Lafayette (La.) General Medical Center has begun its new role as a teaching hospital with 22 new doctors undergoing training at the private hospital as part of its takeover of University Medical Center.

The doctors will spend time training at Lafayette General and the former University Medical Center, now called University Hospital & Clinics. University Medical Center, also in Lafayette, had been the only teaching hospital in Acadiana, a large region of southwest Louisiana.

University Hospital will maintain its graduate medical education programs. However, the private hospital's takeover enabled it to expand the number of residents training in the community by 18 and provide an additional site for their training experience.

To become a teaching hospital, Lafayette General expanded services and spent $2 million on contracts with 65 private physicians, said President and CEO David Callecod.

The contracted physicians will serve as LSU Health Sciences Center faculty to supervise training of residents, he said.

Based on the recommendation of a consulting firm, the hospital started a surgical hospitalist program, Callecod said. "We created the first-ever surgical hospitalist program in Acadiana," Callecod said. "It's the first 24-hours, 365-days-a-year, Lafayette General-based surgeon program."

The hospital contracted with five local surgeons to allow the hospital to provide 24-hour surgical coverage, he said.