Jefferson and Orleans Parish Medical Societies welcome new 2020 presidents

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) impacts the Greater New Orleans Area, doctors Tanya Busenlener and Juan Gershanik have hit the ground running in their new roles.

NEW ORLEANS, 3/16/20 -- Jefferson Parish Medical Society (JPMS) and Orleans Parish Medical Society (OPMS) are proud to welcome new leadership in 2020. Tanya S. Busenlener, MD, is now president of JPMS and Juan J. Gershanik, MD, takes the helm at OPMS. The two leaders vow to work closely together to continue to build collaboration and synergy between the two associations to best meet the needs of physicians and those in training throughout the Greater New Orleans Area. Their official joint installation will take place on Saturday, March 28, 2020.

Dr. Busenlener, a board certified pediatrician in Metairie, Louisiana, has been practicing medicine since 1997 and joined the Ochsner Health Center for Children in the fall of 2010. She received her medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, where she was elected to the AOA; the Medical Honor Society. She completed her internship and residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Busenlener served at vice president of JPMS in 2019.

“I’m excited to accept my new leadership position during this most important time for Jefferson and Orleans Parish Medical Societies,” said Dr. Tanya Busenlener. “With the development of our new organization we are hoping to provide more comprehensive representation and support for area physicians and their patients in our community.”

A neonatologist, Dr. Gershanik serves as medical director of the NICU at West Jefferson Medical Center. Dr. Gershanik served as president-elect of OPMS in 2018 and 2019. He received his medical degree from Universidad Nacional de Rosario Faculty of Medicine in the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina. Dr. Gershanik serves as a Clinical professor of pediatrics at Tulane University Medical School and LSU Health New Orleans. He was recently appointed Faculty Advocate for Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility, for LSU Health New Orleans’ Department of Pediatrics.

Dr. Gershanik is passionate about advocating for causes that support the needs of children with disabilities and their families. He also authored a resolution and testified before the Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee in 2019 for Tobacco 21 legislation (HB38) and plans to continue to advocate for legislation that protects children and newborns from the harmful impact of tobacco and other addictions.

Dr. Juan Gershanik and I testified for Tobacco 21 (HB38) legislation before the Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee in 2019.

“Orleans and Jefferson Parish Medical Societies have played an important role of serving as a voice for physicians in Southeast Louisiana for a long, long time,” said Dr. Juan Gershanik. “I look forward to working with Dr. Busenlener in building upon the collaborative efforts that blossomed under the leadership of our immediate past presidents, Dr. George Ellis and Dr. Gabe Rivera and the Collaborative Advisory Committee.”

On November 10, 2018, at age 76, Dr. Juan Gershanik dedicated an 18-foot-tall monument to Latin Americans who had helped rebuild New Orleans after Katrina. This monument stands as a statement of resilience. Dr. Gershanik is well known for his work with premature infants, but he had never commissioned a piece of art before. This was years in the making. It couldn’t be abstract, Dr. Gershanik wanted to be sure that it showed the hard work that brought a city back from the brink. Over the course of his lifetime, Dr. Gershanik learned that with passion and perseverance, you can accomplish anything. He says that most of those successes can be accomplished only with the help of others. This monument is just one of many reasons that Dr. Gershanik was named Peoples Health Champion in 2019.

"I am 77 years old. That’s just a number, I’ve got a lot of projects to complete," - said Dr. Juan Gershanik when introduced as Peoples Health Champion in 2019.

In January, the new presidents joined fellow delegates from Jefferson and Orleans Parish Medical Societies and throughout the state at the Louisiana State Medical Society’s House of Delegates. Together they advocated for resolutions to improve health and the practice of healthcare in Louisiana, including one that would help to protect children from lung injury and potentially life-long nicotine addiction by banning the sale of flavored tobacco products.

Gabriel Rivera, MD, now serves as immediate past president. Other 2020 officers for JPMS include: Mark R. Rice, MD, vice-president; Eric R. Ehrensing, MD, secretary; Jonathan C. Boraski, MD, treasurer; Harold J. Miller, MD, chairman, board of censors; Lindsay York Fanaci, MD, member-at-large; and Lisa Casey, MD, member-at-large.

In 2020-2021, George S. Ellis, Jr., MD, will serve as immediate past president for OPMS. Michael L. Wheelis, MD, will serve as president-elect and Ann E. Borreson, MD, takes over the role as treasurer. Mignonne C. Mary, MD, has recently joined the OPMS board of directors as an at-large member.

Drs. Rivera, Ellis, Busenlener and Gershanik were instrumental in spearheading collaborative efforts to develop the new organization along with a Collaborative Advisory Committee that consisted of past-presidents of both organizations.  

"I am happy to welcome the new leadership of our organizations and I am very supportive of and excited about the collaborative effort between Jefferson and Orleans Medical Societies,” said Dr. Gershanik. “We are creating a vibrant, progressive new organization that will help to improve the practice of healthcare in this region, and at the same time, it will advocate on behalf of fellow physicians, residents, medical students and the population we serve."

In addition to collaborating on advocacy efforts, JPMS and OPMS leadership will also continue to work together to provide CME programs, value-added services and social and networking events that help to build congeniality among medical professionals in the Greater New Orleans Area. Both presidents vow to look for opportunities to contribute to physician wellness to help reduce burnout. 

The two new presidents insist that JPMS, OPMS and their newly elected officials cannot do it alone, and strongly encourage New Orleans Area physicians and medical students to become members of one of these societies and join them in their mission to improve healthcare in Louisiana.

Dr. Busenlener and Dr. Gershanik ask that physicians, residents and medical students follow news and updates about JPMS, OPMS and their collaborative efforts on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. For additional information and to enroll online as a new member, the new Presidents suggest that all visit www.jpms.org and www.opms.org.

If your organization is interested in sponsoring upcoming physician events, contact Jodi Schwing, executive Director, Jefferson Parish Medical Society, at [email protected] or Jim Pittman, Executive Director, Orleans Parish Medical Society, at [email protected].

About Jim Pittman:

With over 30 years of experience as an influencer in the healthcare provider, managed care and pharmaceutical industries, Jim Pittman now serves as executive director of Orleans Parish Medical Society (since 2017) and advocate/ambassador for the Smoking Cessation Trust (since 2014). Among the many causes that he passionately supports, Pittman has served as a member of the board of directors for Special Olympics Louisiana since 2018.