Hospital Medicine

Welcome to the homepage for the Division of Hospital Medicine, the largest Division within the Department of Internal Medicine and the engine that drives our institution’s clinical and education programs. The fuel for this engine is the exceptional work of our clinicians who specialize in the comprehensive care of hospitalized patients from the moment the decision is made that a patient needs to be admitted through a patient transitioning to home or a non-inpatient facility. With over 100 physicians and advanced practice providers on the team, we meet the needs of our patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year at VCU Medical Center in downtown Richmond, at VCU Tappahannock Hospital in Tappahannock Virginia, and through VCU Health System’s new Hospital at Home program. 

Because of division members expertise in clinical care, we are also critical to the educational efforts and clinical leadership of the institution. We educate the largest number of medical students and internal medicine residents in Virginia while also precepting advanced practice learners and mentoring pre-health students. Many division members are leaders in areas including student education, resident training, continuing education, quality improvement, health system operations, informatics, and scholarship. We are a vibrant community of practitioners committed to providing high-quality, compassionate care, training the next generation of healthcare practitioners, and enhancing the care of our population.

• Mohammed Slahaldin Abdulghani, MD
• Natalia Arana, MD
• Miguel Arrospide, MD
• Alok Baral, MD
• Stephen Biederman, MD – Associate Chief of Quality and Safety, Department of Internal Medicine
• Solomon Bogale, MD 
• Michael Bradley, MD
• Francesca Capanni, MD – Associate Chief of Clinical Operations
• Pooja Chawla, MD – Associate Chief of Clinical Operations
• Melissa Chouinard, MD – Medical Director of Medication Safety, VCU Health System
• Aimee Collins, MD
• Mark Conway, MD
• Bryn Culpepper, MD - Medical Director of Hospital at Home, VCU Medical Center
• Helen Dang, MD, MPH
• Brinn DeMars, DO
• Alan Dow, MD, MSHA - Division Chief
• Shelley Edwards, MD
• Zachary Einarsson, MD
• Butros Fakhoury, MD
• Meles Fanta, MD
• Rebecca E. Forrest, MD – Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program
• Sean Flynn, MD
• Shreya Garg, DO
• Adam Garber, MD – Acting Internship Director, School of Medicine
• Shadi Ghadermarzi, MD – Medical Director, Hospital Medicine at VCU Tappahannock
• David Goldberg, MD
• Margaret Guy, MD - Medical Director, Acute Care Medicine Units, VCU Medical Center
• Ryan Haran, MD
• Julie Harris, MD
• Sarah Hartigan, MD – Director, Medicine Consult Service
• Nicole Hawkins, MD
• Paige Herman, MD
• Amber Jenkins, DO
• David Jessee, MD – Director, Internal Medicine Acting Internship, School of Medicine
• Ajin John, MD
• Tim Johnson, MD – Director, Point-of-Care Ultrasound, Internal Medicine Residency Program
• Jessica L. Keiser, MD – Associate Chief of Clinical Operations, Hospital Medicine and Associate Chief Medical Officer, VCU Medical Center
• Abhay Khashu, MD
• Katherine Le, MD
• Claire Li, MD
• Stanley Liu, MD
• Carolyn Marcelo, MD – Director of Quality, Internal Medicine Residency Program
• Catherine J. Marcelo, MD
• Heather Masters, MD, SFHM, FACP – Interim Chief Medical Officer, VCU Medical Center 
• Georgia N. McIntosh, MD – Associate Chief Quality Officer, VCU Health System
• Evan Meadors, MD – Medical Director, Clinical Documentation Improvement, VCU Medical Center
• Pete D. Meliagros, MD – Associate Program Director for Procedures, Internal Medicine Residency Program
• Dante Merrill, MD
• Sarika S. Modi, MD – Co-Director, Global Health Track, Internal Medicine Residency Program and Clinical Director for the SDoH Education Model
• Leslie Moses, MD
• Myra Nasir, MD
• Charles Nation, III, MD
• Gordon Pace, MD
• Laura E. Paletta-Hobbs, MD – Associate Program Director for Clinical Competency, Internal Medicine Residency Program
• Alex Pandelidis, MD
• Rujuta Pandya, MD
• Priyanka Parajuli, MD
• Kimberly S. Pedram, MD – Associate Chief of Education, Division of Hospital Medicine and Co-Course Director, Practice of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine
• Kyle Pfaff, DO
• Melinda Picard, MD
• Manish Pradhan, MD
• Rabia Qaiser, MD
• Brenda A. Queen, MD – Director, Interprofessional Clinical Simulations, VCU Health Sciences
• Alex Rittenberg, MD – Medical Director, Acute Care Medicine Units, VCU Medical Center and Associate Program Director for Inpatient Care, Internal Medicine Residency Program
• Evan M. Ritter, MD – Medical Director for Informatics, VCU Medical Center
• Jonathan Segars, MD
• Anna Smith, MD
• Tarun Srivastava, DO
• Gopika Suraj, MD
• Areej Syed, MD
• Georgia Thomas, MD, PhD - Interim Associate Chief of Research, Division of Hospital Medicine
• Chandler Walsh, DO
• Melissa Warwick, MD
• Dennis D. Wixted, MD
• Alice Wong, MD – Co-Course Director, Practice of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine
• Niki Yazdani, MD
• Allison Young, MD – Associate Chief Medical Officer, VCU Medical Center

Advanced Practice Providers

• Julia Amantea, ANCP
• Amber Balzer, AGACNP-BC - Clinical Director of Quality and Safety, Hospital Medicine
• Jennifer Beckman, PA
• Krystle Brunson, FNP
• Nicole Carter, FNP - Lead
• Brian Cromer, PA
• Pamela Derby, FNP
• Tim Ford, AGACNP
• Heather Goldston, AGACNP
• Alysson Gordon, ACNP
• Megan Gosnell, NP
• Sarah Hamaker, PA
• Leandra Hemmings, AGACNP
• Karen Hua, NP
• Kim Ketchersid, PA
• Caitlyn Murtha, PA
• Rinequa O'Bannon, ACNPC-AG
• Becca Slocum, NP
• Rebecca Snell, FNP
• Laura Tormey, ACNP
• Alison Wilkins, FNP

Through approximately 30 physicians and 16 advanced practice providers working each day, the Division of Hospital Medicine provides 24-hour clinical care at VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, VCU Tappahannock Hospital in Tappahannock, Virginia, and the Hospital at Home Program. Learn more about the different clinical services below.

The research conducted at the Division of Hospital Medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University is diverse. The diversity of research interests of our hospitalists is reflected in research studies that are currently underway within the Division of Hospital Medicine.

Division of Hospital Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine
Box 980102
Richmond, VA 23298

Division Contacts

Medicine

Alan W. Dow, MD, MSHA
Division Chief
Box 980102
Email: alan.dow@vcuhealth.org

Francesca Capanni, MD
Division Associate Chief for Clinical Operations
Box 980102
Email: francesca.capanni@vcuhealth.org

Kimberly Pedram, MD
Division Associate Chief for Medical Education
Box 980102
Email: kimberly.pedram@vcuhealth.org

Administration

Amanda Marth
Division Administrator
Email: amanda.marth@vcuhealth.org
Phone:  (804) 628-3624

Anna Lupejkis 
Faculty Employment Coordinator  
Email: anna.lupejkis@vcuhealth.org 
Phone: (804) 628-2798