Episodes

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Saul Karpen, Chief Scientific Officer of the Virginia Commonwealth University Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health and President-Elect of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease. He joins us for a conversation about his work, new pediatric guidelines developed to detect a life-threatening liver disease in infants, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpod...

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features features Dr. Vipul Patel, Medical Director of the VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center and a faculty member in the Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Management in the Department of Internal Medicine. During the conversation, Dr. Patel share insights about the work of the transplant center as well as a major milestone — the center’s first successful lung transplant procedure. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest su...

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Kristen Danley, a nurse at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, who joins us to share her personal story of going from caregiver to patient after experiencing a stroke in her 30s. The conversation also covers her path to health care, stroke recovery, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Kareem Zaki, a urologist with Twin County Regional Healthcare, a Lifepoint Health facility in Galax, VA. During Men's Health Month, Dr. Zaki joins us for a conversation about urology care and an advanced robotic therapy for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagr...

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Joshua D. Adams, Medical Director of the Carilion Clinic Aortic Center. Our conversation focuses on cardiovascular health, minimally invasive surgical procedures performed at the Carilion Clinic Aortic Center, the importance of bedside manner, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Jonathan Hemler, a pediatric allergist with UVA Health Children's, who joins us to discuss his work, the topic of allergies, new advancements in UVA’s pediatric food allergy treatment program, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Evan Silverstein, a pediatric ophthalmologist with Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, for a conversation about how a personal medical experience in his youth inspired his career, a case study about the potential for early detection of eye-related issues in smartphone photos, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFir...

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Jay Taylor, Chief Growth Officer at Backpack Healthcare, who joins us to discuss his career journey, behavioral health access amid rising service demand, a new partnership between VHHA Solutions and Backpack Healthcare, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Nicole Stauffer, a therapeutic recreation therapist with Sheltering Arms Community Programs. Our conversation covers her work, path to rehabilitation therapy work, the Club Rec program that supports patients with disabilities, a new hydroponic vertical micro-farm at the Sheltering Arms Midtown location, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using ...

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Dani Bowie, DNP, Senior Vice President of Solutions Design and Workforce AI at Aya Healthcare. This conversation highlights Dr. Bowie's career in health care, workforce development efforts, the impact of AI in health care, her upcoming participation in the 2025 Virginia Healthcare Workforce Development Summit on May 13, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or...

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Mark Nantz, the President and CEO of Valley Health, a Winchester, VA-based health system, and the newly elected Chair of the VHHA Board of Directors. This conversation covers his career journey, thoughts on health care leadership and public health, how his personal story of adoption and early financial challenges shapes his approach to the ministry of care, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast...

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Juan Pablo Arab, a transplant hepatologist and director of alcohol science with the Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease at VCU Health. This conversation covers liver health, insights gleaned from recent research into U.S. liver disease prevalence, the impact of early screening and targeted intervention, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Inst...

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Katisha Vertrees, a young woman from Norfolk, VA woman whose story of being diagnosed with lupus and renal failure, through finding a kidney donor, and transplant at Sentara Health, has captured media and public attention. She joins us to talk about her life, journey through illness and recovery, and a new project of hers to support people in need of kidney transplants. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodc...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Christopher Sulmonte Jr., Administrative Director of Biocontainment at Johns Hopkins Special Pathogen Center, who join us to discuss his work, the biocontainment process, his participation as a featured speaker during the upcoming 2025 Virginia Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Summit on April 16, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #P...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Anita Vincent-Johnson, a nephrologist with UVA Health, who join us during National Kidney Month for a conversation about her work, the UVA Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Rebecca Segal, the President and CEO of Fauquier Health, a Lifepoint Health facility located in Warrenton, Virginia. She joins us for a conversation about her career in health care, the work of Fauquier Health, which recently celebrated its centennial anniversary, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Jie Sun, PhD, a professor and researcher at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, whose work focuses on immunology and infectious diseases. Among other things, our conversation explores Dr. Sun’s career, recent research his team published on the long-term impacts of COVID-19, and what that could mean for patient care. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or In...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Dr. K. Singh Sahni, Medical Director of the Neuroscience and Gamma Knife Center at Johnston-Willis Hospital, an HCA Virginia facility. Dr. Sahni is a repeat guest who joins us for a conversation about his work, a recent Gamma Knife surgery milestone, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Hannah Khan, a nurse and clinical research coordinator with the VCU School of Nursing, who joins us to discuss how she overcame her fears to pursue a health care career, a research fellowship at VCU focused on dementia patients, and much more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Tina Buck, a double transplant patient who receives ongoing care from Sentara Health, who joins us to share her story as a 30-year heart transplant survivor, the experience of meeting the family of one of her organ donors, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Mateo Ziu, a neurosurgeon from Inova, who joins the show to tell us about his medical training journey from Europe to America, an innovative new procedure to treat patients with brain tumors, and much more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Steven Munger, PhD, Professor and Co-Director of Research for Otolaryngology at the UVA School of Medicine. He’s joins us to discuss the human senses of taste and smell, how they work together, medical disorders that affect them, the newly launched UVA Center for Smell and Taste Disorders, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsC...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Kimberly Green, who is the Director of Acute Care Services at Chesapeake Regional Healthcare. She joins us to discuss her inspiring story of coming to nursing and advancing into nurse leadership after dropping out of high school, health care workforce development efforts, Chesapeake Regional’s innovative Nurse Draft Day program, and much more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on ...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Jason Papin, PhD, a professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia Medical School, for a conversation about his career, exciting new developments in research on targeted antibiotics, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.