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Health care sector gears up for second Trump administration  

Following ‘s 2024 election win to secure a second term in office, sectors such as are gauging what his victory will mean for their industry over the next four years — and beyond.  

As with a number of topics on the campaign trail, such as immigration, the economy, national security, and more, spoke often about the need to upend the health care industry. He joined forces with longtime skeptic of big pharma, big food, and vaccines, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promoting a message of MAHA (Make America Healthy Again). 

On Nov. 14, Trump nominated RFK Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees several agencies, including the National Institutes of Health. 

“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump wrote in a Nov. 14 post on Truth Social announcing the RFK pick.  

“The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic — and to make America Great and Healthy Again!” 

That nomination was followed by the selection of Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator and the nomination of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a fierce critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates, to lead NIH.  

Other key Cabinet selections in these areas include Dr. Marty Makary to helm the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for Surgeon General, and Dave Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

So what does this all mean in practical terms for the health care industry?  

“The Trump administration is expected to shift toward deregulation and a market-driven system that could alter the landscape of health care in a manner reminiscent of his previous term while also addressing contemporary conservative priorities such as the ‘America First’ agenda,” PwC wrote in a post-election analysis of the potential health care agenda. “The administration is likely to prioritize reducing federal oversight and regulatory burdens, aiming to foster competition and innovation.” 

PwC noted that while the primary focus of the administration may not focus on health care during the first 100 days, Republican leaders have cited both the cost of health care and health care transparency as priorities to be addressed. 

“Likewise, comments from President-elect Trump in late October indicate strong interest in addressing chronic disease and introducing reforms to the FDA such as addressing funding from User Fee Negotiations. As such, we may see movement during early days of the term; the exact approach is unclear,” PwC explained. “The Trump campaign also outlined a series of initiatives aimed at reshaping various aspects of the health care industry and broader economic policies that could become administration priorities. These initiatives can be grouped into four primary buckets: deregulation, flexibility/choice, accessibility, and national security.” 

Following the election outcome, a number of the industry’s top trade groups and associations expressed a desire to work with the new administration. 

“The AHA and America’s and health systems congratulate President-elect Trump and look forward to working with him and his incoming administration to make progress on the many critical issues facing the health care field and the patients and communities we proudly serve,” the American Hospital Association said, pointing to priorities such as ensuring access to coverage, enhancing the quality and affordability of care, and more.  

“We stand ready to work with the new administration and Congress to strengthen health care for all people by protecting Medicaid and other programs that help working families and others stay well and productive,” America’s Essential Hospitals said in a statement. 

The reality is that the situation is complicated — as several of the potential appointees have been critics of the very agencies they are leading and have vowed radical changes, which creates a tricky environment for organizations to navigate. 

Many of the sources and organizations that BridgeTower Media spoke with for this story were in wait-and-see mode as things play out — with many opting not to speak on the record about the fluid situation.  

Those who did are hopeful of finding common ground on key issues.  

“Northwell looks forward to working with the incoming administration in public awareness and education efforts aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and raising health for all,” New York-based Northwell Health told BridgeTower. “That obligation is a core mission of all of America’s health care providers.” 

BioNJ is New Jersey’s life sciences trade association, dedicated to discovering, developing and delivering life-changing medicines that bring hope to patients and their families worldwide. 

Debbie Hart

“During the last Trump administration, BioNJ worked closely with federal partners to advance policies that foster innovation, support patients, and sustain our industry’s global leadership,” said Debbie Hart, BioNJ president and CEO. “We are committed to continuing this collaboration with the incoming administration and Congress to address the challenges facing our , drive breakthrough innovation, and ensure that every patient has timely access to effective treatments and that U.S. economic competitiveness and national security are bolstered. Because Patients Can’t Wait.” 

“There’s a lot at stake for American health care — and American health — in the Presidential transition,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a public health expert from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “As the priorities and actions of the new administration come into focus, I hope that policy choices are made with the public interest in mind and evidence of what works and what does not close at hand.” 

Matthew Fazelpoor is a staff writer for NJBIZ. Contact him at [email protected]. 

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STARTVIRGINIA: HEARD AROUND VIRGINIA

The second CvilleBioHub Device & Tech Expo will take place Jan. 30 at Northfork Research Park in Charlottesville. Registration is open, and participating companies include Luna Labs, Inbio, Cutagenesis, BrightSpec and others. Tickets are available at cvillebiohub.org. (News release)

Joining a number of other Northern in the growing drone space, D-Fend Solutions, a cybersecurity and counter-drone technology company with offices in McLean and Israel, announced in December 2024 that it has raised $31 million in a new investment round. Financing was led by Israel Growth Partners, with participation from Vertex Ventures and Vertex Growth. IGP General Partner Uri Erde joins D-Fend’s board with this investment. (News release)

McLean-based Integral , a national security-focused IT contractor, has acquired Reston IT services company Pragmatics, the latest in a recent string of M&A deals in the space. Terms of the deal, announced in November 2024, were not disclosed. Integral serves the FBI and U.S. Department of State, while Pragmatics’ customers include the Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security and Transportation departments. (DC Inno)

Loudoun Economic Development announced the winners of the 2024 Loudoun Innovation Challenge in December 2024 at an awards gala at Belmont Country Club. Emtel , Measured Risk, SkyRFID, noHack and Vasc Risk are this year’s winners, and noHack was the overwhelming winner of the People’s Choice Award, for which the won $10,000. (News release)

Richmond fintech Paymerang is staffing up its sales and operations teams and continuing its integration with Corpay after being acquired in May 2024. While it’s now part of a global payments company that posted $3.8 billion in 2023 revenue and $1.3 billion in net income, Paymerang plans to stay rooted in Richmond, according to CEO Nasser Chandra. (Richmond Inno)

McLean-based fintech Range has just raised $28 million to help it bring artificial intelligence to the forefront of the wealth management industry. San Francisco firm Cathay Innovation led the Series B for 3-year-old Range. Gradient Ventures — Google’s AI-focused seed-stage fund — and other unnamed investors also took part, according to the late November 2024 announcement. (Washington Journal)

Charlottesville cybersecurity company RIIG closed a $3 million to accelerate the formal launch of its AI-powered technologies in 2025 and expand its headcount. The funding was led by Felton Group, a family office of Jaffray Woodriff, the CEO of Charlottesville hedge fund Quantitative Investment Management and a prominent donor to the . RIIG’s founder and CEO, Denver Riggleman, represented Virginia’s 5th District in Congress. (Richmond Inno)

Dulles-based software company Unanet acquired Washington, D.C.’s GovPro AI, Unanet announced in late November 2024. The company, which provides project-based enterprise resource planning and customer management software for government contractors and the private sector, did not disclose financial details of the transaction. GovPro AI provides AI-powered proposal writing platforms for government contractors. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Zennify, a California-based technology consultancy specializing in financial services, announced in November 2024 that it has acquired Richmond’s Terazo, a digital engineering firm specializing in AI and application development. Financial terms were not disclosed. Zennify said the acquisition will combine its depth across platforms such as Salesforce, nCino and Data Bricks. Tercera, an investor in both companies, will continue to support the combined business. (News release)

