LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — Long-practicing Acadiana doctor and trailblazer, Dr. Ernest Kinchen Jr., was honored for all his contributions to the medical field.

Louisiana State Senator Gerald Boudreaux presented Doctor Ernest Kinchen with State Resolution 110, which recognized him for a distinguished medical career in service to Louisiana’s citizens, on Tuesday, Nov. 30.

Kinchen was the first African American resident in the Tulane and Charity hospital systems. He was also the first Dillard University Rhodes scholar candidate and the first African American doctor with privileges at Lafayette General Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes.

Doctor Kinchen also founded Pride Plaza, one of the first specialty medical facilities on Lafayette’s Northside.