Hospital welcomes three Tulane physicians for appointments at its Northshore clinics

Lakeview Hospital , a campus of Tulane Medical Center, is pleased to announce Dr. Abigail Chaffin, Dr. John “Blair” Hamner, FACS, and Dr. Thomas Francavilla are now taking office hours at the clinics on Judge Tanner Blvd. in Covington, providing a variety of specialized surgical services to the Northshore region.

“We are thrilled to have these highly specialized surgeons offering a more convenient location for our Northshore patients,” said Bret Kolman, Lakeview Regional CEO.  “The depths of experience they bring to our hospital  expands our services, and their location helps our patients better take care of themselves close to home.”

Dr. Chaffin is a double board-certified plastic surgeon who also practices at Tulane Medical Center’s downtown New Orleans campus. She received her medical degree from Wayne State University, where she also completed her General Surgery residency in 2006. She is board certified by the American Board of Surgery. She then completed a two year Plastic Surgery fellowship at Tulane University School of Medicine in 2008, and is board-certified in plastic surgery by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. She joined the Tulane plastic surgery full-time faculty in 2008.  Dr. Chaffin is also one of only a few doctors in the state of Louisiana who is a certified wound care specialist physician. Dr. Chaffin's clinical interests include breast reconstruction after breast cancer, complex wound and burn care, complex abdominal hernia reconstruction, cosmetic surgery, burn reconstructive surgery and general reconstructive plastic surgery.

Dr. Hamner is an assistant professor of surgery at the Tulane University School of Medicine.  Born and raised in south Louisiana, Dr. Hamner earned his medical degree from the LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport, Louisiana. He then completed his General Surgery residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, during which time he completed two years of cancer research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, focusing on tumor angiogenesis and anti-angiogenic cancer therapy. He joined the faculty at Tulane after completing fellowship training in Complex General Surgical Oncology at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in California. Dr. Hamner is board certified in General Surgery and is the first surgeon in the region to receive board certification in Complex General Surgical Oncology.

Dr. Francavilla is a clinical associate professor of neurological surgery at the Tulane University School of Medicine’s Center for Clinical Neurosciences. He received his medical degree at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and he was mentored by world-renowned neurosurgeons at George Washington University, where he received numerous awards and completed a fellowship in studying brain tumors at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Francavilla is known for his early adoption of minimally invasive spine surgery as a major advance for patients suffering from spine-related pain. He later went on to complete a formal fellowship with the Laser Spine Institute, the leader in minimally invasive spine surgery, and opened and established its Cincinnati center before returning to the Tampa, Florida, facility. Dr. Francavilla is excited to bring expertise in the application of minimally invasive spine surgery to this region.

Dr. Abigail Chaffin & Dr. John Hamner
Tulane Multispecialty Clinic
101 E Judge Tanner Blvd #406
(985) 893-1291

Dr. Thomas Francavilla
101 E Judge Tanner Blvd #402
(985) 988-2503