Lsuhsc Recruits Key New Leaders

New Orleans – Dr. Steve Nelson, Dean of the LSUHSC School of Medicine has made the following appointments:

Dr. Robert Batson–Department Head of Surgery and the Isidore Cohn Chair of Surgery. Dr. Batson had served as Interim Department Head since last fall. A graduate of LSU in Baton Rouge, LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans (AOA), and LSU New Orleans Surgery Residency Program, he completed vascular surgery training at Baylor University. Dr. Batson has been  active on our faculty since 1975.

Mary Thoesen Coleman, MD, PhD–Professor of Family Medicine and Director of Community Health Clinics, a Dean’s Office position. In her administrative role, she will work on the development of an LSU network of primary care health clinics. This network of clinics, conforming to the “medical home” model or “accountable care organization” paradigm, will be developed to enhance our educational programs and outcomes research. Additionally, she will be involved in our educational efforts in rural medicine, in curriculum development, and in mentoring initiatives. She served on the faculties of both Ohio State University and University of Louisville, where she was Associate Dean for Curriculum. Dr. Coleman recently served as Dean at Ross University School of Medicine.

 Dr. Frank Smart–Professor of Medicine, Section Chief of Cardiology, and Director of the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence. He is an internationally recognized expert in heart failure and is renowned for his clinical expertise and his clinical research. Dr. Smart is an LSU medical graduate who was a previous member of LSUHSC medical faculty. Since 2007 Dr. Smart has been the Dorothy and Lloyd Huck Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine Gagnon Atlantic Health in northern New Jersey.

 Dr. Jayne Weiss–Professor and Head of Ophthalmology and the Herbert Kaufmann Chair in Ophthalmology. Dr. Weiss is an accomplished academic ophthalmologist, specializing in corneal diseases. She takes great pride and interest in her clinical work. A graduate of SUNY Buffalo and Mt. Sinai Medical Center (AOA), she trained at the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. She also completed fellowships at Harvard and Emory. Most recently she has held the post of Professor at Wayne State University, Department of Ophthalmology, and Director of Ophthalmic Pathology; she previously held a faculty appointment at the University of Massachusetts.

Dr. Amy E. Young–Professor and Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Abe Mickal Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Young is President Elect of the Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynecology. A graduate of Vanderbilt and University of Mississippi School of Medicine,  she trained at Emory and Baylor College of Medicine. Most recently she held the Henry and Emma Meyer Endowed Chair for Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology and served as the Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor and also the Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Harris County Hospital District.

Lsuhsc Nursing Awarded $4.3 Million To Improve Primary Care Access, Disaster Response, & Care For Rural & Underserved

New Orleans – During a one month period, the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Nursing has been awarded grants totaling $4.3 million by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The funding will support projects to restore primary care for underserved elders in New Orleans East, improve the diversity of nurse anesthesia students and the cultural competency among nurse anesthetists to better serve rural, underserved and marginalized communities, prepare nurses and other leaders to provide culturally competent health care to vulnerable populations during disasters, and advance the education of nursing graduate students through HRSA traineeships.

A $2.6 million grant supports a project under the direction of principal investigator Scharalda (Shelley) Jeanfreau, DNS, FNP-BC, LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Nursing, to establish and operate a Nurse-Managed Clinic at Village de Jardin Independent Living Center in New Orleans East. The project will offer primary care to older adults residing in Village de Jardin, as well as those individuals and families living in the neighborhood. LSUHSC School of Nursing faculty will practice there while educating 15 to 18 graduate nursing students, 80 to 100 Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, and 7 to 14 interprofessional students (representing medicine, allied health, nutritional sciences, social work, pharmacy, public health), for a total of 102-132 students per year. New Orleans East was one of the areas hardest hit by the flooding following Hurricane Katrina, and one that remains medically underserved.

            A grant in the amount of $853,000 supports a project under the direction of principal investigator Laura Bonanno, CRNA, DNP to recruit, enroll, educate and graduate nurse anesthesia students from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds and from rural and medically underserved communities in Louisiana and Mississippi, increase the number of rural clinical training sites and expand current clinical training experiences in rural, underserved, and disadvantaged communities, and to provide cultural competency training to preceptors of nurse anesthesia students at clinical sites. 

            A $733, 000 grant supports a project under the direction of principal investigator Denise Danna, DNS, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, to develop online and face-to-face educational continuing education and undergraduate and graduate electives for nurses to learn how to ethically respond in disaster situations to minimize health hazards and life-threatening damage to vulnerable populations. A needs assessment survey conducted in the fall 2010 identified that the majority of facilities lack policies, procedures, and specific education that addresses cultural competencies in disasters, and the majority of respondents indicated a need for such an educational program. The need for cultural sensitivity in disasters was well documented in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The focus of the continuing nursing educational (CNE) program will be on identifying strategies addressing the phases in the disaster cycle enabling nurses to facilitate and work effectively as members of a multidisciplinary team to manage both physical and psychological impacts of disasters on vulnerable groups, strengthen the nursing workforce and improve quality of nursing care during disasters.

