KEY TAKEAWAYS: Loyola and Ochsner launched an Executive MBA partnership focused on healthcare leadership and business strategy. The inaugural cohort includes 38 Ochsner physicians, advanced practice providers and nursing leaders. Participants attend concentrated Friday and Saturday sessions at Loyola once a month while continuing their clinical roles. The partnership comes as Loyola expands its graduate business offerings and receives national recognition for its MBA programs.   Loyola University New Orleans and Ochsner Health have launched an Executive MBA partnership aimed at giving Ochsner clinical leaders additional business, strategy and leadership training as the healthcare industry becomes increasingly complex. The inaugural cohort of 38 Ochsner physicians, advanced practice providers and nursing leaders began classes at Loyola in August, the organizations announced Aug. 26. The program combines Loyola’s graduate business curriculum with issues facing healthcare organizations and is structured to allow participants to remain in their clinical roles. Students attend concentrated sessions at Loyola on Fridays and Saturdays once a month. “This partnership represents exactly what we want graduate business education at Loyola to do: respond to the needs of organizations and professionals while preparing leaders to make thoughtful, strategic and ethical decisions,” said Robert A. “Bobby” Savoie, dean of Loyola’s Joseph A. Butt, S.J. College of Business. The cohort-based program allows participants from across Ochsner to study together and apply business concepts to challenges and opportunities within the healthcare industry. Ochsner said the partnership is intended to complement participants’ clinical expertise with additional training in management, strategy and organizational leadership. “This partnership with Loyola provides our clinical leaders with business, strategy and leadership capabilities to complement their extraordinary clinical expertise,” said Dr. Brian Moore, Ochsner’s chief medical officer for the South Shore and Bayou regions. “By investing in our physicians, advanced practice providers and nursing leaders through this Executive MBA, we are strengthening our leadership capacity and preparing leaders to transform healthcare, improve outcomes and expand Ochsner’s impact across the Gulf South.” The partnership comes as Loyola expands its graduate business programs. The Princeton Review recently included Loyola among its Best Business Schools for 2027 and recognized it as one of its Best On-Campus MBA Programs. Loyola offers traditional, fast-track and online MBA options in addition to its Executive MBA program. Its graduate offerings also include the Global MBA Triple Master program, which allows students to study in New Orleans, Paris and Munich and earn degrees through Loyola, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and SKEMA Business School in Paris. Loyola’s Joseph A. Butt, S.J. College of Business is accredited by AACSB International. Ochsner Health operates 47 hospitals and more than 370 health and urgent care centers across Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf South. In 2025, the nonprofit healthcare system had more than 40,000 employees and 5,000 employed and affiliated physicians and cared for more than 1.6 million people, according to the organization. ...read more read less