FOR THE RECORD JANUARY 2025

CENTRAL

The City of Richmond and Health plan to use a third-party mediator to settle their real estate dispute. VCU Health in 2021 agreed to pay the city $56 million as part of a deal to redevelop the former Public Safety Building plot. The deal never happened, and VCU Health agreed to pay $73 million to bow out. However, the state budget approved by legislators and Gov. Glenn Youngkin directed the health system to attempt to terminate its payments to the city. VCU Health did not make its payment earlier in 2024 to the city and has indicated it does not intend to do so moving forward, leading to frustration at City Hall. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

A former Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond examiner pleaded guilty to committing insider trading and making false statements about his trading to the Richmond Fed in November 2024. Robert Brian Thompson, 43, of Chesterfield County’s Moseley area, was an examiner and senior manager with supervisory duties for the Richmond Fed, where he worked from 2004 through about May 2024. Thompson used confidential information about seven publicly traded financial institutions that are under the Richmond Fed’s supervision when executing trades from October 2020 to February 2024, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, completing 69 trades and reaping approximately $771,678 in profits. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

JobGet, a Boston-based hourly jobs listings platform, announced in mid-November 2024 it had acquired rival platform Snagajob in Glen Allen. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Snagajob will operate as a standalone entity within JobGet, creating the United States’ largest hourly workforce job platform. With the acquisition, JobGet boasted in a news release that it now reaches over 100 million hourly workers, covering nearly the entire hourly workforce in the U.S. The two companies will have more than 100 employees when combined, according to JobGet cofounder and CEO Tony Liu. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Mesa Capital Partners, an Atlanta investment firm, purchased a 234-unit apartment complex in Chesterfield County’s Brandermill area for $59 million in November 2024. Known as the Commonwealth Apartments, the 11-acre property at 5401 Commonwealth Centre Parkway has about eight four- and five-story buildings. Mesa bought the property from Richmond’s CMB Development, which built the complex in 2022. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Mechanicsville-based Fortune 500 logistics and supply company Owens & Minor filed a federal lawsuit against Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in late November 2024, claiming that the Henrico County insurer mismanaged funds for Owens & Minor’s employee health insurance plan and allegedly violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. According to the complaint, Owens & Minor requested its insurance plan’s claims data in September 2021, but Anthem did not provide the information until July 2024, after Owens & Minor sued the insurer. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

PEOPLE

Dominion Chief Operating Officer Diane Leopold plans to retire from the Fortune 500 utility this summer after working for nearly four decades in the industry, she announced in early December 2024. Leopold, who will remain as COO and executive vice president until she steps down on June 1, oversees major construction projects such as Dominion’s $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project under construction off the coast of Virginia Beach, and Charybdis, the first U.S.-built wind turbine installation vessel. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

EASTERN VIRGINIA

Virginia Beach-based drone delivery company DroneUp has received a Federal Aviation Administration certificate that will allow it to grow its delivery operations. In early December 2024, the company announced it had received an FAA approval that lets DroneUp carry third-party property as an air carrier and to fly drones up to 5 miles without maintaining a visual line of sight. Founder and CEO Tom Walker says the certificate “allows us to scale much, much quicker.” DroneUp plans to start expanding air carrier operations in the first quarter of 2025. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

There’s a chance of icy conditions ahead for the Military Circle mall redevelopment project. A sports tourism consultant has determined a tournament-caliber ice rink complex is the biggest opportunity for a potential redevelopment project, Norfolk Economic Development Director Sean Washington told City Council members during a November 2024 retreat. An ice complex for figure skating and hockey would attract visitors from across the region and help differentiate the complex from competitors Virginia Beach Sports Center and the Williamsburg Sports and Events Center, consultant firm Victus Advisors says. (The Virginian-Pilot)

A subsidiary of Smithfield Foods agreed in November 2024 to pay $2 million to settle allegations it hired children to work at a meat packaging plant in Minnesota. According to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Smithfield’s operation in Minnesota allegedly employed at least 11 children between the ages of 14 and 17 during the audit period of April 2021 through April 2023. All 11 children “performed hazardous work for Smithfield,” the state department said. Smithfield, which did not admit liability, contested the state’s claims and said it screens all new hires through E-Verify. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Virginia Beach has agreed to give Something in the Water up to $500,000 for the April 2025 festival, but only if organizers meet specific goals and are transparent in the planning. A contract was signed in mid-November 2024, giving an initial $100,000 to the festival started by native son and music mogul Pharrell Williams. To receive the next $200,000, the festival must give the city a lineup list by Dec. 31, 2024, then complete a “promoter’s special event permit application” for the final $200,000 installment. In September 2024, Williams postponed the October 2024 festival within hours of tickets going on sale. (The Virginian-Pilot)

PEOPLE

The American Association of Port Authorities announced in November 2024 that Stephen Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, has been elected to a two-year term on the AAPA’s board. The association represents more than 130 public port authorities in the Americas. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Scott Martin was selected as CEO of the Fort Monroe Authority in late November 2024, chosen out of 257 applicants. He will step into the shoes of inaugural CEO Glenn Oder, who retired at the end of September 2024 after 13 years. Martin grew up in Hopewell and worked in Petersburg as an interpretive park ranger. He most recently served as administrator of Chattanooga Parks & Outdoors in Tennessee. (WHRO)

Sean Tibbetts is set to become Armada Hoffler Properties‘ CEO on Jan. 1, earlier than previously announced. In February 2024, the Virginia Beach real estate investment trust announced that it expected to name Tibbetts, its chief operating officer and president, as CEO in the spring of 2025, upon the retirement of Louis Haddad, who will remain executive chairman of the board. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

AeroVironment, an Arlington County defense contractor, announced in late November 2024 it will purchase aerospace and defense tech firm BlueHalo, also based in Arlington, for approximately $4.1 billion in an all-stock transaction. BlueHalo is owned by private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners and works in space technologies, counter-uncrewed aircraft systems, directed energy, electronic warfare, cyber, artificial intelligence and uncrewed underwater vehicles. In 2022, the company won a $1.4 billion contract from the U.S. Space Force to modernize satellite operations. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Arlington-based Boeing said in federal filings in November 2024 that it would lay off more than 2,500 workers in the United States as part of its plan to cut 17,000 jobs, or 10% of its global workforce. The affected workers are in Washington, Oregon, South Carolina and Missouri, and they will stay on the payroll until Jan. 17, to comply with federal requirements to notify employees at least 60 days prior to ending their employment. (Reuters)

Three Inova Health entities agreed to pay more than $2.37 million to settle claims that Inova submitted Medicaid claims containing falsified information, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced in November 2024. The health system disclosed to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Virginia Attorney General’s Office that in 2020, it submitted claims to Medicaid for reimbursement with improperly modified documentation. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

MicroStrategy, the Tysons-based tech company chaired by bitcoin whale Michael Saylor, has pursued bitcoin as an investment strategy since 2020. Now, it appears to have paid off as bitcoin breached the $10,000 threshold in early December 2024. On Dec. 5, bitcoins were trading for $101,293.94, according to Coinbase, the nation’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. That week, MicroStrategy spent roughly $2.1 billion to add 21,550 bitcoins to its stash, which was worth close to $41.5 billion at the time, according to regulatory filings. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Herndon-based federal contractor Paragon Systems agreed in November 2024 to pay $52 million to resolve allegations by the U.S. Department of Justice that Paragon used its own subsidiaries to fraudulently win small business set-aside contracts, violating the federal False Claims and Anti-Kickback acts. The department said former top officials at Paragon allegedly directed female relatives and friends to “serve as figurehead owners of purported small businesses” to win contracts from the Department of Homeland Security that were meant to go to woman-owned small businesses and other small businesses. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

A Democratic state delegate and a Republican schools activist won firehouse primaries in Loudoun County in November 2024, teeing up a Jan. 7 special election between the two to fill an open Virginia State Senate seat being vacated by Suhas Subramanyam as he moves to Congress. Del. Kannan Srinivasan, a Democrat, will face Tumay Harding, a Republican former teacher and vocal critic of the county’s school system. Subramanyam takes office in January to succeed U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who did not run again because of health issues. (The Washington Post)

PEOPLE

Mark Clouse, president and CEO of food giant The Campbell’s Co., will be the Washington Commanders‘ next team president, the Ashburn-based NFL team announced in December 2024. He will replace Jason Wright, the NFL’s first Black team president, in late January. In October 2024, Campbell’s partnered with sports management company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment as an official corporate partner to the company’s four pro sports teams, which includes the Commanders. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

ROANOKE/LYNCHBURG/NEW RIVER VALLEY

Appalachian Power welcomed residents and elected officials to an open house in Lynchburg in December 2024, where company representatives answered questions about plans to bring a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) project to Campbell County, a few miles down the James River from Lynchburg. Each SMR that Appalachian Power chooses to build at the Joshua Falls site would likely be between 70 megawatts and 300 megawatts, an official from American Electric Power, Appalachian Power’s parent company, said. (The News & Advance)

Cave Spring developer Alexander Boone withdrew his request to rezone the Poage Farm property in Roanoke County in December 2024. He was seeking to build 138 town homes, 11 single-family homes and a commercial center there. Boone purchased the land from the county’s public schools for $1.1 million, but neighbors were concerned about traffic and the impact of the development on the area’s rural character. (The Roanoke Times; news release)

When Roanoke residents need a kidney transplant, the closest option is the , a two-hour drive up interstates 81 and 64. For patients in far Southwest Virginia, the trip is even longer. Carilion Clinic cited the geographical barrier when proposing a kidney transplant program in Roanoke. State health officials, however, recommended denial of the application, referencing a letter of opposition from the University of Virginia Center. That letter focused largely on concerns that another kidney transplant center close to U.Va. would divert patients away from its program. (Cardinal News)

Developers plan to invest $50 million into a project to revitalize the property where Walker Machine and Foundry sat to capitalize on the site’s proximity to the Roanoke River Greenway, according to Greg Kaknes, a retired businessman. In January, Kaknes will ask the City of Roanoke to rezone about 12 acres of industrial land for a mixed-use development, that could include an apartment complex, a restaurant and pickleball courts, according to plans filed with the city. Kaknes said he envisions renovating buildings, as well as adding small single-family homes. (Roanoke Rambler)

Peter Treiber, a member of Roanoke College‘s class of 1979, and his wife, Irene, recently committed $1 million to his alma mater to create the Treiber Center for Curricular Innovation, which will be an integral part of the college’s new endeavor Roanoke College-Roanoke Valley (RC-RV), the college announced Dec. 3, 2024. The goal of RC-RV is to allow Roanoke College to adapt quickly to the educational needs of employees in Roanoke Valley industries. It will offer workplace development, continuing education and flexible learning opportunities. (News release)

PEOPLE

When Collin McLaughlin started work Nov. 1, 2024, as CEO of LewisGale Medical Center, he became the Salem hospital’s fifth leader in 10 years. Previous CEOs have retired, returned to their home state or moved on to other or positions in the HCA network, of which LewisGale is a member. McLaughlin was previously CEO of Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas. (The Roanoke Times)

Valmarie Turner, who’s currently a deputy city manager in Fairfax, was hired from among 40 applicants after a nationwide search to be Roanoke‘s new city manager. The first Black city manager in Roanoke’s history, Turner succeeds Bob Cowell, who resigned in June 2024 after seven years on the job. (Cardinal News)

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Winchester-based Coldwell Banker Premier has acquired Virginia Beach-based Coldwell Banker Now, merging into a brokerage with a combined $600 million sales volume in 2023. Coldwell Banker Premier did not disclose financial details of the merger, which it announced Nov. 18, 2024. The combined real estate company is the second-fastest growing Coldwell Banker franchise in the nation over the last five years and the second largest in the mid-Atlantic region, according to RealTrends Verified. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in December 2024 to accept new proffers from Northern Virginia developer Emad Saadeh promising to build 55,000 square feet of neighborhood shops next to the Stonehaven development at Clevenger’s Corner. Residents of the planned 770-home neighborhood were in favor of nearby shops and restaurants. Saadeh promised no data centers would be built as part of his commercial project. (Culpeper Star-Exponent)

Former Augusta County-based Nexus Services executive Richard Moore was scheduled to go on trial Dec. 2, 2024, in the U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg, but the trial was postponed until Jan. 6. In 2021, federal authorities charged Moore with 10 counts of tax fraud after he was accused of failing to pay more than $1.5 million in Social Security, Medicare and federal taxes from the pay of his employees and not sending the money to the IRS. Authorities now allege Moore reportedly continued to bilk the IRS up until early 2024, resulting in six more federal charges filed against him in September 2024. (Staunton News Leader)

Rutter’s broke ground on its first Virginia site, located in Winchester, the Pennsylvania-based privately held convenience store chain announced in December 2024. The company first announced the Virginia location in July 2024 and expects to open it in mid-2025. Located at the intersection of Route 50 and Covestone Drive, the convenience store will be 13,500 square feet and will be open 24 hours a day. (CSP Daily News)

Sentara Health launched its Mobile Care Clinic in late November 2024. The health system debuted the clinic in Harrisonburg’s Northeast neighborhood to offer free prostate cancer blood screenings and education. The clinic’s mission is to deliver care to people with Medicaid or without insurance in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Initially, the mobile clinic will make weekly stops at the Church of the Nazarene to offer primary care. In the future, the clinic expects to add regular visits to the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center. (Daily News-Record)

Valley Health has renamed its Heart & Vascular Center at Winchester Medical Center in recognition of “a generous donation” to its Stronger Together capital campaign. The health system renamed the center the Clyde A. Smith Heart & Vascular Center in a dedication ceremony on Nov. 24, 2024. The founder of Valley Proteins, Smith’s “life was impacted by heart disease,” according to a Valley Health news release. (The Winchester Star)

Virginia Military Institute and a prospective student have settled a lawsuit that the prospective student filed, in which she alleged a cadet sexually assaulted her in the Lexington school’s barracks during an overnight “Open House” event. The parties settled the suit in a private mediation session in Roanoke’s federal court in November 2024. The alleged incident happened in September 2021 during a two-day event in which high school students considering VMI were encouraged to visit the state-supported military school. (The Roanoke Times)

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA

The $750 million Caesars Virginia resort in Danville delayed its grand opening by five days to Dec. 17, 2024, Nevada’s Caesars Entertainment announced in early December 2024. Also announced was an appearance by retired Chicago Bulls basketball star and five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman, who was set to lead a parade of racecars and make a “ceremonial first bet” in Caesars Sportsbook. The 587,000-square-foot casino and resort hotel replaces the temporary Caesars casino that opened nearby in 2023. The casino will be the state’s third permanent casino and the most expensive yet. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Cambridge Pavers, a New Jersey-based manufacturer of pavers, slabs and wall systems, will invest $47.35 million to establish a 150,000-square-foot facility at Ringgold East Industrial Park in Pittsylvania County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Dec. 6, 2024. Virginia competed with North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Massachusetts for the project, which is expected to create 55 jobs. Cambridge Pavers, which boasts seven other manufacturing facilities and employs 370 workers, manufactures hardscape products for patios, landscaping and pool decks. The facility is expected to be operational in 18 to 24 months. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Members of Danville City Council unanimously voted to rezone about 22 acres from Highway Retail Commercial to Multifamily Residential for J. Cubas Holdings to develop a residential complex including condos and housing for elderly and assisted living residents at Goodyear Boulevard. Developer Joe Cubas hopes to construct 240 condominium units and 180 assisted-living units on the property. Cubas is also the developer behind a project to build 303 single-family units on 101 acres at Jenny Lane off Goodyear Boulevard. The council approved that project in January 2024. (Danville Register & Bee)

