
After 25 years, Drs. Michael Trautman and Diane Lorant are leaving Riley, turning their attention to alpacas, art and bees.
By Maureen Gilmer, IU Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org
Did you hear the one about the doctor who snuck a baby orangutan into Riley Hospital for Children to get an ultrasound?
It’s not a joke (it really happened several years ago), but Drs. Michael Trautman and Diane Lorant still laugh about it.
Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, the married couple said earlier this month, their first day of retirement after 25 years each as neonatologists at Riley.
And as it turned out, the tale about an Indianapolis Zoo primate named Max getting some love from a children’s hospital earned Riley some good press, once the story leaked out.
Dr. Trautman’s escapade likely would have remained a secret back in 2017, but one of the “patient’s” furry arms popped out as the anesthesia wore off, he recalled.
It was all for a good cause, said the 71-year-old physician, who at the time was consulting for the zoo, which was concerned about the young orangutan’s lack of energy.
Turns out Max had an underactive thyroid, but he’s doing well today, celebrating his eighth birthday last year, according to the zoo’s Facebook page.

It is stories like this that pepper an hourlong conversation with Dr. Trautman and Dr. Lorant, who are both hanging up their white coats after a quarter-century of service to Riley.
The neonatologists, who were recruited by Dr. Jim Lemons to Riley from the University of Utah children’s hospital in 1999, are of like mind when it comes to their passion for the tiniest infants in their care.
“I like babies,” Dr. Trautman said. “All they want to do is get better and go home, and in general, they do really well. Medicine has gotten far more complex, so some of the things we do are going to have consequences, but in general, they’re happy and just want to play.”
For Dr. Lorant, 65, who began her fellowship in neonatology at Stanford University just as Dr. Trautman was finishing his, the focus on newborns, especially preemies or those with otherwise challenging health conditions, was an easy choice.
“I really liked intensive care, but I didn’t want to do pediatric intensive care because it was just so sad,” she said, “a lot of nonaccidental trauma, that kind of thing.”
“Neonatology just fit.”
And, she said, unlike many of her medical school peers, “I related to the babies better. I think it was just a calling.”
The couple, who have three adult children, are looking forward to more time with a menagerie of farm animals at their Zionsville home, as well as more energy for their creative pursuits.
Dr. Trautman is a woodworker who crafts furniture primarily, though a couple of months ago, he went to beekeeping school, built two wooden bee hives and now oversees about 20,000 bees in his backyard.

Along with bees, the couple have alpacas, chickens, dogs and cats. The alpacas are especially popular with kids who visit – some for therapy and others just for the fun of it.

Over time, Riley team members and even families have learned a little about the doctors’ interests outside the hospital, a lesson the couple said they picked up from Dr. Lemons.
“Maybe because of the era I was trained in, I thought you shouldn’t tell patient families much about yourself,” Dr. Lorant said, thinking it might be interpreted as unprofessional.
“But Jim taught us differently. He said you need to share things about yourself to build a better connection. We would tell people about our alpacas, and once they were discharged, I said they were welcome to bring their kids to see them.”
“Because it’s hard to get an alpaca into Riley,” Dr. Trautman quipped.
Considering their fondness for the animals (and the story about the orangutan), it should come as no surprise that there was some talk about bringing an alpaca into the hospital as a therapy animal of sorts. But although they are gentle creatures, it was determined that they don’t have the temperament for hospital visits.
Now stepping into retirement, Dr. Lorant has her own creative pursuits. She makes mosaic art in her basement studio, including a colorful piece for her husband’s birthday that features a bee in the center.

“I love doing it, she says as she shows pictures of her art along with his woodworking on her phone. “One of the things I liked best about my job – other than the babies – was writing, because when you write, you create. I don’t much like administrative work, but when I had to write something, I could just bury myself in it and just create,” she said.
“This (mosaic art) is very different, but it’s a way to be creative.”
The two rarely give store-bought gifts anymore. Most everything is handmade, with even the alpacas chipping in fleece for sweaters.
As they contemplate a slower-paced lifestyle, the couple both say it’s the people at Riley they will miss the most.
“I have friends in the division I will see,” Dr. Lorant said, “but there are all sorts of people in the NICU at Riley that I just won’t see, some respiratory therapists that would just make my day every time I saw them.”
“A lot of nurses who’ve been there a long time,” Dr. Trautman added. “We’ve kind of grown up together.”
Both say they enjoyed the collaborative spirit at Riley – everyone working together across different disciplines to help babies go home.
Dr. Lemons, who initially was wary of hiring a married couple to the much smaller neonatology team 25 years ago, is proud of the impact the two have made in their Riley careers.
“They have enriched our division immensely with their expertise, commitment, superb clinical care, outstanding teaching and genuine caring,” he said. “They each serve as wonderful mentors for all of us.”
Both have been "incredible" educators, division chief Dr. Laura Haneline agreed and have offered a historical perspective on how neonatology clinical practice has evolved over the years.
The two have held numerous leadership positions: Dr. Trautman has been Education Program Director, Neonatal-Perinatal Transport Program Director and Heart Center NICU Medical Director. He is a national expert in neonatal critical care transport.
"In each environment, he uses his wealth of knowledge to teach, train and mentor students, residents/fellows and junior faculty," Dr. Haneline said.
Dr. Lorant's leadership roles have included Methodist NICU Medical Director, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program Director, Clinical Guidelines Group Leader and inaugural neonatal POCUS Director.
"Her love of writing led to her writing numerous NeoReviews cases for the American Academy of Pediatrics and our internal Clinical Guidelines Group," Dr. Haneline said.
"We will greatly miss their love of our profession and their excellence in training the next generation of providers who will treat babies."
Photos submitted and by Mike Dickbernd, IU Health visual journalist, mdickbernd@iuhealth.org