LSBA honors local attorney

NEW ORLEANS — Several Louisiana State Bar Association members received awards June 5 during the association’s 2025 Annual Meeting in Destin, Fla. Lake Charles attorney Adam Johnson was among them, receiving the President’s Award.

Johnson was recognized for his leadership as chair of the Artificial Intelligence Task Force and his exceptional support of the president and the LSBA. A partner at The Johnson Firm, he earned a BS in business management from LSU in 2006 and a JD from Southern University Law Center in 2009.

After clerking for Judges Wyatt and Ware, he joined his father and brother in practice; he and his brother now run the firm, focusing on family, criminal defense and personal injury law.

Johnson served in the LSBA House of Delegates, co-chaired Leadership LSBA (2014-15), and represented District 4 in the Young Lawyers Division (2015-19). He writes the Criminal Law section of the Louisiana Bar Exam and is a past president of both the SWLBA and its Young Lawyers Division.

Yokubaitis shifts practice’s focus

Dr. Jon Yokubaitis, board certified ophthalmologist with The Eye Clinic, is shifting his practice to a more exclusive focus on LASIK laser vision correction. He will continue his full-time medical eye care practice, but his increased emphases on LASIK means he will no longer be providing cataract surgery.

Yokubaitis is the most experienced LASIK surgeon in Southwest Louisiana and has been performing LASIK since 1997. He performs LASIK in The Eye Clinic’s in-house Laser Center, which is a state-of-the-art laser suite. The procedure takes just minutes, and most patients experience improved vision immediately, with continued improvement realized over several days.

Yokubaitis is accepting new patients interested in LASIK, as well as routine eye exams and medical eye care, including diabetic exams, glaucoma care, post-cataract care and other eye health and vision concerns. He sees patients in The Eye Clinic’s Lake Charles and Sulphur offices.

Hospital honored for patient safety

Christus Ochsner Southwestern Louisiana has earned the top rating for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group, a national non-profit organization that grades U.S. hospitals based on their ability to prevent medical errors and harm to patients.

Christus Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital and Christus Ochsner Lake Area Hospital both received an A grade in Leapfrog’s most recent national hospital safety survey, marking a significant achievement for the health care system.

Leapfrog’s Hospital Safety Grade assigns letter grades to nearly 3,000 hospitals nationwide each spring and fall. The grades are based on over 30 evidence-based measures of patient safety, including maternity and critical care, medication practices, surgical outcomes and the prevention of medical errors.

Nationally, fewer than one-third of hospitals earned an “A” in this latest survey. Christus Ochsner Southwestern Louisiana hospitals were the only health care system in southwestern Louisiana region to secure an “A” rating from Leapfrog, setting a high standard for quality and safety in the region.

Moses joins SW La. Alliance

The Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance welcomes Paul Moses to their team as vice president of economic development.

Prior to moving to Southwest Louisiana, Moses served as vice president of economic and workforce development at Greater Lafayette Commerce, the regional economic development organization and chamber of commerce serving several counties in central Indiana. A seasoned collaborator and manager of people, programs, and facilities, he focused on business retention and expansion, attracting new companies to the region, and talent attraction.

At GLC, he guided corporate attraction projects worth more than $4 billion, and helped companies create more than 2,000 new jobs.

Before joining GLC, Moses spent over a decade at the Purdue Research Foundation, where he held various positions in economic development, research collaboration, and business development. He played a pivotal role in creating Purdue University’s world-class entrepreneurial ecosystem, overseeing the expansion of the Purdue Research Park and its statewide high-tech incubation network. During his tenure, the number of companies in the five park locations grew from 180 to over 250, now employing more than 5,500.

Moses is also an investor and a member of the board of managers for a high-tech start-up company. Poly Group, LLC is commercializing a co-polymer technology that can be integrated into plastics, textiles, coatings, and paints, among other applications. This technology has received an antimicrobial preservative claim from the U.S. EPA. The company is working to advance health claims regarding its effectiveness against biofilms, as well as other life-threatening bacteria and viruses.

For the first 26 years of his career, Moses was a broadcast journalist. A three-time Emmy Award winner, he worked as a news anchor and investigative reporter. Over the years, he served at network affiliates in several markets, including Savannah, Georgia, Dayton, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky.

While in southern Indiana, he co-founded and managed Innovation Angels, a community-based angel investment group. He is also the past president of Venture Connectors, Louisville, Kentucky’s venture club.

Writs joins LC Memorial

Lake Charles Memorial Health System welcomes Amber Wirts, as the new vice president of physician services.

Wirts joins the LCMHS family with more than two decades of experience in health care leadership and brings a dynamic blend of strategic vision, operational excellence, and a deep commitment to clinical quality and patient-centered care.

Most recently serving as market director of physician services for HCA, she provided strategic and operational leadership for a large network of primary care and specialty care practices.

Her earlier leadership experience includes multi-specialty practices, hospital systems, and regional markets, always with a focus on aligning people, processes, and purpose to elevate care delivery and drive meaningful results.

Her health care career journey spans across leading organizations where she successfully managed operations, launched new service lines, led large-scale recruitment, compliance, and facility initiatives.

Her hands-on approach earns her a reputation of advancing healthcare delivery and strengthening the overall experience for both patients and providers.