Members of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors awarded Haymes Brothers, a Chatham grading, excavating and construction firm, a $3.97 million contract Nov. 19, 2024, to repair the Ringgold Rail Trail’s Sandy Creek Bridge, which was damaged by flood waters from Tropical Storm Michael in 2018. For the past six years, runners, hikers and cyclists have not been able to use the 5.5 mile trail in its entirety because the bridge is unsafe. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the county are sharing the cost of the repair. The project is expected to be completed in late 2026. (News release)

Morgan Olson paid back a $500,000 Virginia Port Authority grant Nov. 20, 2024, after the Michigan-based manufacturer of walk-in step vans failed to employ an agreed-upon number of workers at its facility at the Cane Creek Centre Industrial Park in Pittsylvania County. In October 2019, the company announced plans to invest $57.8 million to bring it operations and 703 jobs to a former Ikea facility located outside Danville. Morgan Olson laid off 435 employees at Cane Creek Centre in 2023 and an additional 130 in August 2024. VPA asked the company to repay the grant Sept. 25, 2024. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Teal-Jones, a Canadian-based forest products company, suspended its pine products operation in Henry County in November. Company officials did not respond for comment Dec. 6, 2024, but Henry County Administrator Dale Wagoner confirmed that the county had recently been notified by local company officials that production was being suspended temporarily as the parent company in Canada mitigates a companywide bankruptcy filing. Wagoner said despite the financial stress of the industry, it was his understanding that the Horsepasture operation was profitable and is still considered to be a vital part of the parent company’s portfolio. (Martinsville Bulletin)

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

The Anne & Gene Worrell Foundation has made a five-year commitment totaling $640,000 to support the regional humanities center that opened Dec. 2, 2024, at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Virginia Humanities, the state humanities council, announced the commitment on Dec. 3, 2024. The council is launching several new regional humanities centers headquartered within existing regional organizations; the Virginia Humanities at UVA Wise is housed within the school’s Center for Appalachian Studies. The center will focus on telling the region’s stories and connecting cultural nonprofits with grant funding. (Cardinal News)

Duchess Dairy will invest approximately $895,000 to expand its dairy processing operations in
Wythe County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Dec. 12, 2024. The family-owned dairy manufacturer currently has a premium bottled milk line and plans to add a churned butter production line. The Huffard family and Joe Blakenship formed Duchess Diary Products in 2010 and began processing and bottling milk from their herds. The company produces about 7,000 gallons of traditional and flavored milk per week, and its products are sold in retail stores across Southern and Southwest Virginia. (News release)

Gov. Glenn Youngkin submitted a request Nov. 15, 2024, to President Joe Biden, President-elect and congressional appropriators for $4.4 billion to aid Southwest Virginia’s recovery from flooding and other damage caused by Hurricane Helene. The funding would support rebuilding and recovery efforts across 36 localities. Across the region, the storm resulted in more than $2 billion in direct and indirect economic damages, according to a Virginia Economic Development Partnership analysis. As of Nov. 12, 2024, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had received nearly 10,000 applications for individual assistance and almost 3,000 requests for damaged or destroyed home inspections. (Bristol Herald Courier)

More than 110,000 people visited the permanent Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol in the first roughly two weeks after its Nov. 14, 2024, grand opening. Of those visitors, 58,000 came during its opening weekend. From Nov. 14 to Nov. 16, the hotel reported 99% occupancy. In the 12 days after its grand opening, the casino paid out more than $12 million in jackpots, including more than $7.3 million on opening weekend. The new facility had a sharp increase in visitors from Roanoke; Atlanta; Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina. (Bristol Herald Courier)

The partners in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol purchased a 13-acre former industrial site across from the casino for $7 million. United Co. and Par Ventures bought the property through a limited liability company, Exit 1 Development, from Nulife Glass VA Realty. The casino partners are currently using the site, located at the corner of Catherine Street and Gate City Highway, for employee parking. “The reason for the purchase is to be prepared, in advance, to meet future growth demands, as they may arise,” said Andy Poarch, a spokesperson for the casino. (Cardinal News)

Wrap Technologies, an Arizona-based public safety and defense technology company, is locating its manufacturing and distribution base in Norton’s Project Intersection industrial park, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Nov. 22, 2024. The company will occupy a new, 20,000-square-foot building at Project Intersection, where U.S. Route 23 and Highway 58 meet. In August, a $10.4 million EarthLink call center became the industrial park’s first tenant. Wrap Technologies CEO Scot Cohen said in an interview that the new plant will be ready by late 2025, but Wrap will be starting production in early 2025 in a temporary local facility. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Virginia’s Top Doctors 2025: Hospice and Palliative

Dr. Joshua S. Barclay
Health – Palliative Care Clinic
Charlottesville

Dr. Leslie J. Blackhall
UVA Health – Palliative Care Clinic
Charlottesville

Dr. Sarah A. DeWitt
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
Roanoke

Dr. Cara A. Jennings
Bon Secours Palliative Medicine
Richmond

Dr. Ying Li
Palliative Care Specialists
Norfolk

Dr. Mary Lucchesi
Bon Secours Palliative Medicine
Richmond

Dr. Vishwas J. Patel
Bon Secours Palliative Care
Portsmouth

Dr. Kimberly M. St. Jean
Sentara Palliative Care Specialists
Norfolk

Dr. Christi A. Stewart
Carilion Clinic Center for Healthy Aging
Roanoke

2025 Virginia’s Top Doctors contents page

Biz schools prep students for private equity careers

Explosive growth in private financing markets in recent years has opened new career opportunities, and several of ‘s schools are expanding curricula and extracurricular activities to help students land in-demand jobs at private equity and firms.

Assets in the private market are projected to grow at more than double the rate of public markets, reaching as much as $65 trillion by 2032, according to an August 2024 estimate from global management consulting firm Bain & Company. As the finance segment is growing, so too are the number of associated jobs, along with interest from students interested in careers in private equity.

To prepare the next generation of leaders in these fast-growing segments of finance, the ‘s launched three initiatives in 2021. Focusing on venture capital, real estate and private equity, the trio of initiatives are designed to expand classroom learning, experiential learning and networking opportunities. And they represent some of the biggest changes Darden has made to adapt to the growth in private markets since 2019, when Rodney Sullivan became executive director of Darden’s Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management, which oversees the initiatives.

“It was pretty clear that the asset management industry was at an inflection point, and it was a great opportunity for Darden to position ourselves in a way to support careers and learning in private capital and to become known for this,” Sullivan. “If we didn’t do this, it would be noticeably absent.”

Other business schools across the commonwealth have similarly taken notice of the shifting dynamics in private and public markets, including the Pamplin College of Business at , the ‘s Robins School of Business, the Costello College of Business at George Mason University and the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business.

