Today we’d like to introduce you to Vikas Pathak.
Hi Vikas, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a pulmonary and critical care physician by training, when I started working in the ICU at Memorial Regional Medical Center in Richmond. Early on, I started noticing some significant gaps in care.
First, there was a major access issue—patients in the greater Richmond area, including suburbs like Mechanicsville, Midlothian, and the Northern Neck, were waiting over six months to see a pulmonologist. As a result, many of them were being repeatedly admitted to the hospital for conditions that could have been managed earlier.
Second, I saw clear disparities in care. Certain underserved areas had virtually no pulmonary coverage at all, leaving vulnerable populations without access to specialty care.
Third, long term acute care hospitals and rehabs had significant pulmonary needs which were unmet leading to transfer of these patients to acute care hospitals.
And Fourth, I realized that many of my colleagues—highly trained pulmonary and critical care physicians—were working exclusively in the ICU but were very willing and capable of contributing to outpatient and post-acute pulmonary care if given the right platform.
That combination of unmet need and untapped potential is what led me to start Virginia Lung.
We began very simply, while I was still working full-time in the ICU. A small group of like-minded colleagues came together, and we initially started by reading pulmonary function tests and supporting existing systems. This was free of cost and the idea was to help the patient.
From there, we began to innovate. We introduced tele-pulmonary services to reach patients in remote and underserved areas—well before it became widely adopted. We expanded into consultation services and intentionally focused on settings where others were not going—long-term acute care hospitals and rehabilitation facilities—despite their complexity and lower reimbursement, because that’s where the need was greatest.
Our mission was simple: go where patients need us the most, not where it’s easiest to practice.
As we continued to deliver value, demand grew organically. What started as a small initiative quickly scaled—from one physician to four partners, and now to a team of over a dozen providers.
Today, Virginia Lung provides comprehensive pulmonary services across Central Virginia, Northern Virginia, and we’re continuing to expand into Eastern Virginia.
At its core, this journey has been about building a scalable, patient-centered model that improves access, reduces hospitalizations, and brings high-quality pulmonary care to communities that need it the most.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been a smooth road—there have been significant challenges along the way.
To begin with, entering an already established market was not easy. Any time you introduce a new model or expand services, it can be perceived as competition, and not everyone welcomes that. Even though our intention was always to improve patient access and fill critical gaps in care—not to compete on volume or reimbursement—we still faced resistance at times. Some of those interactions were challenging, but we stayed focused on our mission and let our work speak for itself.
Second, there was a substantial personal and professional sacrifice involved. I live about an hour away from the Richmond area, and in the early days, I was balancing a full-time ICU role while building Virginia Lung. There were months when I worked 28 to 29 days, ensuring that patients received timely, high-quality care. My partners showed the same level of commitment—we were all deeply invested in making this work.
Third, there were real financial and operational hurdles. We had to invest our own capital upfront—building infrastructure from scratch, including billing systems, credentialing, compliance processes, malpractice coverage, and administrative support. In healthcare, especially, you have to get these foundational elements right from day one to ensure quality, compliance, and sustainability.
But in many ways, those challenges shaped who we are today.
They forced us to be disciplined, mission-driven, and thoughtful about how we scale. They also reinforced our core belief—that if you stay focused on doing what’s right for patients, over time, trust builds, and growth follows.
We’ve been impressed with Virginia Institute of Lung Diseases, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our organization is formally known as the Virginia Institute of Lung Diseases, but we operate and do business as Virginia Lung.
We are a comprehensive pulmonary care organization serving communities across Virginia, with a strong presence in the Greater Richmond region. We partner with major health systems, including Bon Secours and HCA hospitals, and provide a full spectrum of pulmonary services—from outpatient clinics to inpatient consults, long-term acute care hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, and tele-pulmonary services.
At our core, our mission has always been simple: close the gap in access to pulmonary care.
We built this organization by intentionally going where others were not going—underserved communities, complex post-acute care settings, and regions with long wait times. While many traditional models prioritize higher-reimbursement services, we chose to focus first on patient need. That philosophy continues to define who we are.
What sets us apart is a combination of access, breadth, and mission-driven care.
* We offer the full continuum of pulmonary services—managing everything from asthma, COPD, and interstitial lung disease to lung cancer, including advanced interventional pulmonology procedures.
* We integrate sleep medicine and leverage tele-pulmonary to extend our reach.
* Most importantly, we dramatically improve access—our clinic wait times are typically around two weeks, and in many cases, we can see patients same day. For sleep medicine, where waits in the market can exceed several months to a year, we are often able to see patients within weeks.
From a brand perspective, what I’m most proud of is how we’ve grown—organically and trust-driven.
We’ve never relied on advertising. Our growth has come from the quality of care we deliver. Physicians refer patients—and even their own family members—to us. Providers join us through peer recommendations. That level of trust, both from patients and colleagues, is something we value deeply.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My biggest advice to anyone starting out is to focus on solving a real problem—and to do it with genuine intent.
In any field, if your primary goal is to create value and address a meaningful gap, everything else tends to follow. In our case, the focus was always on improving access to care and helping patients who were being overlooked. We didn’t start with a financial goal—we started with a purpose.
The second thing I would emphasize is a commitment to excellence and quality.
If you consistently deliver high-quality work, it may take time, but trust builds, reputation grows, and opportunities follow. Financial success, recognition, and growth are often byproducts of doing the right thing well over time.
One key lesson from my journey is that intent matters.
When your intent is right—when it’s centered around service rather than short-term gain—you tend to attract the right people, the right opportunities, and the right outcomes. That’s been true for us. Growth, partnerships, and even recruitment happened organically because of that foundation.
On a personal level, I would also say—make sure you have the support system in place.
Building something meaningful requires sacrifice. There were long hours, missed personal time, and a lot of hard work—not just from me, but from my partners as well. Having a supportive family and aligned partners makes all the difference.
Looking back, there’s nothing I wish I fundamentally did differently—but I do appreciate even more now that success is rarely about a single breakthrough moment.
It’s about consistency, resilience, and staying true to your purpose.
If you stay focused on solving the problem, work hard, and lead with integrity—success tends to follow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.virginialung.com
- Instagram: virginialungrva
- Facebook: Virginia Lung
- LinkedIn: Virginia Lung
- Twitter: @VirginiaLungRVA
