Rehabilitation Hospital Appoints Medical Executive Committee Members for 2026

Four providers have been appointed to the North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital Medical Executive Committee for 2026. These committee members will serve as liaisons between the hospital's medical staff and its board of managers.

Dr. Rishi Pathak, a physiatrist, is the chief of staff and is board-certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He joined North Oaks in 2018 and is medical director for the hospital’s inpatient medical rehabilitation unit. Dr. Pathak completed a fellowship in spinal cord injury medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. He earned his medical degree from St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine in the Cayman Islands. After that, he completed an internship in general surgery at Exempla St. Joseph’s in Denver and a residency at the Detroit Medical Center with the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan through Wayne State University.

Members-at-large include Dr. A. Mannan Khan, an endocrinologist; Dr. Thien Ninh, a physiatrist; and Dr. Hugo A. “Rowdy” Valdes, a family practitioner.

Dr. Khan, who is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, joined the North Oaks medical staff in 2017. He graduated from Tulane School of Medicine in New Orleans and completed an internal medicine internship at Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport. He returned to New Orleans for his residency in internal medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and to further his education with fellowship training in endocrinology at Ochsner Medical Center.

Certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dr. Ninh joined the North Oaks medical staff in 2024. He graduated concurrently from the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans with his medical degree and the Tulane University Freeman School of Business with a master’s degree in business administration. Following an internship in internal medicine at Tulane, he completed a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency through Baylor College of Medicine and The Institute of Rehabilitation and Research at Memorial Hermann in Houston.

Dr. Valdes is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and has belonged to the North Oaks medical staff since 1999. A graduate of the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, he completed both an internship and residency at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Dr. Valdes also served as the 2025 Family Practice Chairman for the North Oaks Medical Center Medical Executive Committee.

For the past two consecutive years, Newsweek magazine has ranked North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital among the top 10 inpatient medical rehabilitation facilities in Louisiana.

The latest Newsweek honor comes on the heels of North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital celebrating its thirtieth year of service in September and achieving reaccreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities in the spring of 2025 with no recommendations for improvement. This distinction is achieved by less than 3% of the more than 22,000 facilities CARF surveys worldwide. The hospital is additionally accredited by The Joint Commission and is home to one of the few CARF-accredited stroke specialty programs in Louisiana.

North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital specializes in comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation for patients recovering from stroke, brain and spinal cord injuries, complex joint replacement surgeries, neurological disorders, arthritis and other debilitating or congenital conditions.

The hospital offers 27 private, barrier-free patient rooms. It also features an 8,000-square-foot therapy gym equipped with a full kitchen and laundry area for practicing daily living skills. In addition, the hospital has a transitional living apartment and therapeutic garden designed to support recovery and foster independence.

To learn more about North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital, call (985) 230-2678.