Joan Krikava, an internal medicine physician and hospitalist at New Ulm Medical Center in New Ulm, has been named a 2015 Top Hospitalist by the American College of Physicians.

Krikava is a native of Glenville and a graduate of Albert Lea High School. She earned her medical degree from the University of Minnesota and completed a residency at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. She is currently a hospitalist at NUMC and also chairs the hospitalist department there.

According to a press release, Krikava was instrumental in implementing the hospitalist program at NUMC in 2007, at which time she was the medical director at NUMC. Prior to implementing the hospitalist program, physicians at the medical center were often called upon to run between clinic appointments and seeing patients in the 25-bed hospital. Looking to the future, it was clear that recruitment of providers to the clinic would become challenging if that structure was not changed.

The Top Hospitalistrecognition is a national recognition and the 10 physicians named were nominated by their colleagues. In November, the ACP Hospitalist magazine featured all 10 Top Hospitalists with interviews. To read the full article that appeared in the ACP Hospitalist, go to acponline.org and search the site for “Krikava.”