Hancock Women’s Center Opens a New Chapter

Talk of the Town - July 2022

With a grand ribbon cutting ceremony and reception earlier this month, Hancock Women’s Center begins a new chapter in its 20-plus year history serving the community.
​
- by Lisa Monti 

(L to R) Leanne Murray, April Seymour, Dr. Noel Duplantier, Stacey Kreher, Lee Matthews. See more about these Hancock Women's Center team members below!

 Hancock Women’s Center, owned and led by Dr. Noel Duplantier, continues to offer quality medical services – and now patients are served in a completely renovated environment that offers care along with comfort.
 
The major interior renovation is the first for the building since Hurricane Katrina, and the center’s transformation is based on Dr. Duplantier’s vision for the center: an elegant environment with beautiful natural woods and linen curtains.

Talk of the Town
is supported by

---

 
“As soon as patients walk through the door, they feel a sense of peace and of being pampered,” said Fran LaFrance, business manager. “We want to provide a peaceful experience when coming to our clinic. We want the women of Hancock County to have a place that they feel accepted, comfortable and that they are receiving excellent health care.”
 

The remodeled lobby of HWC

 
Feedback from patients about the renovation has been positive, with some noting a spa-like atmosphere in the lobby. “That’s the feeling we are trying to achieve in the shared waiting room,” LaFrance said. The lobby area is shared with patients who come to VSPA for its updated specialized aesthetic services.
 
The NST/IV room has been added to assist in the comfort of patients who need to be monitored for non-stressed testing on their babies, monitoring of blood pressure or other monitoring needs without sending patients to the hospital for these services.
 

Dr. Noel Duplantier

 
The same area is available to treat migraines or sinus infections with an IV. IV therapy also is available for hangover relief, athletic performance recovery, immune system support, cold and flu relief and pregnancy system alleviation.
 
Dr. Duplantier is a Board-certified OB/GYN physician who worked for the past 22 years alongside Dr. Dimitri Yanez, who retired recently after more than 30 years in practice. She graduated from LSU School of Medicine and performed her residency at Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans.
 

 
“I love getting to know my patients, through education and discussion,” she said. “Together we can come up with the best solution to meet your healthcare needs.”
 
Hancock Women’s Clinic patients are served by Memorial Hospital’s OB/GYN department, which provides all of the care they have come to rely on over the years, LaFrance said. “We are here for the community, as we always have been, serving their medical needs.” she said.
 

​While the clinic is well known for its comprehensive services, many people may not be aware that the facility is also a family health clinic, serving men and adolescents as well as women patients. Family health services include flu vaccines, school and work physicals, sick visits and chronic disease management.
 
“Our goal is to assure women that HWC is here for all of their OB/GYN and family health needs and to be there with parents as their children transition from pediatric care to young adult care and for general family health care,” LaFrance said.
 
In addition to gynecology and obstetrics, HWC offers in-house lab work and ultrasounds. Office procedures include biofeedback and colposcopy.
 

 
Hancock Women’s Clinic support of the community has included hosting after-hours sessions with the Bay Police Department talking with parents about drugs and social media dangers. Providers make themselves available on Facebook several times a year so patients can ask questions on topics such as breast, uterine and cervical cancer and baby lactation.
 
Dr. Duplantier’s all-woman staff at Hancock Women’s Center is experienced and trained for a wide range of services.
 

• Stacey Kreher is a board-certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner who has been with the clinic more than ten years, providing care for females from adolescence through menopause. She received her master’s degree in Science from the University of South Alabama, where she specialized in women’s health. Prior to becoming a Nurse Practitioner, Stacey worked in Labor & Delivery.
  
  “I love my job as a women’s health nurse practitioner,” Kreher said. “The relationships that I have made with my patients are very special to me, and I strive to give optimal care to every one of them.”

​

• April Seymour received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from William Carey University in Biloxi. She has worked in many areas of nursing but found her niche in women’s health. She graduated with a Master’s of Science in Nursing from the University of South Alabama in Mobile.  

 

• Leanne Murray is a Family Practice Nurse Practitioner. She graduated from Mississippi University for Women with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and the University of Southern Mississippi with a Master of Science degree in Nursing with a focus on Family Medicine. Her scope of practice encompasses health promotion, disease prevention, diagnosis and management of common and complex health care problems beginning in childhood and continuing throughout the aging process.
  
  “It’s easy to be enthusiastic when you love what you do. Being a nurse practitioner is rewarding to me because I like making a difference in patients’ lives. Health and wellness are the core of my practice,” Murray said.

 

• Lee Matthews is board certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants and licensed by the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure as a physician assistant. She completed her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern Mississippi in 2011 and a Master of Science in Medicine from Mississippi College. She was inducted into the Pi Alpha National PA Honor Society and currently serves on the Board of the Mississippi Academy of Physician Assistants. Her scope of practice encompasses health promotion, disease prevention, diagnosis and management of common and complex health care problems.

 
Hancock Women’s Center
1009 Benigno Lane
Bay St Louis, MS 39520
Phone: (228) 467-2555
Fax: (228) 467-5480
Aesthetic Services: (504)312-3800

---

Enjoy this feature? ​

Enjoy the Shoofly Magazine? Reader donations help underwrite correspondents who write about and photograph our community. 
 
Use the button below to join our Readers’ Circle!