy throughout the state and make excellent, permanent additions to the landscape. Gingers produce a thick, fleshy stem that grows at or just below the soil surface called a rhizome. With a good, thick mulch of leaves or pine straw, the rhizomes are easily protected during the winter. And if the top is killed by hard freezes, the rhizome will re-sprout in the spring.

The plants we call gingers actually include many genera with many different sizes, growth habits and flower shapes. Low-growing gingers, like Kaempferia pulchra, smaller species of Curcuma or Globba, make great groundcovers or clumps at the front of shady borders. Medium-size gingers 3- to 6-feet tall include species of Curcuma, Hedychium and Costus, and the shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) grows 10- to 12-feet tall. These larger gingers are excellent choices for accent, screens or at the back of a border.

As prep sports continue, anticipated showers have already begin to cancel action for this week and the Central Lafourche Freshman Invitational tournament. While not all action this week will be canceled, it is always sad to see when athletic events get canceled as the athletes are hitting the training grounds very hard.

Softball action seems the way to go with 3 teams in district 6-5A tied at 6-2. So if you are looking for some good competition, you might want to check out the Terrebonne/Assumption match-up, as it promises to be a good game.

It was just last month when the Houma area saw two state titles enter its doors. The area’s school look to bring two more titles home in the upcoming weeks. After both E.D.White and Ellender’s boys basketball team took home a victory last week to make it possible.

Last month, the Ellender girl’s Basketball team defeated Southwood to be named the State Champions of Division 5A with the final score being 37-32. Ellender boy’s will be looking to match their state title on March 17. They got into this position with wins over New Iberia, Ruston, St. Amant, and Barbe. Many were writing Ellender off after their slight victory over Ruston in the Regional round, however, Ellender proved exactly why they deserve to be in the playoffs with a 68 to 43 victory over Barbe in the semi-final.