Louis H. Riina
July 13, 1962 – April 6th, 2019
Louis H. Riina, MD, FACS, passed away on April 6th. He was a partner at Long Island Plastic Surgical Group and the Associate Director of the Burn Center at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, where he was also the Medical Director of Hyperbaric Medicine and the Wound Center. He was actively involved with the Nassau County Fire Fighters Burn Center Foundation, representing 71 Fire Departments in the county.
Dr. Riina was known throughout the practice and to everyone who knew him for his compassion for his patients, his humor, his skill as a physician, and for always being the eternal optimist in all aspects of his life. As a nationally and internationally known burn and wound care specialist, he impacted the lives of thousands of patients with his work in the Burn Center and through his volunteer missions overseas. He was an early adopter in many advanced techniques used in burn surgery today and helped developed these techniques to improve the field of burn surgery and the lives of his patients.
He was a true renaissance man with interests in music, art, cooking, boating, psychology, to name just a few. On top of being a skilled and accomplished physician, he played the guitar, raised bees, cooked exotic dishes of various cultures, practiced yoga, fished the ocean, and had recently become involved in the study of nutrition.
In light of all his accomplishments and interests, Lou’s greatest pleasure was his role as a father to his son Dylan. He always considered this his most important purpose and enjoyed every aspect of being a father. In the setting of all he has done and accomplished in his life, his greatest legacy will be all the lives he touched as a caring friend to so many.
—Thomas Davenport, MD, FACS, colleague, and friend
Read about Dr. Riina’s clinical and academic accomplishments