“We are making tweaks to our curricula to make sure that students are well aware of the functioning of the private capital markets, as well as our more traditional emphasis on the public trading markets in capital markets,” notes Steven Beach, a professor of practice at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College. Such changes, he says, are in anticipation of an expected growing demand among students to pursue careers in the private market.

Adding new coursework focused on venture capital and private equity is a logical starting point, though business schools also seek other ways to help students forge paths to these careers. Experiential learning opportunities, including clubs and other extracurricular activities, can give students more real-world experience before they enter the business world. Finally, by leveraging their extensive alumni networks, business schools can help students make valuable connections that may help open doors after graduation — or further down the road.

Virginia Tech is tweaking its curricula to teach students about private capital markets, says Steven Beach, a Pamplin College of Business professor. Photo

Coursework is key

Many Virginia business schools have increased coursework focused on private equity and venture capital in recent years. That’s a response both to the shifting dominance of private markets and interest among students.

“You hear a lot of students, because of the opportunities that are opening up, they’re very interested to understand the industry dynamics,” says Rashed Hasan, an executive in residence at George Mason’s Costello College of Business who teaches an MBA course on venture capital. What’s more, there are “a bunch of different offerings” at the university that are also available to undergrads or students pursuing a master’s degree in finance.

Likewise, U.Va.’s Darden School has ramped up the number of courses focused on venture capital and private equity in response to growing demand among students. This year, Elena Loutskina and Rus Abuzov, professors of business administration in Darden’s finance department, will offer new courses on private equity and venture capital, respectively. Loutskina’s course will focus on the investment phase and financial intricacies of deal-making in private equity, while Abuzov’s goal is to equip students with the skills needed to make informed investment decisions in early-stage investing.

“The amount of effort that is dedicated to helping students prepare better for careers in venture capital, private equity or as entrepreneurs is very big at Darden,” notes Abuzov. These new courses, along with current offerings and experiential learning opportunities, may also appeal to students who wind up in very different roles postgraduation. “If you’re a C-suite person, it’s going to be important that you understand these markets,” Sullivan adds.

Pathway to private markets

Even if graduates of bachelor’s and master’s degree programs are eager to jump into private equity and venture capital, they often face an obstacle beyond their control. That’s because many of these firms have yet to veer from a long-held preference to hire people who already have a few years of experience, often at investment banks or consulting firms or as proven entrepreneurs.

“Private equity and venture capital are very, very competitive to get into out of undergrad,” notes Cory Bunting, director of capital markets at ‘s .

What’s key is helping students land a first job that feeds into a second job in private markets, adds Michael Kender, a professor of practice at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin. Helping to place students in roles at major investment banks or consulting firms can lead to those second jobs in private markets. And both universities have seen success in raising their profiles within the industry in recent years.

Compared with five to 10 years ago, a broader range of recruiters now descend on Richmond each year to recruit VCU grads, Bunting notes. “We want to grow our reputation so that more private equity and venture capital firms see VCU as a target for recruitment,” he says, adding administrators are “pleased” with the progress they’ve made in recent years.

Likewise, Virginia Tech has made progress breaking into the big, New York-based investment banks that often have a list of schools they’ve targeted for recruitment for decades. “You don’t crack into those overnight,” Kender says.

But the progress in recent years is notable, Beach adds. “Virginia Tech has done an incredible job in the finance program in growing enrollments and the number of graduates dramatically over the last 10- [to] 15-year time frame while also raising the profile and access for our students to potential investment banking placements and the like.”

Alumni advantage

Alumni are a crucial component in providing a leg up for some of these Virginia-based business schools to better compete with prestigious Ivy League schools that enjoy a great deal of name recognition.

Bringing in alumni who work in the industry generates a lot of excitement and lively conversation in the classroom because students can learn about the real-life challenges they face, says George Mason’s Hasan.

Yannis Bellos, an associate professor in the college, agrees: “In my electives, I make sure that I do bring [in] alums who work in this space, and this is always the highlight of the course. The students love connecting with the alums and learning about how they’re implementing things.”

But it can also be helpful to meet alumni where they work. Virginia Tech faculty members take students on field trips from Blacksburg to New York, Charlotte, North Carolina, Richmond and Northern Virginia to connect personally with alumni. The path to a career in venture capital looks much different than private equity, Beach says, and networking is “so critical” for students. “Our Hokie network is very strong,” he says.

U.Va. alumni are likewise an “amazing” resource for students, and they pitch in to help with career coaching and job placement or come back to Charlottesville to share some of their experience, Sullivan says. Alumni also play an integral role in Darden’s Friday learning series focused on venture capital and private equity — informal classes that allow students to dive deeper into these topics, he adds.

For students who want to skip a traditional first-step job in investment banking, it’s particularly helpful to see examples of students who have done just that. Some graduates of the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business have gone straight into private equity roles after graduation, according to Joe Farizo, an assistant professor of finance. On field trips to New York, students have an opportunity to meet with alumni to learn more about their careers — and what’s possible, he adds. “We really are proud of what they’ve been able to do.”

In addition to providing further context to what’s taught in courses, networking with alumni is valuable for job hunting. When Eloise Richter came to Richmond, she was thinking about a potential career in marketing until she took a finance course Farizo teaches that sparked her interest in private equity. “I loved that class,” she says.

But she took the course during the second semester of her sophomore year — when investment banks are already recruiting interns for the following summer — and Richter says she felt “late to the game” compared with peers who already had their eyes on a career in private equity. Still, she persisted in scouring listings for summer internships at private equity firms.

“They’re pretty far and few between,” Richter says of internship opportunities open to undergrads. She credits “a little bit of luck” to finding an internship at NewSpring, a midsized private equity firm based in Philadelphia. She asked Farizo if he knew any Richmond grads who worked there, and he put her in touch with two analysts whom she was able to ask about the hiring process for interns.

Richter worked that internship in summer 2024 and, just a few weeks after she graduates in May, she will rejoin the firm as a private equity analyst. “I’m really excited about this job,” she says.

Experiential edge

All the business schools interviewed for this story offer students an opportunity to get some real-world experience — even before they land an internship — via student-managed investment funds or clubs. In these extracurricular groups, students invest real endowment money.

As general manager of Richmond’s fund, Richter says the experience aligns with her future career in private equity because the thought process of evaluating companies is similar — and she also can hone skills like writing an investment thesis and pitching to a group.

Participating in these schools’ clubs or funds offers valuable experience and networking opportunities, notes Bunting. What’s more, doing so can bolster students’ résumés, giving them another advantage when job hunting, Kender adds.

George Mason faculty actively seek out opportunities to provide students with real-world experiences that complement what they’re learning in class. “We are very intentionally supporting and doubling down on experiential learning,” Bellos says.

For students interested in careers in venture capital, entrepreneurship clubs or other on-campus initiatives can be valuable because many firms recruit successful entrepreneurs or people who have startup experience. The Spider Business Hub at the Robins School of Business is an opportunity for budding venture capitalists to work with Richmond-area businesses and learn about some of the challenges they face, Farizo says. “We think that all of this combined is an integrated and comprehensive way to prepare them for private equity and venture capital.”

Experiential learning also is a cornerstone of Darden’s education model, along with networking and coursework. The initiatives the school has launched in recent years focusing on venture capital and private equity are part of a broader mission to create curricular and co-curricular opportunities to expand networking and job opportunities for students, Loutskina says.

