After 25 years of marriage, my husband Greg Gasic and I decided to have our mid-life crises together and move to Yakima to pursue our dreams. Greg is starting a new career in enology and viticulture, and plans someday to have his own vineyard/winery (we met at a wine tasting). As the Medical Director of Memorial Hospital Physicians, I am fortunate to be working with a wonderful team of hospitalists to grow and develop the hospitalist program at an extraordinary community hospital. I have been a career hospitalist since 1997, and am a charter member of the National Association of Inpatient Physicians (now Society of Hospital Medicine). I currently serve on the SHM Career Satisfaction Task Force, and am also an Associated Editor of The Journal of Hospital Medicine. I co-edited the textbook Just the Facts Hospital Medicine. My professional passions include patient care, teaching and systems/quality/patient safety improvement. Greg and I share our home with four cats, and enjoy travel, hiking, good food and wine.

Christopher Catton, MD
Medical School: University of Washington 1989
Residency: Internal Medicine Spokane 1992
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine 1992, 2002

Growing up as the son of an Air Force jet pilot allowed me to live in 12 different cities in my first 11 years of life. When my dad retired in 1974 we moved to Spokane, Washington, and I established roots in the Pacific Northwest. I met my wife Geri while in medical school and after residency we moved to Yakima where we are raising our five children and one golden retriever. I enjoy coaching my sons' baseball and basketball teams as well as attending my daughters' dance recitals. For our first 11 years in Yakima I enjoyed a "traditional" internal medicine practice. Five years ago, I transitioned to hospital medicine as one of the founding physicians of our growing hospitalist team. The small town feel and family friendly culture coupled with its close proximity to Seattle makes Yakima a great place to live, raise a family and practice medicine.

Chester Sim Chua, MD, FACP
Medical School: University of Santo Tomas, Philippines 2001 Magna Cum Laude
Residency: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston 2007
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine 2007

I was born and raised as a Filipino-Chinese, and eventually left the Philippines Islands after completing my B.S. in Medical Technology and MD as a Dean's Scholar at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, graduating Cum Laude & Magna Cum Laude respectively. I moved to the United States in 2003 and settled in the less humid and hurricane-prone sunny island of Galveston, one hour south of Houston, Texas, where I completed my internship and residency at UTMB. I was honored as the "Most Likely Smiling Intern & Resident Award" two years in a row. My passion for hospital medicine led me to move to the four-seasoned weather of the beautiful Pacific Northwest in the apple basin agricultural community of Yakima where I have been a hospitalist at YVMH since 2007. I have been very active in the medical community and hospital committees, including the Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee, Anticoagulation Committee and Lab Q+ Committee, and serve on the YVMH Medical Executive Committee. I was appointed to the position of Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at YVMH in 2009 and also appointed to the faculty of Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine. In 2011, I was elected Fellow of the American College of Physicians. In my spare time, I like to travel and attend continuing medical education workshops.

Odhett Cojocaru, MD
Medical School: "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, School of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania 1997
Residency: Cleveland Clinic Health System - Huron Hospital 2002
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine 2002

I have been a hospitalist with Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital since 2006 and I truly enjoy my work here. I strive to be a better doctor every day, not only through knowledge and compassion, but also by dedicating a great deal of time to patient education and teamwork. My greatest non-medical accomplishment is coming to the United States and building a home with my husband. I enjoy reading fiction, traveling all over this country and taking thousands of pictures.

Michal Galeziok, MD, PhD
Medical School: Medical University of Lublin, Poland, 2001
Doctor of Philosophy: Molecular Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Poland 2005
Residency: University of Connecticut School of Medicine Branch at Bridgeport, 2010
Board Certified: American Board of Internal Medicine, 2010

I came to the United States after completing my MD and Ph.D. degrees in Poland to see and experience medicine at its finest. The U.S. offers superior health care and it was my aspiration to be a physician practicing in that system. After completing my residency in Connecticut, I decided to move to Yakima to serve the community as a hospitalist and enjoy gorgeous weather and many outdoors activities Central Washington has to offer. Hospital medicine is diverse and challenging but I enjoy the complexity of internal medicine in this setting. My ultimate goal is to improve the practice and delivery of internal medicine care based on the highest standards of professionalism and evidence-based medicine. I am excited by the prospect of combining the roles of clinician, teacher, policy-maker and patient advocate at Memorial.

Jacob Joy, MD
Medical School: Kottayam Medical College, India, 2003
Residency Internal Medicine: St. Joseph's Mercy Oakland, Pontiac, MI, 2010
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine, 2010
Masters in Public Health: Harvard School Of Public Health, Boston, MA

I am from the southern state of India, called Kerala. My interest in medicine as a career was inspired by my father who was a pediatrician. After medical school, I moved to U.S to pursue a Masters of Public Health Degree in Health Care Management at Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. In 2007, I moved to Michigan for my residency in Internal Medicine. During my residency, I married my wife, Pingle, who is a software engineer. We came to Yakima in 2010 and we love being here surrounded by all the natural beauty and outdoor activities. I enjoy being a member of this great Hospitalist team and I give my best everyday.

S. Brad Lancaster DO
Medical School: University of North Texas - Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, 2006
Residency Program: University Hospital, Cincinnati, OH 2009
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine 2009

Originally from Nacogdoches, Texas, my wife and I moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2009 to start our careers and settle down to raise our family. My wife, Yami Cazorla-Lancaster, enjoys her work as a pediatrician with Yakima Pediatric Associates. It has truly been a pleasure to live and work in Yakima. We enjoy spending family time with our son Kian, and our dog, Sugar. My professional interests include quality improvement and physician recruitment. I enjoy mountain biking, skiing, and hiking in my spare time.

Andres Laufer, MD
Medical school: Universidad Central de Venezuela 2002
Residency: Jacobi Medical Center 2007
Board-certified: American Board of Internal Medicine

Tibor Mozjis, MD
Medical School: Comenius Medical School, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2003
Residency: Jersey Shore University Medical Center NJ, 2010
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine

I'm very happy to be part of the Memorial hospitalist team and to have the opportunity to explore and experience all the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Yakima is a beautiful place with combination of great people, good medicine and fantastic area for sports.

I'm married to Cheryl and we have one daughter, Song. Our family also includes two four-legged members: Cleo, an English bulldog and Tulus, our cat. I'm very active and enjoy being outdoors, so Yakima is a perfect fit for me. I have a passion for skiing and windsurfing.

Emmy L. Oh, MD
Medical School: University of Santo Tomas, Philippines 2006
Residency Program: East Tennessee State University 2009
Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine 2009

I am a native of the Philippines, a country with 7,107 islands. I finished my internal medicine residency program at East Tennessee State University and joined the hospitalist program at YVMH in 2009. I enjoy music, food, online games, and travel. As part of my adventurous nature, I ended up in the northwest United States. I look forward to making more friends here and exploring more of this part of the world.