Massachusetts General Hospital

BiographyI am a clinical and administratively active anesthesiologist within the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine.

The focus of my clinical work is on the care of pregnant patients. Together with a highly skilled, multidisciplinary team, I administrate our service, which features 3400 deliveries/year, involving both low and high risk obstetric patients. On the Labor Floor and in the associated operating rooms, we strive to provide safe, state-of-the-art obstetric anesthesia care in a friendly and collaborative setting and to teach patients, residents and students about the complexities of the care provided.

My administrative duties within the department and the hospital are geared towards providing the strategic planning, infrastructure and efficient systems necessary to develop an ideal setting for patient care, research and the other academic aspirations of our physicians. Through my background in Healthcare Management Consulting and Venture Capital, and my leadership positions on the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO) Contracting and the departmental Finance Committees, I have the opportunity to help to ensure that we are fiscally responsible while maintaining the highest quality of care.

PublicationsMashour GA, Schwamm LH, Leffert, L. Intracranial subdural hematomas and cerebral herniation after labor epidural with no evidence of dural puncture. Anesthesiology. 105(6):1277-8; author reploy 1278. 2006.

Robert Leffert, MD, Palliative Care Memorial Lecture established

To care for Robert Leffert, MD, as he faced a terminal cancer diagnosis, Vicki Jackson, MD, MPH, chief of the MGH Palliative Care Service, had to learn about all aspects of who he was – not only an MGH physician and Harvard professor, but also a decorated veteran and kid who grew up in Brooklyn.

Leffert lecture addresses aging population

The second annual Robert Leffert, MD, Palliative Care Memorial Lecture took place Nov. 27 in the O’Keeffe Auditorium, featuring Christine Ritchie, MD, Harris Fishbon Distinguished Professor for Clinical and Translational Research in Aging in the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California San Francisco.