HJBR Jul/Aug 2026

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  JUL / AUG 2026 37 Dianne Hartley, Editor Thank you, Dr. Lit- tleton for taking time out of your sched- ule today. For readers who may not know, what is the role of chief of staff at the Baton Rouge General and how does the role dif- fer from the chief medical officer? Jeffrey Littleton, MD As the chief of staff, I am a voice for physicians to kind of bridge the gap between the medical staff and the administration and the hospital leadership. I kind of oversee the medical executive com- mittee, which is a body made up of 18 or so physician leaders within the hospital of all different services. We come together and kind of make decisions on rules and regu- lations. The hospital enforces those rules and regulations, and also address policy and policy changes. It’s a little bit different than chief medical officer. . . . The chief medical officer is more on the administrative side of things and my role is more on the clini- cal side of things and as a clinical voice for the medical staff. Editor It’s an elective position for two years, is that correct? Littleton Yes. Editor And where are you on your tenure? Littleton So, it’s elected position for two years and that can be re-upped for three terms total. So, I’m coming towards the end of my second two-year term. And I have the potential to run again and for two additional years in the fall. Editor You specialize in general and burn surgery, correct? Littleton Correct. Editor What first drew you tomedicine and what later led you to those specialties? Littleton I wanted to be a doctor since I was probably in high school, maybe even before that. And when I went to college at Xavier University in New Orleans, they had a very strong pre-medical program that was nearly tops in the country and placed African Americans into medical school. . . . They’ve since gone on to overtake the number one spot for the last probably 25 years. And so, I had a strong, solid foundation and sup- port to apply to and achieve admission into medical school. I went to medical school in California — the University of California at UCLA. I was there for four years and then when I finished medicine and in medical school, I liked surgery. And what I liked about surgery is the concept of doing something definitive for patients, some sort of definitive cure or fix. There’s all different fields of medicine and they all are important and serve important roles, but I really enjoyed and appreciated the concept of someone coming in with a surgical problem [like] appendicitis. I take the appendix out and they’re fixed, and they go on with their life and will never have a Q&A Jeffrey Littleton, MD Chief of Staff, Baton Rouge General Jeffrey Littleton, MD, is chief of staff at Baton Rouge General and a general and burn surgeon with more than 25 years of experience at BRG. He earned a medical degree from the University of California/Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and completed residency in general surgery at LSU Medical Center in New Orleans. Littleton previously served as vice chief of staff and now helps lead a medical staff of more than 800 physicians. His surgical practice includes general, burn, reconstructive, robotic, and emergency procedures.