Leonardo Seoane, MD, Ochsner Health executive vice president and chief academic officer, will serve as the founding dean of New Orleans-based Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine.
The college is a partnership between Ochsner Health and Xavier University of Louisiana, both based in New Orleans. The partnership aims to build a physician pipeline and improve health and educational equity; Xavier University of Louisiana is a historically Black university.
Dr. Seoane's appointment follows February votes from Xavier University of Louisiana board of trustees and the Ochsner Health board of directors to form the medical school, according to an April news release from Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine.
The new medical school's founding board of directors was also named April 29 and includes the following Xavier University and Ochsner appointees:
- Reynold Verret, PhD, president of Xavier University of Louisiana
- Pete November, CEO of Ochsner Health
- Trevonne Thompson, MD, associate dean of admissions at Chicago-based University of Illinois College of Medicine
- Matthew Block, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Ochsner Health
- Gary Butts, MD, executive vice president of diversity, equity and Inclusion at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System
- Veronica Gillispie-Bell, MD, senior site lead and section head of women's services at Ochsner Kenner, medical director of quality for women's services at Ochsner Health, medical director of minimally invasive center for treatment of uterine fibroids at Ochsner Health, associate professor at Ochsner Clinical School
- Gregory Rattler Sr., managing director at JP Morgan Chase
- Deborah Grimes, RN, senior vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Ochsner Health
Xavier University of Louisiana will seek approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, according to the release. Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine will seek preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. The accreditation process is expected to take about three years. The medical school aims to seat 50 students in its first class.