Cassidy Tours LSU Health Shreveport Laboratory

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, visited LSU Health Shreveport (LSUHS) to tour the site of the new laboratory he supported through appropriations funding. The lab will help North Louisiana and the United States improve public health and safety, train doctors and researchers, and study infectious diseases.

"America invests in Louisiana because we have the people and the drive to deliver results," said Dr. Cassidy. "This lab will strengthen public safety and support life-saving research right here in Shreveport."

In addition to touring the lab, Cassidy met with the leadership of LSUHS, including Lester Johnson, MD, FACS, the Interim Senior Vice Chancellor for the school.

"LSU Health Shreveport (LSUHS) is immensely grateful to Senator Cassidy for his leadership in securing the $7 million appropriation from Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2022 which made the creation of the BSL3+ lab possible," said Dr. Johnson. "I appreciate Senator Cassidy's continued support of LSU Health Shreveport and for him being briefed earlier today on new opportunities for LSUHS to further strengthen translational science in support of LSU's goal of becoming a top 50 research university."

Cassidy secured $7 million for the lab in the Fiscal Year 2022 Health and Human Services Appropriations bill. Cassidy also secured $6 million in the Fiscal Year 2025 Senate Defense Appropriations package for the National Disaster Medical System Pilot Program, which added LSUHS as one of only eight sites in the nation to expand emergency medical care in a disaster. Then in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, that pilot program was replaced by the Military-Civilian Medical Surge Program, a permanent program within the U.S. Department of Defense which will continue to include LSUHS. Finally, Cassidy recently secured another $20 million to support that surge program in the Fiscal Year 2026 Senate Defense Appropriations package.

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