Position Overview

Understanding the Role

Ochsner Children's is seeking a board-certified or board-eligible Child Abuse Pediatrician to lead a new system of care across New Orleans and the wider Gulf South.

This is a founding leadership role. You will build the medical side of a child-protection service working alongside a Parish-funded child advocacy center and a new trauma program.

Ochsner Children's currently triages suspected abuse and neglect cases to a competitor in the region. This position exists to bring that care in-house and establish Ochsner as the regional medical lead for child protection. You would set the clinical approach, develop the program structure, and shape how the team cares for maltreatment victims.

Why This Role Exists

Ochsner Children's is expanding its system of care for suspected abuse and neglect and needs a physician to lead it.

Current cases are referred to a regional competitor. The goal is to build internal capability.

The work is coordinated with a new trauma program and the opening of a new comprehensive pediatric emergency department within the new Ochsner Children's Hospital, expected to open in early 2028.

A Parish-funded child advocacy center, the Jefferson Children's Advocacy Center, provides forensic interviews, evidence collection, and chain-of-custody work. Your role coordinates medical evaluation with that center.

Scope of the Role

You would oversee program development and provide medical evaluations across three settings:

• Outpatient child-protection evaluations based out of an office at the Community Center
• Inpatient consult service
• Emergency department consults for suspected abuse and neglect

The role carries clinical, administrative, academic, and legal responsibilities. You would occasionally serve as an expert witness in court.

Practice Setting

• Hospital-employed position within Ochsner Health
• Outpatient evaluations based at an office in the Community Center, plus inpatient and ED consults
• Coordination with the Jefferson Children's Advocacy Center, a state-funded center using pediatric forensic nurse examiners
• Academic environment with residents, medical students, and social workers

Schedule and Call

Qualifications

• Board-certified or board-eligible Child Abuse Pediatrician
• Comfort serving as an expert witness in legal proceedings
• Interest in program development and multidisciplinary team leadership
• Interest in working with learners, including residents, medical students, and social workers

Reporting and Leadership

This is a lead physician role. You would be the founding physician for Ochsner Children's child abuse program, with strong support from Children's Hospital leadership and administration. You would direct the team's clinical approach to the medical care of maltreatment victims and help develop the service line as it grows.