Lafayette General Medical Center Announces New Chief Nursing Officer

Lafayette – Lafayette General Medical Center announces Ms. Rebecca (Becki) Benoit will join the hospital as Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) effective August 1.

Benoit most recently served as Chief Nursing Officer at Dauterive Hospital in New Iberia.

Benoit also served as CNO at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center, Denver CO from 2000- 2005 and at Medical Center of Southwest Louisiana from 1997 - 2000. 

Benoit is a graduate of LSU-E, received her BSN from Loyola University, and MHA from Tulane University.  Her new position is a homecoming as she worked from 1990 - 1993 at Lafayette General in the Emergency Department and as a House Supervisor.

Dr. Christina M. Leal Joining North Oak Family Medicine Clinic—Hammond

HAMMOND —New patient appointments are now being scheduled with Family Practitioner Christina Leal, MD, who will join North Oaks Family Medicine Clinic—Hammond.

Dr. Leal comes to North Oaks from the Family Medicine Residency Program of East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, where she served as Chief Resident. A graduate of Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, she completed her internship at Orlando Regional Medical Center in Florida and is certified in Advanced Trauma Life Support. Professionally, Dr. Leal belongs to both the American and Louisiana Academies of Family Physicians.

Memorial Hospital Welcomes New Family Medicine Residents

Lake Charles  – Lake Charles Memorial Hospital proudly welcomes eight new physicians to the Memorial/LSU Health Sciences Center Family Medicine Residency Program. The selected residents were among applicants across the country who participated in the National Residency Matching Program.

The 2011 first year residents are: Stewart Greathouse, M.D. of Lake Charles, Ashley Greenman, M.D. of Lake Charles, Jason Hagen, M.D. of Ragley, David Landry, M.D. of Moss Bluff, Spencer Launey, M.D. of Ville Platte, Micah LeLeux, M.D. of Moss Bluff, Ben Proctor, M.D. of New Iberia and Amy Soileau, M.D. of Basile.  The group is scheduled to graduate from the Memorial/LSUHSC Family Medicine Residency Program in June of 2014.

Drs. Greathouse, LeLeux and Soileau are graduates of LSUHSC-New Orleans School of Medicine; Drs. Greenman, Hagen, Launey and Proctor are graduates of LSUHSC-Shreveport School of Medicine and Dr. Landry is a graduate of St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies.

 The Family Medicine Residency Program began in January 1995. This community-based program was granted provisional accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in January 1996, and full accreditation in January 2002.  The program has remained fully accredited since that time and received a 5 year continuing accreditation in April 2009, the longest cycle approved by the ACGME.

The Memorial/LSUHSC Family Medicine Residency Program faculty includes Alan LeBato, M.D., program director and assistant professor of Clinical Family Medicine; Earl J. Soileau, M.D., assistant professor of Clinical Family Medicine; Bryan Barootes, M.D., assistant professor of Clinical Family Medicine; Danette Null, MD, assistant professor of Clinical Family Medicine; Tuananh Pham, M.D., assistant professor of Clinical Family Medicine; and Reverend David DeWitt, Chaplain. The program is also supported by a part-time physician faculty that includes: Mark Dawson, M.D., MBA, David L. Dobbins, M.D., PhD, Susan Drez, M.D., Bradley Loewer, M.D., Jamal Saqer, M.D. and Patrick Unkel, M.D.  In addition to the faculty members, dozens of local medical specialists dedicate their time and energy precepting the residents throughout the three-year training period.

Louisiana Hospital Association Announces New Officers

Baton Rouge - Members of the Louisiana Hospital Association announced their 2011-2012 Board of Trustee Officers at their annual business meeting on July 20.

Milton D. Bourgeois, Jr., chief executive officer of Ochsner-St. Anne General Hospital in Raceland, will serve as the LHA Board of Trustees Chair. He received the gavel from Cindy J. Rogers, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of the newly created St. Francis Medical Center Foundation in Monroe, who will now serve as Immediate Past Chair.

Other officers include: Chair-Elect – Kathy J. Bobbs, FACHE, chief executive officer of Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Lafayette; Secretary – John A. Matessino, president and chief executive officer of the Louisiana Hospital Association; and Treasurer – Mark J. Peters, MD, president and chief executive officer of East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie.

 In addition to the officers, the LHA Board of Trustees is comprised of At-Large and District Trustees.

Newly elected At-Large Trustee:

James E. Cathey, Jr., chief executive officer of North Oaks Medical Center in Hammond.

At-Large Trustees elected to serve a second term:

M. Bryan Day, senior vice president – eastern region of Promise Healthcare in Baton Rouge; and

Patti M. Ellish, RN, MHA, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington.

