NEWS RELEASE – June 3, 2025
Dr. Jayaramakrishna Depa named
ARH System Medical Director of Nephrology and Diabetes Care
LEXINGTON, Ky. —Appalachian Regional Healthcare recently named Dr. Jayaramakrishna Depa as the System Line Medical Director of Nephrology and Diabetes Care.
Susan Carmical, ARH Vice President of Service Line Operations, said Depa is the perfect choice for the position.
“We are eager to collaborate with him to enhance nephrology and dialysis services throughout our enterprise,” she said of Depa, who has worked as a nephrologist at Harlan ARH Hospital since 2018, and as Chief of Staff since 2022. “The possibilities are endless with his leadership.”
Depa is a graduate of Gandhi Medical College in India. He completed his internal medicine residency at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., and his nephrology fellowship at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
In his new position, Depa said he hopes to help deliver a comprehensive, patient-centered standardized approach to diabetes and kidney care across all ARH hospitals and clinics.
His strategic goals include the implantation of CRRT dialysis programs in hospital settings, the standardization of care protocols across all ARH facilities, and the enhancement of care quality through ongoing education, data-driven practices, and community outreach.
“By integrating multidisciplinary collaboration, including nutrition, lifestyle interventions, weight management and guideline-based medical therapy, we aim to improve outcomes at every stage of the disease process, from early detection of diabetes and dialysis and beyond,” he said.
Depa said he is excited for the new opportunity to help better the health of a community he has grown to love.
“I’ve always been passionate about working with underserved populations and in rural areas where the need is often greatest and the impact is the most meaningful,” he said. “There’s a genuine feeling of belonging and togetherness at ARH that you don’t find in most healthcare systems.
“I’m honored to begin this new chapter with ARH and I’m eager to continue advancing care for the communities of Appalachia.”
Depa and his wife Nisha are the parents of a son, Ishwak, and a daughter, Aviksha.
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Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH), is a not-for-profit health system operating 14 hospitals in Barbourville, Hazard, Harlan, Hyden, Martin, McDowell, Middlesboro, Paintsville, Prestonsburg, West Liberty, Whitesburg, and South Williamson in Kentucky and Beckley and Hinton in West Virginia, as well as multi-specialty physician practices, home health agencies, home medical equipment stores and retail pharmacies and medical spas. ARH employs approximately 6,700 people with an annual payroll and benefits of $474 million generated into our local economies. ARH also has a network of more than 1,300 providers on staff across its multi-state system. ARH is the largest provider of care and the single largest employer in southeastern Kentucky, and the third-largest private employer in southern West Virginia.