LITTLE ROCK - Aaron S. Wenger, MD, has been named director of the Division of Hospital Medicine in the College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

James D. Marsh, M.D., chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine, said Wenger is a key addition to the burgeoning hospitalist program, which was created in July 2016.

Hospitalists are physicians who specialize in overseeing patient care in hospitals. It is a trend in health care that has been shown to increase patient safety and convenience while improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness for hospitals.

Wenger said his initial priorities will be faculty recruitment and identifying areas of research where his team can make the greatest impact.

Wenger comes to UAMS from Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, where he was operations director of the Division of Hospital Medicine and a practicing hospitalist. He was also a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.

He earned his medical degree at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. His internal medicine residency was at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio.