North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital Appoints Medical Executive Committee Members for 2025

North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital has appointed five area providers to its Medical Executive Committee for 2025. These committee members will serve as liaisons between the hospital's medical staff and its board of managers.

Dr. Rishi Pathak, a physiatrist, is the chief of staff and is board-certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He joined the North Oaks medical staff in 2018 as part of the North Oaks Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinic team. Previously, Dr. Pathak completed a fellowship in spinal cord injury medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. He earned his medical degree from St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine in the Cayman Islands. After that, he completed an internship in general surgery at Exempla St. Joseph’s in Denver and a residency at the Detroit Medical Center with the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan through Wayne State University.

The members-at-large include Dr. Rainier Batiste, a hospitalist; Dr. A. Mannan Khan, an endocrinologist; Dr. Hugo A. “Rowdy” Valdes, a family practitioner; and Dr. Susan Zacharia, an internist.

Dr. Batiste joined the Hospital Medicine Department at North Oaks Medical Center in 2017. She earned her medical degree from William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and completed an internal medicine internship and residency at Danville Regional Medical Center in Virginia. Dr. Batiste is board-certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine. From January 2022 to December 2023, she served as the chair of the Medicine Department for the North Oaks Medical Center Medical Executive Committee.

Dr. Khan, who is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, joined the North Oaks medical staff in 2017 and practices with North Oaks Endocrinology. He graduated from Tulane School of Medicine in New Orleans and completed an internal medicine internship at Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport. He returned to New Orleans for his residency in internal medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and furthered his education with fellowship training in endocrinology at Ochsner Medical Center.

Dr. Valdes is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and has belonged to the North Oaks medical staff since 1999. A graduate of the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, he completed both an internship and residency at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Dr. Valdes also is currently serving as Family Practice Chairman for the North Oaks Medical Center Medical Executive Committee.

Dr. Zacharia has been part of the North Oaks medical staff since 1995, practicing with Northshore Internal Medicine Associates. She earned her medical degree from the Universidad Tecnologica de Santiago in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and completed her internship and residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Dr. Zacharia is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Newsweek magazine currently ranks North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital among the top 10 inpatient rehabilitation facilities in Louisiana. The hospital is dually accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and The Joint Commission, and it features one of the few CARF-accredited stroke specialty programs in Louisiana.

In addition to stroke patients, individuals who may benefit from inpatient rehabilitation include those recovering from brain injuries, spinal cord injuries or complex joint replacement surgeries. Candidates also include individuals with neurological disorders, arthritis, or congenital conditions.

The hospital offers 27 private and barrier-free patient rooms, anchored by an 8,000-square-foot gym that includes a kitchen and laundry area for patients to practice daily life skills essential for independence. Additional amenities feature a transitional living apartment and a therapeutic garden.

As of the reaccreditation survey conducted in April 2022, North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital continues to rank among the top 3 percent of 22,000 facilities worldwide surveyed by CARF, having received no recommendations for improvement.