Frank Phillip Incaprera, M.D.

Physician role model and medical missionary

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” These are the words of Frank Phillip Incaprera, M.D., a physician role model and medical missionary who has committed his entire life to making people healthier and making New Orleans a better place to live.

There aren’t many physicians in New Orleans, or people in this community for that matter, who don’t know of Dr. Incaprera. His caring spirit and giving heart have made him a “living institution” in our City.

Dr. Incaprera was born in New Orleans in 1928 and received his early education from the Teresian Sisters at St. Louis Cathedral School, graduating in 1940 as valedictorian. He completed his preparatory studies at Jesuit High School in 1944, and graduated from Loyola University in 1946 with a degree in biology.

Dr. Incaprera attained his medical degree from the LSU School of Medicine in 1950. Following his internship and residency in internal medicine at Charity and the Veterans Administration hospitals in New Orleans, he served in the U.S. Air Force as a Captain until 1957. He returned to New Orleans that year to begin private practice in internal medicine.
In 1975, Dr. Incaprera was instrumental in forming the Internal Medicine Group. He served as its Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer until his retirement in 1999. During his tenure at IMG he embraced a new vision for the delivery of medical care in Eastern New Orleans. Another one of Dr. Incaprera’s tenets is to “surround yourself with good people and you will be successful.” This is what he did along with his colleagues who started IMG, and that’s why it’s still successful and meeting its mission today.

He’s had many other opportunities to share his leadership abilities and vision with others. He was the first Chief of Staff at Methodist Hospital, where he served in the Board of Directors for 25 years. He was on the faculty of Tulane University in the Department of Medicine, progressing to Clinical Professor from 1954 until 2000. He was a Senior Visiting Physician in the Department of Medicine at Charity Hospital from 1960 to 1983, and a consultant in medicine until 1991. Since 1994, he has served as a Professor of Medicine at LSU School of Medicine.

Dr. Incaprera received the Laureate Award from the American College of Physicians in 1993 and was Governor of the Louisiana Chapter of the American College of Physicians from 1995 to 1999. He was named Alumnus of the Year from LSU School of Medicine in 1997. Furthermore, OPMS recognized Dr. Incaprera’s work in the medical practice arena by bestowing its Outstanding Physician Award on him in 2000. He was also honored with Mastership in the American College of Physicians in 2001. On April 23, of this year, he became the recipient of the 2005 Spirit of Charity Award presented by the Medical Center of Louisiana Foundation.

Dr. Incaprera currently supervises medical students at the LSU Homeless Clinic at the New Orleans Mission and assists at the LSU Student Health Clinic. He makes house calls weekly to hospice patients in the New Orleans area and takes yearly trips to Nicaragua as a Medical Missionary. He served on the ad committee to form the new Greater New Orleans Medical Foundation, and he serves on the Board of Directors of the Orleans Parish Medical Services Bureau, Inc. (the Society’s for-profit subsidiary). He makes house calls for two hospice organizations, is active in his church and his neighborhood association, and makes spending time with his wife, Ruth, children and grandchildren a priority.

At the recent Spirit of Charity Awards Dinner at which Dr. Russell Klein introduced Dr. Incaprera as the recipient of the Spirit of Charity award, Dr. Klein likened Dr. Incaprera to those gathered there to honor him, commenting that he knew of “no one who surpasses Frank Incaprera in the areas of human behavior, intellect, courage and love.”
During his life, Dr. Frank Incaprera has been and will continue to be a superb role model. Still today, his daily schedule is exhausting to many twenty-year-olds. Recently, he said, “Remember that yesterday is over and tomorrow is far away – remain committed to the good you can do today.” “Dr. Inc.” (as many know him) is still caring, still giving, and still making a vital contribution to our organization, to New Orleans, and to people well beyond our borders.