Our Team

Dr. Pounds is the founding physician and Chief Medical Officer of Baptist Community Health Services. She has grown up in New Orleans and attended LSU Medical School where she specialized in Internal Medicine. She has worked with BCHS since the doors opened in 2014 and currently she sees patients two days a week at the Mandeville location and focuses on clinical leadership the rest of the week. Dr. Pounds believes that every patient who walks through the doors of BCHS deserves the most excellent care and attention and she works to ensure that's the case.

Dr. White is a board-certified primary care internist at Baptist Community Health Services (BCHS). She completed her medical education at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She completed her internal medicine training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN.  She specializes in adult care, with a focus on chronic disease management.  She is passionate about delivering high-quality, culturally competent care to all her patients. Dr. White currently sees patients Monday through Friday at our Sanchez location. Originally from Virginia, she now calls New Orleans home!

Robert “RJ” Jemison, FNP-C has been at Baptist Community Health since 2017. After receiving an Associate in Applied Science in Nursing from Theodore Alfred Lawson State Jr. College in Birmingham, AL, he completed a Registered Nurse internship at the University of Alabama Hospital. Later, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and a Master of Nursing from Louisiana State University. With over thirty years of experience in critical care, he became board certified in family practice and primary care, two of his greatest passions, through the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. His additional interests include integrating primary care into behavioral medicine, critical care, and emergency medicine. As a New Orleans Baptist Association Commissioned Medical Missionary, his heart for our mission to provide high-quality care in underserved communities truly flows into all he does.

Beth Browning is a Physician Assistant at Baptist Community Health. She trained at the LSU Physician Assistant program in New Orleans and specializes in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry. She has worked at BCHS since 2020 and currently sees patients 3 days a week at the Mandeville location while serving our New Orleans patients the other 2 days. Beth is a caring, thorough provider who is eager to care for the whole person through primary care.

Dr. Prechter is a board certified internal medicine physician whose focus is primary care.  A native of New Orleans and a graduate of LSU, Dr. Prechter completed his medical training at William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Hattiesburg, MS.  He then completed his Internal Medicine residency at University Hospital and Clinics in Lafayette, LA with LSU Health Sciences Center-NO.  Dr. Prechter returned to New Orleans with his wife (also a physician) and son, choosing to work with BCHS to deliver high quality healthcare to our city with a Christ-centered focus.  Dr Prechter will work primarily out of the Sanchez Center in the lower ninth ward in addition to the Mandeville location.  

Behavioral Health

Dr. Rigamer is a clinical psychiatrist for the Mercy Health System and Baptist Community Health Services and a consultant to international academic exchange programs. He was formerly the Medical Director for Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans where he was responsible for increasing access to quality health care for vulnerable populations. Among his current projects were Health Guardians, a program that reduces unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital readmissions for people with multiple chronic diseases. Under the auspices for Catholic Charities he has directed several disaster relief programs for victims of Hurricane Katrina and opened the first Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) in New Orleans. 

Prior to joining Catholic Charities, Dr. Rigamer served the U.S. Department of State as Medical Director advising the Secretary of State on international health issues and overseeing the healthcare of Foreign Service diplomats and their families.  He also served the Department of State as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Medical Affairs.

Dr. Rigamer has held positions with Kaiser Permanente HMO in Washington, DC and Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana.

He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer Physician in Monrovia, Liberia.

Dr. Rigamer is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of Physicians for a National Health Program and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. 

Dr. Rigamer received his medical degree at LSU School of Medicine New Orleans, his training in psychiatry at the New York Hospital-Cornell University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He received his MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University.

Beth Browning is a Physician Assistant at Baptist Community Health. She trained at the LSU Physician Assistant program in New Orleans and specializes in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry. She has worked at BCHS since 2020 and currently sees patients 3 days a week at the Mandeville location while serving our New Orleans patients the other 2 days. Beth is a caring, thorough provider who is eager to care for the whole person through primary care.