Hanover Hospital Announces New Hospitalist

Officials at Hanover Hospital are pleased to announce that Chintu Sharma, M.D. has recently joined the medical staff as the newest Hospitalist.

A native of the Los Angeles, California, Dr. Sharma received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Molecular and Cell Biology at University of California at Berkeley, in Berkeley, California.  He earned his Medical Degree at Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa; and completed his internship in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Los Angeles County Medical Center & University of Southern California (LAC+USC MC), Los Angeles, California.

Dr. Sharma grew up in an underserved community outside of Los Angeles, which inspired him to do what he could to give back to that community and others like them.  He taught basic science for a year before starting medical school, reaching out to students in a very large school of 5,000 kids “who were lost in a system where learning was not a priority,” he said.  He also worked in free clinics in other low socio-economic neighborhood schools while in medical school, and has made several trips back to see how his former students and classmates are faring.

During his Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency, he was a founding member of the Med/Peds Clinic, which served a population of grandparents acting in the role of parent to their grandchildren.  Many of the adults had medical problems typically found in ethnic, poor, low-socioeconomic communities, such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.  The children had similar health problems, and most were already dealing with obesity.   The clinic became a “transitional” care center, evolving to meet the needs of teens with special medical problems, moving from pediatric to adult level care.

A Hospitalist is a physician with Family or Internal Medicine training who specializes in the care of patients who have been admitted to a hospital.  By being in the hospital during their entire workday, the Hospitalist can closely monitor their patients’ condition, test results and response to treatment, and communicate with the patient’s own primary care provider.    Hospitalists also care for patients who do not have a local physician or whose personal physician is one of the many doctors who choose to limit their practice to an outpatient office.  As of mid-September, a total of five hospitalists will be available to provide 24/7 coverage for patients admitted to Hanover Hospital.

Dr. Sharma is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians, and is also fluent in Spanish and Hindi. He remarked on the “nice team feeling” here and the supportive atmosphere of the medical and hospital staff.  He is pleased to be part of the Hanover community.