Spirit of Charity Award
2026 Spirit of Charity Award Recipient
Dr. Elma Ireland LeDoux
The Spirit of Charity Foundation, with a 30-year record of assistance to underserved patients, families, and employees at New Orleans' public hospital(s), is pleased to announce that Dr. Elma Ireland LeDoux has been selected as the 2026 winner of its annual "Spirit of Charity" Award. The award is presented every year to exceptional physicians who have changed lives through their invaluable contributions to medicine and the healing power of compassion cultivated during their career at the beloved Charity Hospital, New Orleans, and its successor institutions following Hurricane Katrina. University Medical Center New Orleans annually pays tribute to exceptional physicians and healthcare leaders who have truly changed lives through their invaluable contributions to medicine and the healing power of compassion that was cultivated during their career at Charity Hospital New Orleans.
The nonprofit Foundation's annual award is presented to exceptional physicians who have changed lives through their invaluable contributions to medicine and the healing power of compassion cultivated during their career at the beloved Charity Hospital, New Orleans, and its successor institutions following Hurricane Katrina.
Dr. LeDoux currently serves as the Associate Dean, Admissions and Student Affairs at the Tulane University School of Medicine. She remains on the faculty for its Program in Medical Ethics and Human Values. Although her duties prevent her from further clinical hospital roles, she still volunteers every weekend as the Attending Physician at New Orleans' Ozanam Inn, where she supervises medical students and interns also serving the homeless clients there.
Dr. LeDoux will be presented with the 2026 "Spirit of Charity" award at the Foundation's annual Gala being held on Friday evening, October 9, 2026, at the beautiful atrium inside Lakefront Airport Terminal.
Individual Tickets for the 2026 “Spirit of Charity Award” Gala go on sale on May 11, 2026.
TicketsThanks to our 2025 Gala Sponsors!
For more information, contact socfoundation@lcmchealth.org or call 504.702.3113.
Past recipients
2015: Joseph J Biundo, Jr., MD, LSU, Rheumatology and PM&R
2014: Karen DeSalvo, MD, Tulane, Internal Medicine
2013: Jack Andonie, MD, LSU, Obstetrics and Gynecology
2012: William Gill, MD, Tulane, Pediatric Neonatologist
2011: Charles "Bo" Sanders, MD, LSU, Internal Medicine
2010: Newton E. Hyslop, Jr., MD, Tulane, Infectious Disease
2009: David "Luke" Glancy, MD, LSU, Cardiology
2008: Norman E. McSwain, Jr., MD, Tulane, Trauma Surgery
2005: Frank Incaprera, MD, LSU, Internal Medicine
2004: Hyman Cyril Tolmas, MD, Tulane, Pediatrics
2003: Isidore Cohn, Jr., MD, LSU, Surgery
2002: Albert L. Hyman, MD, Tulane, Cardiology
2001: Jack Perry Strong, MD, LSU, Pathology
2000: Abe Mickal, MD, LSU, Obstetrics and Gynecology
1999: Gerald Berenson, MD, Tulane, Cardiology
1998: Michael DeBakey, MD, Tulane, Cardiothoracic Surgery