A History of Healing

Our roots date back to 1876, when a Charity Hospital was established in Shreveport. It was renamed Confederate Memorial Medical Center and moved to the hospital’s current location at Kings Highway and Linwood Avenue in 1953. This hospital became the foundation for what was to become a full academic medical center. Confederate Memorial became part of the LSU System in 1976 making our School of Medicine the first state school to operate its own teaching hospital in Louisiana. EA Conway Medical Center joined the LSU Health Sciences Center in 2003 further expanding patient care and medical educational opportunities in north Louisiana. On October 1, 2013, after more than 150 years, the hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe transitioned from public to private entities. Under the management of the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana, the hospitals were renamed University Health Shreveport and University Health Monroe.

School of Medicine

After much perseverance by north Louisiana lawmakers, physicians and community supporters, the LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport was officially authorized by the Louisiana Legislature in 1965. The first class of 32 students began in 1969 at the nearby Veterans Administration Medical Center. It wasn’t until 1975 that the medical building we use today was completed. 

School of Graduate Studies

The School of Graduate Studies was established as part of the LSU Medical Center in 1965, with degrees offered in the five Basic Science Departments: Anatomy, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Physiology and Biophysics. The first class was accepted in 1974 and first PhD degree awarded in 1978.

School of Allied Health Professions

In 1977, the School of Allied Health Professions was established with the offerings of cardiopulmonary science, speech language pathology and medical technology. A group of 11 students constituted the first graduating class in 1980.

Autonomy for LSU Health Shreveport

The first chancellor for the Shreveport campus was appointed in 2000. Four years later, the Shreveport Schools of Allied Health Professions & Graduate Studies were administratively separated from the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. In 2005, LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport was legislatively authorized as a separate entity and received separate accreditation from the Southern Accreditation for Colleges and Schools in 2009.

An expanded history of LSU Health Shreveport is being updated and will be placed on the website soon.  If you need history information immediately, please call Lisa Babin at (318) 675-8769.