Baton Rouge native and pediatric neurosurgeon Lori McBride, MD is returning home to join the team at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health, as it continues to grow its network of pediatric specialists. Dr. McBride, one of only eight pediatric neurosurgeons in Louisiana, brings more than 20 years of experience in specialty areas such as neurotrauma, epilepsy, and brain tumor surgery.
“Dr. McBride is one of the top pediatric neurosurgeons in the state, and a game-changer in terms of the patients we will be able to treat, and the high level of care they will receive,” said Shaun Kemmerly, MD, chief medical officer for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital. “Dr. McBride’s decision to join our team is a testament to the talented providers our freestanding children’s hospital is able to attract, and why it is such an important resource for the community.”
Dr. McBride has practiced at Children’s Hospital New Orleans for the past 12 years, and has served as the chief of pediatric neurosurgery since 2013. There, she established herself as one of Louisiana’s leading pediatric neurosurgeons, treating a wide range of conditions to include hydrocephalus, spina bifida, brain and spinal cord tumors, traumatic brain injury, and craniosynostosis -- which occurs when one or more of the fibrous joints between the bones of a baby's skull close prematurely, before the brain is fully formed. In fact, Dr. McBride performed the first-ever endoscopic craniosynostosis release in Louisiana, and has done more than 100 since.
She is certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgeons and the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgeons, and is a member of several industry societies, including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Joint Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care, and the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons.
“Returning home to Baton Rouge to be a part of building the new Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital is a dream come true for me,” said Dr. McBride. “With this new facility, the team of providers who are coming together, and the culture of shaping the future of healthcare in the region, there is something really special here that is going to benefit so many kids not only in Baton Rouge but across the state. I’m proud to be a part of it, and I’m glad to be home.”
Dr. McBride is the latest addition to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health – a collaborative, coordinated, and child-focused statewide health network that provides patients with more access to physicians and providers specifically trained to care for children. The network includes hospital-based services at the main campus in Baton Rouge and the future freestanding hospital, as well as in Monroe, with St. Francis Pediatrics. It also connects pediatricians, pediatric specialists, and other health providers across our state, with clinics in the Baton Rouge region, Hammond, Lafayette, and Monroe.
This model of coordinated pediatric healthcare extends the vital work happening at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital into more communities across Louisiana so that families have greater access to expertise close to home.
Dr. McBride is a Glen Oaks High School graduate, who received her bachelor’s degree in zoology and physiology from LSU, and her medical degree from LSU Medical Center in New Orleans. She completed an internship in general surgery from LSU Medical Center, and a neurosurgery residency at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) in Denver, Co. Following a one-year Fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at the University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas, she returned to Denver to serve as an assistant professor in pediatric neurosurgery at UCHSC, where she remained until joining Children’s Hospital New Orleans in 2005.
Dr. McBride will join fellow pediatric neurosurgeon Allen Joseph, MD in providing care to children in the Baton Rouge region. She will begin seeing patients on July 5 at her office, located at 7777 Hennessy Blvd., Suite 306. Call (225) 765-6834 to schedule an appointment.