John Pagteilan is a thoracic surgeon at Ochsner Health. Dr. Pagteilan combines advanced robotic, thoracoscopic and laparoscopic approaches to treat a wide array of disease. His added capacity in interventional pulmonology and advanced endoscopy also allows lower-risk and more timely diagnoses and procedures. To ensure Louisiana's most comprehensive thoracic cancer treatment, Dr. Pagteilan collaborates with multidisciplinary teams with experts in chemotherapy, radiation and pulmonology. Dr. Pagteilan is also a lung transplant surgeon with cardiopulmonary bypass and ECMO capability who works with his transplant team to refine the state’s most historic and active lung transplant center. Additionally, he began a program with plastic surgery to provide same-day EMG evaluation and minimally invasive intrathoracic nerve reconstruction, one of few in the country. Other treated pathologies include hiatal hernia, diaphragm pathology, airway and upper-GI obstruction and pericardial disease.

Dr. Pagteilan finished his cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the University of Southern California following his general surgery training at the University of Arkansas and medical school at the University of Oklahoma. Before training, he earned a degree in Finance with a minor in biochemistry to supplement his pursuit of medicine. During training, Dr. Pagteilan published clinical research, won multiple teaching awards and was inducted into the Gold Humanism Society and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He is a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and Western Thoracic Surgical Society to stay up to date in an evolving field. Residing in New Orleans, Dr. Pagteilan enjoys the unique food and music with his wife, Kelsey (a Mamou native and pediatric neurosurgeon) and their two dogs. He hopes his interests in oncology, minimally invasive surgery and lung transplant provide excellent and compassionate care to his neighbors in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.program diagnoses and treats lung cancer in a single day, reducing patient wait times and minimizing anesthesia exposure.