Gonzalo Ausqui, MD, Joins North Oaks' Shock Trauma Team

Fellowship-trained Trauma Surgeon Gonzalo Ausqui, MD, has joined the North Oaks Medical Center Shock Trauma team. The hospital is a level II trauma center serving Region 9 of Louisiana, which is made up of Tangipahoa, Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany and Washington parishes.

Dr. Ausqui joins a team of eleven trauma surgeons and three advanced practitioners who work together to ensure the provision of 24/7 in-house, coordinated care for victims suddenly stricken by serious traumatic injuries.

Dr. Ausqui comes to North Oaks from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University having recently completed a fellowship in trauma critical care with advanced training in robotic trauma/acute care surgery. The Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University operates the region’s only level I adult trauma and level II pediatric trauma centers.

Originally from Uruguay in South America, Dr. Ausqui is a U.S. citizen and fluent in English and Spanish. From an early age, he knew that a career in healthcare was for him. He explains, “Growing up, I volunteered after school helping my grandparents, who were nurses, at their nursing home. I would bring patients their medicine and food trays and help them with their basic needs. This experience cultivated my desire to help others and eventually led me to pursue a career in healthcare.”

Dr. Ausqui graduated from the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas with associate degrees in biological science and paramedic medicine while also working as a first responder with American Medical Response. He also volunteered more than 500 hours at facilities within the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada system based in Las Vegas. The emergency rooms, intensive care units, neonatal intensive care units, trauma centers, operating rooms and pediatric units of Valley Hospital, Sunrise Hospital, North Vista Hospital and Spring Valley Hospital benefited from his service as a volunteer during this time.

He went on to earn his medical degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine in Mexico before conducting a residency in general surgery with rotations at Easton Hospital in Pennsylvania, and The Brooklyn Hospital Center and Harlem Hospital in New York. While in residency at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, he was honored as the recipient of the 2018 Best Bedside Manner Award.

With a self-described approach to patient care that values compassion, honesty and evidence-based medicine, Dr. Ausqui notes that he finds it most gratifying when he can repair a patient’s injury that would have had severe or fatal consequences otherwise.

Professionally, Dr. Ausqui belongs to the American College of Surgeons.

Other North Oaks Shock Trauma providers include Drs. Lauren Baumgarten, Marquinn D. Duke (medical director of the trauma program), Michael Fahr, Patrick Greiffenstein, Chrissy Guidry, Derek Palmer, Robert Reily, Jonathan Schoen, Alison Smith and Shahrzad Talebinejad; Nurse Practitioners Aaron Bateman and Ellen Wilson; and Physician Assistant Jennifer Rhodes.

North Oaks Shock Trauma Center is verified and designated a Level II Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons and Louisiana Department of Health.

In addition, North Oaks Shock Trauma Center is part of the Louisiana Emergency Response Network (LERN), an agency of state government created to develop and maintain a statewide system of care coordination for trauma patients.