Anti-LGBTQ+ bills drive gay doc to NHP

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Kleinmahon said the bills have created an environment where he and his husband don’t want to live and raise their children in. Kleinmahon is also one of two pulmonary hypertension doctors in the state.

“We’ve poured our hearts into Louisiana,” Kleinmahon said on his family’s eff orts to advocate for underserved communities.

One of just three pediatric doctors with his specialty in the state, he said everyone loses, from Oschner–the only pediatric heart transplant center in Louisiana–its doctors and, more importantly, its patients. Before he arrived, Kleinmahon said complex cases that required heart transplants would be sent out of the state.

“It’s incredibly hard on me and my patients that I try to build strong relationships with when I tell them I have to leave because of the laws that are being passed,” Kleinmahon said. “Seeing their faces and the tears that come out when I tell them I’m leaving, even more so when I tell them why I’m leaving.”

Kleinmahon has said about 50 doctors and medical professionals have had to make similar decisions or are considering them to leave states they feel have discriminatory legislation against them or their family.

At Cohen’s medical center, Kleinmahon will be the director of pediatric heart transplant, heart failure and ventricular assist devices, starting a heart transplant program as he did in New Orleans. The move also brings him closer to family who reside in the Northeast, he said.

“We’re incredibly excited to look forward to the future. The team at Northwell has been incredibly supportive and I feel their leadership is exceptional,” Kleinmahon said. “It should be a great partnership to help build this program.”