Other At-Large Trustees:

Larry M. Graham, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital;

Patrick J. Quinlan, MD, MHA, chief executive officer of Ochsner Health System in New Orleans; and

Stephen F. Wright, president and chief executive officer of CHRISTUS Health - Louisiana Region.

District Trustees:

Bayou – Wayne M. Arboneaux, chief executive officer of Assumption Community Hospital in Napoleonville;

Central – Roger C. LeDoux, chief executive officer of Byrd Regional Hospital in Leesville;

New Orleans – TBA

Northeast – Lloyd Monger, chief executive officer of Jackson Parish Hospital in Jonesboro;

Northwest – Karen Mixon, administrator of CHRISTUS Coushatta Health Care Center;

Southeast – K. Scott Wester, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge; and

Southwest – David Callecod, FACHE, president and chief executive officer of Lafayette General Medical Center.

Alan Sonsky, MD, Joins Baton Rouge General Physicians

Baton Rouge – Alan Sonsky, MD, has joined Baton Rouge General Physicians, practicing at Baton Rouge General Gastroenterology.

Dr. Sonsky is Board Certified in Gastroenterology, and comes to Baton Rouge from the Opelousas/Lafayette area with more than 25 years experience in gastroenterology.

Dr. Sonsky graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Valencia in Valencia, Spain, and completed his residency in internal medicine at Long Island College Hospital.  He then went on to complete his fellowship in gastroenterology at St. Mary’s Hospital, an affiliate of University of Rochester School of Medicine in Rochester, New York.

 Dr. Sonsky served as an instructor of medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and as the Chief of Gastroenterology at New York Community Hospital in Brooklyn, New York.  He is a current member of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Internal Medicine Clinic of Lake Charles Welcomes Dr. Cristian Santiago Romero

The Internal Medicine Clinic welcomes Cristian Romero, MD, an internal medicine physician, to their practice and to the staff of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital.  The Internal Medicine Group, includes Drs. W. Gerry Hebert, Susan B. Ieyoub, O. Lynn Speight, Brian D. Clements, Peter W. Karam, Edward V. Hebert, Mark D. Lafuria, Craig V. Broussard, Mir Akbar Khan, Louise M. Becnel; Claudia Pebe Florian and Robert Lewis.

Dr. Romero received his medical degree from University of Cuenca in Ecuador.  He then went on to complete his residency in internal medicine at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York through the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University.  He is certified through the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates and is a member of the American Medical Association and American College of Physicians.

Local Surgeon Featured As One Of Top 15 National Bariatric Leaders In Newsweek

Southeast Louisiana – Louisiana ranks highest in obesity in the nation. In an effort to help combat this problem, Dr. Andrew Hargroder, opened a very successful bariatric surgery practice in Southeast Louisiana in 2002. 

Dr. Hargroder received his training from Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. He is a member of the American Society of Bariatric Surgery and the American Burn Association.  He is a Board Certified General Surgeon with certifications in Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass, Band, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy procedures.

Dr. Felix Torres Joins North Oaks Primary Care Clinic-Livingston

LIVINGSTON, La. –Internal Medicine Physician Felix L. Torres, MD, recently joined Drs. Phillip Ehlers, Jay Kumar and William G. Plunkett in practice at North Oaks Primary Care Clinic in Livingston.

As an experienced, board-certified internist, Dr. Torres brings 21 years of experience in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions and diseases in adults to North Oaks Primary Care Clinic-Livingston. Prior to joining North Oaks, he practiced in LaFourche and Terrebonne Parishes. Following Hurricane Katrina, he relocated to Gaylord, Mich. In 2008, he returned to Louisiana to practice closer to home in the communities of Monroe and Springhill.

Dr. Torres is specially trained in the diagnosis and treatment of adult diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as medical conditions related to the heart, thyroid, and renal and pulmonary systems. He is highly skilled in preventive medicine with particular emphasis on care for geriatric patients. He also has special training in sleep study interpretation, as well as wound care utilizing hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

The Primary Care Clinic is located in Suite 200 of the North Oaks-Livingston Parish Medical Complex at 17199 Spring Ranch Road just off I-12 at Exit 19 Satsuma/Colyell.

CHRISTUS St. Patrick Medical Group and CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital Welcome Thomas LaBorde, M.D.

Thomas LaBorde, M.D., has joined CHRISTUS St. Patrick Medical Group and CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital. His outpatient practice, CHRISTUS St. Patrick Medical Group Rehabilitation Services, is now open at 1605 Foster Street. He is also the new Medical Director of CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital’s Regional Physical Rehabilitation Center.

Board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, Dr. LaBorde completed his residency at Baylor College of Medicine. He is a native of Lafayette, La., and a well-respected rehabilitation specialist across the region. Dr. LaBorde has been practicing medicine for over 30 years.

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