“We’re thinking about building a well-rounded leader,” Loutskina says. “My goal is to help students find a productive career to be happy.”

Directory of business schools in Virginia

Virginia’s Top Doctors 2025: Radiation Oncology

Dr. Harold C. Agbahiwe
Cancer Specialists
Fairfax

Dr. Douglas W. Arthur
Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
Richmond

Dr. David Buck
Blue Ridge Cancer Care
Roanoke

Dr. Christopher R. Chipko
Radiation Oncology Associates
Richmond

Dr. Edwin F. Crandley
Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at
Norfolk

Dr. Laurie W. Cuttino
Virginia Radiation Oncology Associates
Richmond

Dr. Emma C. Fields
VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
Richmond

Dr. Timothy Harris
VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
Richmond

Dr. Robert L. Hong
Arlington & Reston Radiation Oncology
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Dr. Heather A. Jones
Virginia Oncology Associates
Norfolk

Dr. Samir P. Kanani
Inova Loudoun Hospital
Leesburg

Dr. Song Kang
Virginia Oncology Associates
Hampton

Dr. Lang Robertson Liebman
Radiation Oncology Associates
Richmond

Dr. Monica M. Morris
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Dr. Nadim M. Nasr
Arlington & Reston Radiation Oncology
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Dr. Michele A. Nedelka
Bon Secours Oncology Specialists
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Dr. J. Daniel Pennington
Radiation Oncology Associates
Richmond

Dr. Bridget A. Quinn
VCU Health
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Dr. David Randolph
Virginia Radiation Oncology Associates
Richmond

Dr. Paul W. Read
Health – Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center
Charlottesville

Dr. Mark Shaves
Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at ODU
Norfolk

Dr. Gregory S. Sibley
Virginia Cancer Specialists
Fairfax

Dr. Christopher Sinesi
Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute
Hampton

Dr. Mark S. Sinesi
EVMS Radiation Oncology
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Dr. Alfredo Urdaneta
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Dr. Elisabeth Weiss
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Dr. Scott S. Williams
EVMS Radiation Oncology
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2025 Virginia’s Top Doctors contents page

Virginia’s Top Doctors 2025: Obstetrics and Gynecology

Dr. Glenna Andersen
NOVA Group for Women
Fairfax

Dr. Patricia Z. Bannon
Inova Group – Obstetrics and Gynecology
McLean

Dr. Diane Barrett
Capital Women’s Care
Leesburg

Dr. Melissa J. Buchberg
Complete Women’s Care
Beach

Dr. Adrianne Colton
Virginia Physicians for Women – Koger Center
Chesterfield County

Dr. Laura R. Cordes
TPMG Obstetrics & Gynecology – Newport
Newport News

Dr. Jennie E. Draper
Virginia Physicians for Women
Richmond

Dr. J. Jeffrey Elliott
Northern Virginia Physicians to Women
Arlington County

Dr. Evelyn S. Felluca
Perfectly Female Women’s
Reston

Dr. Deneishia S. Fisher
TPMG Obstetrics & Gynecology – Newport News
Newport News

Dr. Arlene J. Fontanares
Tidewater Physicians For Women
Virginia Beach

Dr. Aaron E. Goldberg
Health
Richmond

Dr. Ilene Goldstein
Virginia Beach Obstetrics and Gynecology
Virginia Beach

Dr. Nathan Guerette
The Intimate Wellness Institute of Virginia
Midlothian

Dr. Neda Hashemi
Centreville OBGYN
Centreville

Dr. Alice J. Hirata
Bon Secours Richmond OB/Gyn at St. Mary’s Hospital
Henrico County

Dr. Jordan Hylton
VCU Health
Richmond

Dr. Christine Isaacs
VCU Health
Richmond

Dr. Isaiah M. Johnson
Carilion Clinic Obstetrics & Gynecology – Highland Ave
Roanoke

Dr. Alfreda Jones
All About Women OB-Gyn
Reston

Dr. Nicole W. Karjane
VCU Health
Richmond

Dr. Stephanie Lee
VCU Health
Richmond

Dr. Thomas Mead
Dominion Women’s Health
North Chesterfield

Dr. Sarah H. Milton
VCU Health
Richmond

Dr. Amanda B. Murchison
Carilion Clinic Obstetrics & Gynecology – Salem
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Dr. Giniene Pirkle
The Group for Women
Norfolk

Dr. Amy E. Porter
for Women
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Dr. Michelle Rindos
Midlife Health and Gynecologic Specialties Northridge
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Dr. Amanda H. Ritter
VCU Health
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Dr. Stacey L. Sharp
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Dr. Kimberly Palmer Simcox
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Salem

Dr. Reena Talreja-Pelaez
Virginia Beach Obstetrics and Gynecology
Virginia Beach

Dr. Teresa X. Tan
TPMG Obstetrics & Gynecology – Newport News
Newport News

Dr. Lisa West
West Gynecology
Midlothian

2025 Virginia’s Top Doctors contents page

Virginia’s Top Doctors 2025: Pediatrics (General)

Dr. Joseph A. Baust Jr.
TPMG James River Pediatrics
Newport

Dr. Michelle Brenner
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters – General Academic Pediatrics
Norfolk

Dr. Erin Chiu
Pediatric Associates of Richmond
Richmond

Dr. Hyeon D. Choi
Pediatric Physicians
Beach

Dr. Mary Vaughn Desoto
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters – General Booth Pediatrics
Virginia Beach

Dr. Scott Eichelberger
Chesapeake Pediatrics
Chesapeake

Dr. Robert Fink
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters – Pediatric Specialists
Norfolk

Dr. J. Paige Frazer
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters – Pediatric Specialists
Norfolk

Dr. Mary G. Garrett
Pediatrics of Arlington
Arlington County

Dr. Gauri Gulati
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at
Richmond

Dr. Dolly Gupta
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters -Nansemond Pediatrics
Suffolk

Dr. Kristin Hutchinson
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters -General Booth Pediatrics
Virginia Beach

Dr. Glenda Karp
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters – Tidewater Children’s Associates
Norfolk

Dr. Nancy C. Kim
Pediatrics of Arlington
Arlington County

Dr. Tiffany N. Kimbrough
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU
Richmond

Dr. Anitha Malaisamy
Renaissance Pediatrics
Chesapeake

Dr. Sean O. McKenna
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU
Richmond

Dr. Douglas Mitchell
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters – Norfolk Pediatrics
Norfolk

Dr. Carly Morrison-Jones
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters – Town Center Pediatrics
Virginia Beach

Dr. Meenu Potdar
Children’s National – Main Hospital
Washington, D.C.

Dr. Heather R. Quillian
Northridge Pediatrics
Charlottesville

Dr. Anne M. Ranney
Northridge Pediatrics
Charlottesville

Dr. Latonya D. Russell
Sentara Family Medicine & Pediatrics
Chesapeake

Dr. Glenn C. Snyders
Sentara Pediatric Physicians
Virginia Beach

Dr. Carol M. Steiner
TPMG James River Pediatrics
Newport News

Dr. Anne Marie M. Tuohy
Bon Secours Pediatrics of Mechanicsville
Mechanicsville

Dr. Scott Vergano
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters – Pediatric Specialists
Norfolk

Dr. Dan F. Via
Sentara Pediatric Physicians
Williamsburg

Dr. Niran Romesh Wijesooriya
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU
Richmond

2025 Virginia’s Top Doctors contents page

‘Drill, baby, drill’ mantra ignites optimism for energy industry 

Between a sour economy, stubborn inflation, mayhem at the border, war around the world, and countless other political issues in this election cycle, there was little time to outline platforms in detail.  

