After nine years in Zachary, Dr. Jeffrey S. Gruner, M.D., 40, has left Lane Regional Medical Center to enter the Trauma/Critical Care Fellowship at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

On Wednesday, June 6, Lane RMC colleagues and co-workers, as well as Gruner's family, attended a farewell party honoring Gruner for his years of medical service in Zachary and at Lane.

Dr. Gruner will continue to keep courtesy privileges at Lane RMC for the future.

Gruner, a New Orleans native, completed his undergraduate work at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He attended medical school at LSU Medical Center (now Health Sciences Center) in New Orleans, graduating in 1997.

Gruner completed his residency and internship in the field of General Surgery at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport and successfully completed certification through the American Board of Surgery.

Dr. Gruner has been a member of Lane RMC's medical staff for the past nine years and was appointed in April 2009 to the Lane RMC Board of Commissioners by the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro-Council.

Gruner said he first came to Zachary in 1991, after meeting Rachel Mier, now his wife, on the first day of college. "Zachary is a unique community with wonderful people, and I'll be back from time to time," said Gruner. "I'll be maintaining my courtesy privileges at Lane.

Gruner is looking forward to his fellowship training but said he will definitely miss working in Zachary. "I've been blessed with good outcomes and blessed to have worked with good people," Dr. Gruner said. "I will definitely miss the people at Lane...they were great, and it was an honor to work with them."

Gruner's interests while in Zachary included service work. "I miss helping out with the Zachary Rotary Club," he said. The Gruners were both members of Rotary and joined in 2003.

In addition to his colleagues at Lane, Dr. Gruner said he will miss the private care physicians he worked with at Zachary Family Practice. "I'm very grateful for the support of those physicians over the years," Gruner said. "I also feel very blessed to have taken care of the patients I have during that time."

Gruner's fellowship training for trauma/critical care patients will be significantly different than the surgical procedures he's performed over the past few years. Once trained, Gruner will see more trauma cases cases such as crash victims, shootings and stabbings.

Dr. Gruner and his wife, Dr. Rachel Mier Gruner, have two children - a son, David, and a daughter, Isabelle. The Gruners currently live in Baton Rouge.

Since Gruner's departure, surgery care at Lane RMC is transitioning and will welcome General Surgeon Dr. Thomas Kang full-time on Monday, July 16, and General Surgeon Dr. Sam Field, who will start full-time Wednesday, August 1.

Beginning July 16, their office, Lane Surgery Group, will be open for new patients at 4801 McHugh Road, Suite C, next to Lane’s outpatient physical therapy department. Lane Surgery Group can be contacted at 658-6690. 

Until this time, the unassigned surgical call physicians will assist with any surgery needs, and Dr. Thomas Richey and The Surgeons Group of Baton Rouge will continue to serve patients at Lane RMC.