Nursing at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center

Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President, Nursing  

Ariam Yitbarek, MHA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, is the Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer for MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center.

Prior to joining MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center’s administration team, she was at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, serving as the Vice President of Nursing Operations. Additionally, she’s held several other roles since coming to MedStar Washington Hospital Center in 1998. She’s been a nurse in the Cardiac Surgery Step-down Unit, a clinical manager, a nursing director, a senior nursing director, and a vice president of nursing operations. Her vast experience encompasses all inpatient service lines and ambulatory clinical operations.

Yitbarek is a dynamic and collaborative leader and has excelled in providing quality patient care, building a multigenerational diverse nursing workforce, and growing specialty service lines. She also has been credited with expertise in strategic planning and execution, data analytics, change management, and technology integration—to name a few. Under her auspices, MedStar Washington Hospital Center also achieved several designations, including Pathway to Excellence designation, Baby-Friendly USA, and Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education for the Nurse Residency Program.

She is a member of several notable organizations, including the Association of Nurse Executives, American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nurses, and the Association of Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

Senior Director of Nursing Operations

Sunita A. Waddell, DNP, MSN, RN, is the Senior Director of Nursing Operations for MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. In this role, she serves as a nursing leader for the critical care units, inpatient medical units, and the behavioral health unit. She has direct oversight of the nursing critical care units. Prior to returning to MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Dr. Waddell served as the Director of Nursing Resources at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, with direct oversight of the nursing staffing office, bed management, patient care supervisors, and the float pool.

Dr. Waddell’s primary background in emergency and trauma care led her to serve in director roles in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Florida. While serving active duty in the United States Air Force (USAF), she earned an Associate of Science degree in nursing from Prince George’s Community College. She later earned a Master of Science in Nursing, with a concentration in Nursing Informatics, from Walden University. Waddell returned to Walden University and obtained the Doctor of Nursing (DNP) in 2018.

Dr. Waddell is a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA), Maryland Organization of Nurse Leaders (MONL), Maryland Nurses Association (MNA), Sigma Theta Tau, The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), and the Golden Key Honor Society. Dr. Waddell is also a member of the Maryland Emergency Response Team.

Lisa T. Hawksworth, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, joined MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center as the Senior Director of Nursing Excellence & Resource Management in December 2022. Lisa started her nursing career in 1993 at Washington Adventist Hospital on a medical-surgical floor. She joined MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) in February 1994 as part of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Program. She advanced to Clinical Manager and Nursing Director roles over her 15-year tenure at MWHC. She has also served as Administrative Director of Critical Care Services at Mary Washington Hospital and then Corporate Director of Cardiovascular Services for Mary Washington Healthcare over her 4-year tenure. Prior to returning to MedStar, Lisa was the Senior Director of Nursing Operations at Inova Alexandria Hospital for 9 years.

Lisa is a second-degree nurse and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biology-Psychology from Wells College in 1989, her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from The Catholic University of America in 1993 and her Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration from George Mason University in 2005. She is completing her PhD in Nursing at George Mason University in 2023. She is board certified from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a Nurse Executive, Advanced.

Lisa is a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA); the American Organization of Nursing Leadership (AONL), Maryland Organization for Nursing Leadership (MONL) and Virginia Organization for Nursing Leadership (VONL). She is the current president of Sigma Theta Tau International, Epsilon Zeta Chapter, and has served on the Chapter Board in various roles.

Kristin Quade, MSN, RN, CNML advanced to the Senior Nurse Director of Operations in 2022. Prior to that Kristin served as the Director of Emergency Services since 2018. Kristin started her leadership path as Assistant Director of Emergency Services in 2017 and a staff RN since 2008 at MSMHC. Ms. Quade serves as the Co-Chair of the Medstar Health ED Nurse Leaders Committee.

She earned her Master's in Nursing Leadership in 2020 from Western Governor’s University. Kristin obtained her Associate Degree in Nursing from the College of Southern Maryland in 2008 and her BSN from University of Maryland University College. Ms. Quade obtained national certification as Certified Nurse Manager and Leader through the American Organization for Nursing Leadership in 2022. Ms. Quade is a member of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), the American Organization of Nurse Leadership (AONL).