So when it came to , President-elect Donald would simply say “drill, baby, drill” and rally crowds would go wild. 

It’s a simple phrase, but they knew the code. To them, “drill, baby, drill” meant hope for cheaper gasoline, lower heating and cooling bills, and perhaps groceries and services would be more affordable too. 

Meanwhile, those closer to the energy industry call the phrase an oversimplification of a complex world market buffeted by a variety of man-made and natural forces. But they know the code too, and to them, there is little doubt that political winds have shifted in favor of U.S. and . 

Does that mean gasoline prices will be cheaper and heating costs will be lower? Perhaps, but only time will tell. And while consumers wait to see, energy industries from oil and to companies and alternative energy producers are anticipating how the new administration’s policies will influence their paths forward.   

Judging from rhetoric coming out of the Trump campaign, the oil and gas industry is poised for the most dramatic opportunities for growth and even resurgence on the world stage. Questions remain for power producers and alternative energy constituencies such as wind and solar. 

The details will eventually shake out, market watchers say, and in the end, they expect to see greater market efficiency and a soaring U.S. economy. 

Phil Flynn

“This is going to be transformational,” said Phil Flynn, an energy market analyst with Chicago-based Price Futures Group.  

“I think we’re going to see a boom,” said Flynn, who’s been watching the undulations of U.S. energy for more than three decades. “It will be a boom of pipeline building, a boom of infrastructure building and that’s what we really need. Everybody always focuses on how many barrels we’re producing, but it also is important to get those barrels of oil and those billions of cubic feet of gas to where they need to go.” 

People undervalue the importance of transportation, Flynn said. Under the Trump administration, he expects to see easier regulatory approval of pipelines and terminals for shipping liquified natural gas (LNG) to Europe and other parts of the world. That can really bring energy prices down, he said, not just for the short term, but for a new generation of Americans that are going to need a lot of energy. 

In the early hours of his administration, President Joe Biden killed the embattled Keystone XL Pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, but Flynn says Canadian producers are just itching to get back to normalcy with other pipeline projects. 

“Let’s face it, those pipelines through North America make the world a more efficient place. They can get oil and gas to where it’s needed in the Gulf of Mexico, so it can get out to the rest of the world.” 

Flynn says Trump could bring energy costs down with his famous mantra, but he doesn’t expect a dramatic difference.  

“It’s not just drill baby drill,” he said. “It’s also a better relationship with our traditional allies, such as OPEC and Saudi Arabia. It’s clamping down on Iran while allowing Saudi Arabia to raise production to make up for it. It’s also about looking out for our other allies to make sure they have the energy they need.” 

Cutting prices in half may sound good, but if prices fall too much, smaller producers may struggle to stay in , he said. 

Larry Nichols

Larry Nichols, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy, says predicting future oil and gas prices is above his pay grade. 

“That depends upon whether or not we have wars in foreign countries,” said Nichols, whose $25 billion company is among the nation’s leading independent oil and gas producers. “It depends upon supply in foreign countries. It depends on the weather. It depends on the worldwide economy.” 

While influencing oil and gas prices may be difficult for the incoming administration to accomplish, Nichols says Trump could make the greatest impact through deregulation. And that will impact the whole U.S. economy, not just energy. 

“Every single business in the country has been plagued by excessive delays in getting anything done,” he said. “It’s just incredibly difficult to build a new factory, to build a new road, to build a new mine or to do anything without an incredible delay.” 

Mike Moncla

Mike Moncla, president of the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association, said the last four years under the Biden administration have been a setback for the offshore oil and gas industry.  

While offshore production still accounts for 15% of the nation’s oil and gas production, the industry has made little progress in acquiring new leases to sustain future supplies.  

This was the first time in 42 years that the industry did not have a lease sale for offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Biden administration only had three lease sales scheduled over the next five years, he said.      

It takes years to undergo the expensive process of establishing oil and gas production from leases in the Gulf of Mexico, and few new concessions have been added to the pipeline under Biden, he said. 

“We are depleting our resources, so if you don’t have the next one ahead as the wells deplete, you don’t have anything to replace it with,” Moncla said. “Just taking the noose off of our necks and letting people go back to work.”  

Meanwhile, Moncla hopes the Trump administration removes the moratorium on new construction of LNG terminals, citing projects in Louisiana that are stalled amid the uncertainty. 

LNG exportation is an enormous economic opportunity for the U.S. and an equally important source of energy for the world, he said. 

If Trump comes in and gives some certainty and stability, those projects will come to fruition, Monca said. Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale is perfectly situated near the Gulf Coast with pipeline infrastructure in place to carry gas to current and future shipping facilities. 

“We like to say Louisiana helped save Europe two years ago from freezing to death,” he said. 

Uncertainty around power industry regulation is likely to continue in Washington amid a quagmire of litigation that is not likely to change under the Trump administration, according to the -based Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy.       

Meanwhile, the wind industry has reason for optimism, according to public comments offered by Minneapolis-based Mortenson, one of the industry’s leading service providers. 

While they are watching the new administration take shape, the company says the wind industry is pushing forward, capitalizing on current opportunities. But Mortenson’s optimistic outlook is tempered with caution regarding future tax policy, a major driver in the industry’s success.   

Chip Minty is a freelance writer for The Journal Record (Oklahoma City). 

Return to the First 100 Days contents page.

This fast-growing medical specialty surged over past decade

A growing number of in-demand physicians are seeing patients without appointments, checking up on them multiple times a day and providing comprehensive care. But there’s a catch: You shouldn’t aspire to see these doctors because they exclusively care for hospitalized patients.

Less than 30 years since the designation was coined, hospitalists have transformed medicine. Between 2012 and 2022, the number of hospitalists surged nearly 80% to more than 50,000, according to figures provided by the Society of Hospital Medicine, an industry association representing hospitalists and other physicians practicing hospital medicine.

“It’s an enormous number,” says the society’s CEO, Dr. Eric Howell. “As a , we’re definitely young and fast-growing.”

Howell’s use of “specialty” may rankle those who don’t consider hospital medicine a specialty since there’s no specific board certification that’s currently required of these doctors unlike, say, cardiologists. But as is true of any specialist, hospitalists must possess a specific and unique skill set.

“Hospitalists are experts in taking care of patients and managing the complexities of the hospital, which over the last 20 years has gotten really complicated,” says Dr. Alan Dow, division chief of hospital medicine at Health and a professor in the VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine. “The reality is that most people who are hospitalists view themselves as a distinct practice or specialty.”

Specialty or not, hospitalists play a vital role in providing continuity in care for patients while hospitalized and often spearhead quality improvement initiatives to enhance patient care and create more efficient processes in . And thanks to robust demand among employers in and beyond, doctors have flocked to hospital medicine.

Tracking with national trends, one of Virginia’s largest health systems is adding more hospitalists to payrolls. Health’s group grew 25% over the past four years, to a total of 217 full- and part-time hospitalists, and it’s now the Hampton Roads health care system’s second largest specialty, behind primary care physicians, according to Dr. Albert Soriano, director of medical operations for Sentara, which operates 11 hospitals in Virginia and one in North Carolina.

