BYRD REGIONAL HOSPITAL is a modern, well equipped facility, licensed by the State of Louisiana for 60 beds and accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The hospital was opened in 1982 as a replacement facility for War Memorial Hospital which was founded in 1945. A full range of services is provided, including Acute Care, Senior Care Unit (Gero Psychiatric), Intensive Care Unit, full Radiological Services (including Nuclear Medicine, CT Scanning and mobile MRI), full Laboratory Services, Family Practice Physicians, General Surgery, Orthopedic surgery, Pediatrics and Heart Catheterization Laboratory.
THE COMMUNITY
Leesville is the city nearest to Ft. Polk, the 5th largest military installation in the nation, containing approximately 200,000 acres. Leesville experiences a unique blend of cultures living together from virtually every state of the union and also from numerous countries, creating a true "melting pot". Leesville has a population of 9,000; Vernon Parish has a population of 60,000.
ACTIVITIES
Leesville and Vernon Parish adopted the slogan which aptly applies to this land, "THE HEART OF SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE." Leesville and Vernon Parish are best known for their outdoor recreational facilities. There are 84,000 acres of the Kisatchie National Forest in Vernon Parish. Leesville has a nine hole golf course complete with club house and a park which is used for special occasions and parties by local citizens. Just eight miles to the south is the Ft. Polk Golf Course, an excellent 18 hole course. Another golf course is just 20 miles north, at Toro Hills, across Highway 171 from the world-famous Hodges Gardens. Lake Charles and the Gulf of Mexico are an hour's drive south.