When COVID-19 began impacting the New Orleans area in March 2020, Allison Guste, who serves as LCMC's AVP of Clinical and Operational Excellence, was at ground-zero of the pandemic. Because of her grit and determination, Allison quickly became a key leader in LCMC Health's handling of the pandemic – from coordinating PPE and patient statistics to being the point of contact for LCMC Health's incident command.
"Allison and I became friends almost ten years ago when our oldest sons were in daycare together. During our decade-long friendship, we have shared so many experiences – from growing our families to growing our careers. What drew me most to Allison is her caring nature, warmth, and relentless optimism. I have also always admired Allison's uncanny ability to balance her family obligations and her career effortlessly. Allison and I both made career moves 2018 – Allison to LCMC Health and me to Baker Donelson."
– Tessa Vorhaben
"Three years ago, our Firm, through our community service initiative, BakerCares, focused charitable giving and volunteer efforts on local children's hospitals, and LCMC Health provided several opportunities for our attorneys and staff to partner serve in the New Orleans area. Thanks to the dedication of LCMC Health and people like Allison, we enjoyed the relationship so much that what started as a one-year commitment was extended and we renewed our commitment for the last three years. This time has been especially rewarding as we had the privilege of working with LCMC Health at a time of remarkable growth and community involvement. Most recently, we've witnessed a herculean effort by Allison and LCMC Health to vaccinate the community and launch New Orleans as one of the most vaccinated cities in the world."
– Ben Janke
In April of 2020, Allison took on the incredible task of leading the coordination of LCMC Health's community testing program and working closely with New Orleans's Health Department to bring more widespread, free COVID-19 testing to underserved and underprivileged neighborhoods. Not only was Allison instrumental in the coordination of sites and logistics, but she was "boots on the ground" for much of the work and even transported tests to the labs herself – on top of maintaining her other job responsibilities, caring for her three young children, building a house, and then moving!
Now Allison is leading the community vaccination effort across LCMC Health's six hospital system. As part of the community vaccination effort, Allison is leading the coordination, launch, and day-to-day operations of the mass vaccination site at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, an initiative known as "BE IN THAT NUMBER." Allison has also coordinated vaccination efforts for teachers and staff members at New Orleans area schools.
When we reached out to LCMC Health to let them know that we wanted to feature Allison and LCMC as "Unsung Heroes." Christine Albert with LCMC said, "[h]er work has truly been a heroic undertaking. And she has handled these details and job responsibilities regarding the pandemic with an incredibly positive spirit. That is what is most remarkable…her kindness, patience, professionalism. She is well loved and respected among her peers and has been a constant source of warmth this past year." Because of her remarkable efforts, she was awarded the Healthcare Hero award.
Thank you, Allison and LCMC Health for leading the way out of this pandemic. It is because of your efforts that we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.