About Us
We are a physician owned and physician administered independent Limited Liability Corporation. We have been providing critical care services in the Houston area for the past decade. We have the expertise to manage Medical ICU, Cardiac ICU, Neurological ICU and Transplant ICU. Our physicians are all board certified or board eligible Critical Care physicians.
Gnananandh Jayaraman MD.
President and CEO
Dr. Jayaraman received his medical degree from Madurai Medical School in India and completed his residency at New York Coney Island Hospital. He pursued his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine from 2005-2008 and Sleep Medicine from 2008-2009 at Baylor College of Medicine. He has provided Critical Care services in the Houston area for more than a decade. In additional to clinical care, he enjoys teaching medical students and residents. He also is a principal investigator in multiple clinical research projects. He is presently serving as Associate program director for Pulmonary and Critical care fellowship at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood
Sivatej Sarva MD. PhD.
Vice President for Operations, Quality and Business Development
Dr. Sarva received his Ph.D. in Molecular Sciences from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN. He continued his training at the same institution as a resident in internal medicine and then as a fellow in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. After completing his training, Dr. Sarva joined as Assistant Professor at University of Missouri, Columbia, MO. He later moved from academics to private practice in 2016 and has provided consultation services in Missouri and Kansas. In July of 2018 he decided to move to the warmer weather of Texas. While working with patients is one of the most rewarding parts of his career, Dr. Sarva also expends significant effort during his non-clinical time doing research. At present he is collaborating with other researchers for developing newer antibiotics for difficult to treat infections. He is active in teaching and administration and is the Chief of Staff and member of Board of Trustees at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood.
Salman Alim MD.
Chief Financial Officer
Dr. Alim completed medical school at The Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. After relocating to the United States, Dr. Alim completed his internal medicine residency at the Drexel University College of Medicine in 2008. He then completed a pulmonary fellowship at Rosalind Franklin University in July 2014 and a pulmonary critical care fellowship at Cleveland Clinic Florida in August 2015.
Ramesh B. Kesavan MD.
Vice President for Graduate Medical Education
Dr. Kesavan received his medical degree from Madurai Medical School in India. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine followed by fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. He completed his residency in Critical Care Medicine at Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, MO. After completing his education, he worked as Chief of Critical Care services and consultant Pulmonologist at Apollo Specialty Hospitals in Madurai, India from 2003 to 2006. Dr. Kesavan moved to Houston, Texas in 2006 to train in Pulmonary Transplant at Baylor College of Medicine. Following the successful completion of his training, he served as Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine for three years at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. For the past decade he has been providing critical care services in multiple hospitals in Houston metropolitan areas. He is at present serving as Program Director for Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowshop program at HCA Houston Healthcare, Kingwood.
Damon Cao MD. MBA.
Director, Medical Critical Care Units
Dr. Cao received his medical degree at St. James School of Medicine in Bonaire, Netherlands, and completed his residency training at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in 2019. With a high interest in hemodynamics and volume assessment, he pursued a combined fellowship in Nephrology and Critical Care at Henry Ford Hospital, which he completed in June 2022. Dr. Cao served as a Chief Fellow in Nephrology and conducted multiple research studies addressing hemodynamics in critically ill patients receiving dialysis during his fellowship. He enjoys teaching residents and medical students. In addition, he completed an MBA with a healthcare management focus during his medical training to take on an administrative role later in his career. He is at present serving as Program Director for Nephrology and Nephrology Critical Care fellowship programs at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood.
Samer Talib MD.
Assistant Director, Neurological Critical Care
Dr. Samer Talib, a highly skilled physician originally from Iraq, earned his medical degree from Al Mustansiriya College of Medicine amidst challenging conflict, honing his expertise in emergency and trauma care. Pursuing advanced opportunities, he relocated to the United States, where he completed an Internal Medicine residency at Raritan Bay Medical Center in New Jersey, establishing a strong clinical foundation. His dedication to critical care led him to a prestigious neurocritical care fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. With Houston Intensivists, he leverages his extensive expertise to provide exceptional care to the local community.
Outside his professional life, Dr. Talib enjoys an active and vibrant lifestyle, engaging in skydiving, culinary pursuits, and passionate cycling, embodying a spirit of curiosity and balance. He is presently serving as core faculty for Critical Care fellowship program at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood
Karthik Vadamalai MD. MS.
Director, Cardiovascular Critical Care
Dr. Karthik Vadamalai is a highly skilled and compassionate critical care doctor specializing in cardiac critical care, neurocritical care, evidence-based medicine, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
Dr. Vadamalai’s medical journey began with completing his medical degree at Govt. Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital in India. He then pursued residency training at Rochester General Hospital in Rochester, New York, where he gained a solid foundation in internal medicine.
Driven by a passion for critical care, Dr. Vadamalai undertook a rigorous fellowship in critical care medicine, focusing on managing cardiac and neurocritical emergencies at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During this fellowship, he acquired extensive experience using POCUS in the hemodynamic management of complex critically ill patients. He is a core faculty of Internal Medicine program and Associate program director for Critical Care Fellowship at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood.
Jonathan Xian MD.
Critical Care Physician
Dr. Jonathan Xian grew up in the Central Texas area and moved to Houston to attending undergraduate at Rice University and has lived here ever since. He attended Medical School at Texas A&M College of Medicine followed by both his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at University of Texas McGovern Medical School. Dr. Xian brings a passion for patient centered care and the latest evidence based medicine to his critical care practice. In his spare time he enjoys books, fitness, and home improvement projects.
Darra Bayer APRN. CCRN.
Lead, Critical Care Advance Practice Provider
Ms. Darra Bayer has more than 5 years of experience as Advance Practice Provider managing complex patients in Medical, Cardiovascular and Neurological ICU. She worked as an Advance Practice Provider with special focus on Critical Care for multiple large hospital groups before accepting to lead the Advance Practice Provider team of Houston Intensivists. She completed her Masters in Nursing from University of Texas Health Science Center School of Nursing, Houston and has worked in Houston area for more than 10 years.
David Powell AGACNP-BC. CCRN.
Critical Care Advance Practice Provider
David is a board certified acute care nurse practitioner with over 20 years of critical care experience and specializes in the management of acute conditions requiring varying degrees of complex care. He completed his Associate of Science in Nursing at Tyler Junior College in 2001 and obtained his Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2015. In 2017 he earned his Master of Science in Nursing at Walden University. David holds board certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
Victoria Brinkley AGACNP
Critical Care Advanced Practice Professional
Ms. Victoria Brinkley completed her bachelors in nursing at Florida A&M university and then completed her masters in nursing at Walden University adult acute care nurse practitioner program. She has extensive experience in managing Neurological intensive care patients and has joined our team to continue her passion to manage critical care patients. She works with Houston Intensivists as a PRN provider.
Michael Conde AGACNP-BC
Critical Care Advanced Practice Professional
Michael has around 10 years of critical care experience as a nurse and advance practice professional and is board certified in adult gerontology acute care through ANCC. He completed his bachelors in nursing and masters in nursing from University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston.
Kristy Luckey
Practice Manager
Kristy has over 25 years of healthcare experience and her career highlights a strong track record of Healthcare and Operations Management.