Hospitalists play an “integral” role in delivering health care at Sentara hospitals, and each patient interaction is an opportunity to offer a steadying voice of information and reassurance, Soriano says. “Hospitalists are there every day trying to improve patient care at an individual level, while impacting care from a hospital and system perspective.”

Demand for hospitalists isn’t likely to ease anytime soon, though the role may evolve in coming years.

Changing care

If a hospital provides inpatient care, the odds are very good it employs hospitalists, who have become pervasive in health care in recent decades. In pre-hospitalist days, when patients were admitted to the hospital, their primary care physician was responsible for coordinating care — a dynamic that became untenable as demands on doctors grew and the bar for hospitalizing patients grew higher.

Beginning in the mid-1990s, a solution emerged — hospitalists. These doctors coordinate care for hospitalized patients and play an integral role in patient care, unburdening primary care physicians.

“Medical illnesses are more complicated than 20 to 30 years ago,” notes Dr. Amber Inofuentes, an associate professor of medicine and section head of hospital medicine at the School of Medicine. “The acuity and complexity of patients when they’re hospitalized has changed so significantly that the knowledge and skill set that’s needed for the role of a hospitalist is very different.”

Today’s hospitalists must be good communicators and effective problem solvers who are relentless about improving care and making it more efficient.

“Hospitalists, more than really any other profession, span the bridge between the science of medicine and then actually delivering the care to patients,” notes Dr. Stephen Biederman, an attending hospitalist and associate chair for quality and safety in the Division of Hospital Medicine at VCU Health. He’s also an assistant professor at the VCU School of Medicine.

These doctors serve as a central point of contact during a patient’s hospitalization, while coordinating with nurses, social workers, case managers and other hospital staff. The team-based approach and way that hospitalists interact with patients is unique, says Dr. Jordan Scharping, a professor of internal medicine at Carilion School of Medicine and a hospitalist at Carilion Clinic.

“You get a lot of concentrated time with patients, you see them day after day, talk to them, get to know them better and see the effect of the treatments you enact,” Scharping says. “It’s unlike anything else, in my opinion.”

As hospitalists have evolved from a purely clinical role to serving broad, operational needs in hospital systems, they’ve become indispensable, according to Dr. George Hoke, a hospitalist and associate professor of internal medicine at U.Va.’s medical school. “A hospital couldn’t run without hospitalists,” Hoke says. “If we all didn’t show up to work tomorrow, it would be a big problem.”

A multifaceted career

One thing that’s not a big problem? Recruiting future hospitalists. A career in hospital medicine may attract doctors for two very practical reasons: The schedule and pay.

A shift schedule is common, as many hospitalists work seven days on, followed by seven days off, and this provides a more attractive work-life balance in the eyes of many young doctors. Meanwhile, hospitalists typically outearn their counterparts who work as internal medicine general practitioners, and they don’t have to deal with the same amount of after-hours paperwork.

Such attributes have made a career in hospital medicine more attractive. That’s especially true for doctors who enjoy the fast-paced life and challenges of treating patients suffering from a wide range of ailments, along with the opportunity to play a role in making efficiency improvements.

A “vast majority” of hospitalists come out of internal medicine residency programs, where they spend most of their training in acute care hospitals, notes Dr. Jon Sweet, a professor of internal medicine and chair of the department of medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. “They get really good at caring for the critically ill.”

This was the case for Dr. Jody King, who found during her residency that she preferred to care for patients who were hospitalized with a whole range of diseases, illnesses or other ailments. On a typical day doing rounds, she says, she found she could sometimes achieve nearly instant results treating patients.

“You’re getting people when they’re the most scared, the most vulnerable and the most ill,” says King, an associate professor of internal medicine and associate program director of the internal medicine residency program at Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University. “I saw the opportunity to make a big impact in a small amount of time.”

Hospitalists also are well-suited to become involved in quality improvement initiatives or assume roles in administrative and operational leadership. “Hospitalists are really perfectly poised to do that,” says Biederman, “because we are so attuned to the complexity of the medical system.”

Hospitalists are uniquely qualified to identify ways to improve and streamline patient care and processes, notes Dow. “We definitely have people that are pretty junior that step into big leadership roles because they show a knack for being able to think about the patient at the same time as they think about the system.”

Job seekers’ market

Demand for hospitalists is so robust that doctors can readily find employment across the U.S. upon completing their residency programs. “There’s no place that doesn’t need you,” says Hoke. “It’s easy to find work.”

What’s more, new hires can afford to be choosy by prioritizing what they want a hospitalist job to look like in terms of shift hours, the quantity of patients they’re expected to see and how bonuses are calculated, adds ‘s King. “They can find a job quickly as a hospitalist.”

That tracks with what Dr. Ben Robinson has been seeing in the job market. Robinson, a member of the 2025 internal residency program at the U.Va. School of Medicine, says there’s a “pretty good market for job openings” for physicians in general, though he’s attracted mostly to the work hospitalists do. “That very broad sense and holistic view of the patient’s well-being was what drew me to general medicine, and working in a hospital is a very satisfying environment.”

Robinson decided on his chosen career path before he entered his third year of residency. That’s typically when doctors in internal medicine residency programs must decide if they want to work in an inpatient setting as a hospitalist vs. working in an outpatient clinic as a general practitioner.

There have since been other shifts in internal medicine. Some hospitalists now are expanding their care for patients after they’ve been discharged from the hospital. “That’s an additional step many places are introducing.”

Dr. Ajin John Persaud is among the hospitalists taking on some of these post-discharge duties. As an attending hospitalist in VCU Health’s Division of Hospital Medicine, John Persaud sees patients in the emergency room being considered for hospitalization to determine if they need to be admitted, brought to the observation unit or discharged. In addition to being the first point of contact for patients, she’s also often their last point of contact.

“When a patient leaves the hospital, that’s not the end of their treatment plan,” John Persaud says. This more holistic approach to care made hospital medicine attractive to her, particularly because she could help patients who don’t have a primary care physician. “I felt like it was a job that would allow me to make a bigger impact than perhaps doing a specialty.”

In fact, a very important role for hospitalists is to bridge the gap between a very complicated hospital stay and finding more continuity in care from a long-term physician, notes UVA Health’s Inofuentes.

In 2023, VCU Medical Center launched a Hospital at Home program for some patients who have sufficient care needs to be in the hospital but instead can be treated in the comfort of their homes. “The patients love it,” Dow says.

While hospitalists say they love their jobs, they also acknowledge a number of challenges that still need tackling. By far, the trickiest problem is that the explosive growth in hospital medicine has seemingly come at a price: Many would-be primary care physicians have opted instead for career as hospitalists, and that dynamic only further exacerbates the primary care labor shortage — which potentially means more patients could wind up in the hospital.

But the future may also bring exciting opportunities in the field. If the number of hospital medicine fellowships expands, that may pave the way for hospitalists to do quality improvement research and become more involved in ways to improve hospital practices and outcomes, according to Virginia Tech’s Scharping. Likewise, ODU is encouraging faculty to get involved in clinical research to study patient outcomes that may reshape how care is offered.

Involving patients in their care is also important, hospitalists say. Over the years, patients commented that they didn’t know who to talk to while hospitalized or who their doctor was, John Persaud says. So VCU Health recently launched a pilot program in which hospitalists give out business cards with their photos and a little bit of personal information so patients can feel more connected to them.

Such efforts are also a way to combat a misperception that physicians don’t spend enough time with their patients, John Persaud adds: “Listening to patients, I think, is most of what we do as hospitalists.”