Physicians: Bal Sharma, Axiom Healthcare Services - The Business Journals

Physicians: Bal Sharma, Axiom Healthcare Services - Wichita Business Journal Physicians: Bal Sharma, Axiom Healthcare Services - Wichita Business Journal expand Bal Sharma, Axiom Healthcare Services, 2025 Health Care Heroes SELENA FAVELA Physicians: Bal Sharma, Axiom Healthcare Services Share Share Share Unlock URL Gift this Article PHYSICIANS BAL SHARMA Medical Director, Geriatric Psychiatrist, Axiom Healthcare Services How did you decide to pursue a profession for mental health care for seniors? I found an opportunity initially working for Quality Health Care Inc. Wichita, as an independent contractor geriatric psychiatrist, covering their senior behavioral health unit at Sumner Regional Medical Center. I expanded my private practice covering Kansas nursing homes and initially started providing psychiatric consultations at six nursing homes. I reached out to small-town nursing homes, assisted living facilities and group homes, where they were not able to find a Geriatric psychiatrist, thus covering 61 facilities traveling rural, remote, underserved areas of Kansas. Why do you travel as much as you do for patient visits? It provided me a great pleasure traveling faraway distances in Kansas, where nursing facilities administrators, directors of nursing and social services, as well as families always told me, "Thank you for coming this far," "Thank you for helping us," "Thank you for coming to our building." That was a big-time motivation for traveling to faraway distances in Kansas, covering 61 facilities and 2-3 senior behavioral health units. Why did you decide to come to Kansas after graduating from Yale? When I graduated from the Yale Psychiatry Program, the faculty wanted me to stay and work with them. At the same time, I had an opportunity for providing services at Harvard's MGH Addiction and Consultation Liaison services. But being raised on a farm in a small village of Punjab Agriculture State of India, having a background of rural agriculture, I preferred selecting Kansas, where ultimately I was able to travel vast land to serve rural, remote, underserved, most vulnerable seniors with mental illness at the nursing facilities and senior behavioral health units. What do you most enjoy most about your profession? Most rewarding for me as a geriatric psychiatrist is that I could help seniors with mental illness all over Kansas. I am proud that I could relate well with all of them, having my background in a rural farming community. I enjoyed mostly visiting patients' families, discussing with them about their loved ones in the nursing facilities and at the same time talked to them about the crops they were growing. I enjoyed that I touched so many lives and provided them the best of hope.   Previous Story Next Story Read about the 2025 Health Care Heroes All Stories Lifetime Achievement: A.J. Farha Lifetime Achievement: A.J. Farha Lifetime Achievement: Marilee McBoyle-Wiesner Lifetime Achievement: Marilee McBoyle-Wiesner Administrative Excellence: Nicole Capps, Cancer Center of Kansas Administrative Excellence: Nicole Capps, Cancer Center of Kansas Administrative Excellence: Jennifer Carney, Via Christi Therapy Centers Administrative Excellence: Jennifer Carney, Via Christi Therapy Centers overlay title overlay description WICHITA BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH SALE $220 $80 / 52 weeks From local deals to national trends, get the business insights that matter most. SUBSCRIBE NOW Cancel Anytime Close