Patients Come First

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Holly Mortlock, Deputy Director of External Affairs and Policy with the Virginia Health Insurance Marketplace that is overseen by the State Corporation Commission (SCC). She joins us for a conversation about her professional background, the work of the SCC, Virginia's health insurance marketplace, the recently concluded open enrollment pe...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Wally Smith, a physician at VCU Health who specializes in the treatment of Sickle Cell Disease. He joins us for a conversation about his path to medicine, his work, promising new gene therapy treatments for the disease, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on X (Twitte...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Olga Mazur, a general surgeon at Fauquier Health who specializes in the surgical management of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). She joins us for a conversation about her background, treatment options for severe heartburn, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Dr. Aaron Chevinksy, a surgical oncologist and Director of the oncology service line for the Riverside Cancer Care Network. He joins us for a conversation about cancer and cancer care, how artificial intelligence technology advances are supporting cancer detection, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfp...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Alan Lombardo, Chief Executive Officer of Sheltering Arms Institute, for a conversation about physical therapy, working with seriously wounded military veterans on rehabilitation, the expansion of Sheltering Arms Institute, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or conta...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview Melody Dickerson, Senior Vice President of Hospital Operations and Chief Nursing Officer at VHC Health in Arlington, Virginia. She joins us for a conversation about her work, trauma care, workplace wellness, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on Twitter or I...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview Frankie Stamps, a Fauquier Health patient, for a conversation about how physical and speech therapy, an active lifestyle that include pickleball and skydiving, and medication have helped him manage Parkinson's disease for a decade. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us o...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview Dr. Nassima Ait-Daoud Tiouririne, the director of UVA’s Center for Leading Edge Addiction Research, for a conversation about her work to support individuals with substance use disorder, research and clinical trials on addiction, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or conta...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview Dr. Samuel Schiavone, a psychiatrist with Inova Fairfax Hospital, for a conversation about his work, military servicer, mental health care, the condition of seasonal affective disorder, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on Twitter or Instagram using the #Pa...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Dr. Bergen Nelson, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, for a conversation about her career and past work as a New York City school teacher, some of her areas of research interest, the topic of food insecurity, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Dr. Garry Myers, Director of Graduate Endodontics and an associate professor in the VCU School of Dentistry, for a conversation about his military career, the discipline of endodontics, workforce challenges impacting dentistry, his involvement in the Iditarod dog sled races, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback,...

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Dr. Mark Miller, a professor of orthopaedic surgery and a sports medicine specialist at UVA Health, for a conversation about his military career, work as a collegiate team physician, a book he co-authored on supporting healthy young athletes, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcas...

The latest episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features an interview with UVA School of Medicine professor Daniel J. Cox, PhD, for a conversation about his own journey with type 2 diabetes as well as a grant-funded clinical research study about innovative methods to achieve diabetes remission without weight loss or medication. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to p...

The latest episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Tameka Irving, a community benefit manager at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, for a conversation about her work and the community health programmatic offerings provided by the hospital. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on Twitter or Instagram using the...

The latest episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Erin Davis, a palliative care and med-surge nurse at VCU Community Memorial Hospital, for a conversation about her work and the critical role she played in helping to rescue a family involved in a serious interstate wreck on a rainy summer morning. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodc...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Virginia State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton for a conversation about her career, the work of the Virginia Department of Health, efforts to combat fentanyl abuse, address the behavioral health crisis, flu shots, health care workforce development, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Katie Coleman, a young woman from Texas who was diagnosed with a rare, advanced form of kidney cancer and has used online platforms to document her journey through treatment and recovery. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on Twitter or Instagram using the #Patie...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Dr. Connor Berlin, a UVA Health neurosurgery resident, about his travel to Ukraine to volunteer at a hospital and treat injured soldiers and civilians impacted by combat hostilities. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on Twitter or Instagram using the #PatientsCo...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Katie Hougasian, a young nurse at Lewis Gale Medical Center who suffered a stroke during a work shift, about that experience, her recovery, her efforts to raise awareness about the risk of stroke, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on Twitter or Instagr...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Elise Cope, PhD, an assistant professor in the UVA School of Medicine’s Department of Neuroscience, for a conversation about social memory, the research of the Cope Lab regarding social memory and brain function and cognition, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on Twitte...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features Felicia Wilson, who works with the Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program at Riverside Regional Medical Center, for a conversation about her work, the Riverside Hand-in-Hand program, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact us on Twitter or Instagram using the #PatientsCome...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an inspiring young man from the Richmond area with a real spirit of strength and perseverance. Khalil Watson , who was paralyzed several years ago by an assailant, recently walked across the stage for his college graduation with the aid of assistive mobility technology from Sheltering Arms Institute , where he has been a rehabilitation pa...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Erika Canouse, a physician assistant with Inova Health System who works with neurosurgery patients, for a conversation about her work, background, her family and professional connection to the D.C. United team from MLS, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact u...

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Laura Noonan , a social media personality who uses content creation to get real, in an engaging way, about the difference between the reality and fantasy of being married to a physician. The conversation covers the story of how she and her husband met, what inspired her to share her experience on social media, and more....

This episode of VHHA's Patients Come First podcast features an interview with Leslie Horton, a nurse and certified dog trainer who serves as Inova Health System’s Animal Assisted Care Coordinator, for a conversation about her clinical and canine experience, the role animals can play in helping patients during recovery, and more. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcas...