Ridgewood Family Doctor Named Valley Chief Medical Officer

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — An internal medicine physician who helped introduce the "Care After COVID Program" at Ridgewood's Valley Health System was appointed Chief Medical Officer of a Valley-affiliated group practice.

Puneeta Sharma, a Harvard graduate who specializes in internal medicine in Ridgewood and helped launch Valley's program for people with post-COVID conditions, was announced Tuesday as the new CMO of Valley Medical Group.

Sharma, who has more than 22 years of experience in the medical field, will take over for Marc Melamed, a Valley Health spokesperson confirmed.

As the senior medical administrator in the Valley group, she will be responsible for improving patient care and medical outcomes, resource optimization, and performance of more than 445 providers, a news release said.

Sharma joined the Valley group as Director of Palliative Care (focusing on those with those living with a serious illness) in 2017, and was promoted to Chair of Medical Specialties in 2019, where she oversaw various specialties.

“In just a few years, Dr. Sharma has made an important and lasting impact on Valley Medical Group, and we are excited to appoint her our new Chief Medical Officer,” Julie Karcher, Valley's Senior Vice President, said.