Leah Reimann, MD: Championing pediatric care and medical education

Leah Reimann, MD: Championing pediatric care and medical education

Leah Reimann, MD, spent most of her 32-year pediatric career at Emplify Health by Gundersen as a sought-after pediatrician, an impactful teacher and a respected department leader.

Her deep commitment to the health of children and adolescents is evident by both her work and her 20 years as a member of the American Board of Pediatrics.

Now retired, Dr. Reimann joined Gundersen Medical Foundation's Board of Directors in 2021. In this role, she feels able to give back to Gundersen and the community while continuing to be an advocate for medical education-a cause that has always been close to her heart.

A Passion for education

While completing medical school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1974, Dr. Reimann was introduced to Emplify Health by Gundersen during multiple rotations as a fourth-year medical student. She was impressed with the focus on medical education and the mentorship from physicians like Edwin Overholt, MD, so she decided to stay the following year to do a rotating internship focused on pediatrics.

By 1978, Dr. Reimann had finished her pediatric residency in Rochester, Minn., and pursued employment at Emplify Health by Gundersen in La Crosse. "The focus on patient care and medical education made me want to work here, and I already had good relationships with people who liked to teach," she says. "I knew that working with medical students and residents would challenge physicians and keep us fresh. The community also benefits because, as in my case, medical students often stay at or return to the organizations where they have trained."

Impacting the next generation of caregivers

In addition to serving patients, Dr. Reimann took on a leadership role in the Pediatric Department, often working with the Foundation to strengthen medical education programs. For example, she was program director for pediatric housestaff education and director of the third-year medical student pediatric clerkship, which was a collaborative program with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She briefly left Gundersen to spend four years as a member of the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Pediatric Department, and after her return to La Crosse, she helped develop the pediatric hospitalist role, helped expand the procedural sedation program for kids and provided leadership in other aspects of hospital care for children before retiring in 2011.

As a member of the Foundation's board, Dr. Reimann serves on the Medical Education Committee, which reviews program proposals to ensure they will serve the needs of Emplify Health by Gundersen and the community. She feels that the board's makeup of medical and system professionals, in concert with community members from a variety of fields, helps keep the group's mission at the heart of their work.

"The Foundation's support for medical education is immensely beneficial-perhaps even more so today because of the shortages in medical professionals," she says. "Add in the impact of support for research, community programming and the healthcare system, and it's easy to see that the scope of the Foundation's work is powerful."