Ms. Quade received the MSMHC Director of the Year award in 2021.

Jared A Paul, BSN, RN continued his nursing leadership career at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center in October 2022 after relocating from Upstate New York. Jared started his nursing career in 2009 as a Registered Nurse at Albany Medical Center Hospital in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit caring for complex patients directly after open heart and thoracic surgery. Jared shifted gears and began working in Interventional Cardiology as a Cardiac Cath Lab Nurse in 2013 and eventually advanced his role to the departments Nurse Educator. As a Nurse Educator, his primary responsibility was to enhance and reorganize the orientation process making it more didactic and meaningful for incoming staff. In 2015, Jared became a Travel Nurse, primarily in Cath Lab, Electrophysiology, Interventional Radiology and Neuro-interventional medicine. After 4 years as an Agency RN, Jared took the leap and became Nurse Manager of Cardiac Cath Lab & Interventional Radiology in 2019 at Ellis Medicine in Schenectady, NY. He quickly advanced in his role becoming the Associate Director of Interventional Services, adding non-invasive cardiology, service-line quality, and shared leadership oversight of Critical Care with the Senior Nursing Director under his purview.

Jared resides in Rockville, MD. He is completing his Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration from Empire State College, State University of New York in December 2022. He looks forward to becoming a nationally certified Registered Nurse in leadership and is excited to build his career here at MedStar Health.

Director of Nursing Practice and Innovation Pathway to Excellence Coordinator

Jennifer F. Bierbaum, DNP, APRN-CNS, AGCNS-BC, GERO-BC, is the director of Nursing Practice & Innovation at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. She joined MedStar Health in 2018 as a clinical nurse specialist for MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center and Medstar St. Mary’s Hospital with the responsibility of bringing the systemwide practice changes to the entity level. She also serves as the MedStar Health Nurses Improving Care for HealthSystem Elders (NICHE) program practice lead. In addition to these roles, she is also the Pathway to Excellence Coordinator for MSMHC.

Dr. Bierbaum graduated from Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Nebraska with an Associate Degree in Nursing and later attended the University of Nebraska Medical Center School of Nursing where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse certification as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees. In addition, Dr. Bierbaum attended the Wharton Nursing Leaders Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

She is a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the Maryland Nurses Association (MNA) and on the board of Directors for District 9. Dr. Bierbaum is also a member on the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialist (NACNS) and a part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. She is a member of American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL) and Sigma Theta Tau, Gamma Pi Chapter.

Maira E. Rodriguez, MS, RN, PMH-BC, CNE is the Executive Director of Behavioral Health at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. Ms. Rodriguez previously was the Chief Nursing Officer at Haven Behavioral Hospital in Albuquerque New Mexico. She has served in several responsible nursing roles in her 20 years at Northwell Health @ Zucker Hillside Hospital in NY. These roles include Utilization Review, quality and Risk Management, Assistant Nurse Manager, Nurse educator, Acting Director of Nursing Education and Professional Development. She was an associate professor at Farmingdale State College as well as adjunct professor at Molly College, Adelphi University in NY as well as Carrington College in NM.

Maira earned her Master of Nursing with a concentration of nursing education from St. Joseph’s University and is currently in a DNP at the University at St. Augustine with completion date of December 2023. She is board certified in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing (PMH-BC) from ANCC; she is certified as a Nurse Educator by the National League for Nursing and is a Six Sigma Green Belt.

She is a member of the American Psychiatric Nurse Association (APNA), The National League for Nursing (NLN) and the American Nurses Association.

Director of Nursing Informatics

In November 2020, Sarah joined MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center as the Director of Clinical Nursing Informatics. Her efforts have been focused on working with IT regarding optimizing devices and infrastructure, improving the onboarding and provisioning process for new hires, and supporting the implementation of several projects, both local and enterprise.

Sarah obtained her BSN in 2013 and MSN in Nursing Education in 2014 from Western Governors University. Her post-graduate certificate in Healthcare Informatics from University of Illinois – Chicago was received in 2015. She worked as a consultant for six years across North America supporting implementation, training, project management, analytics, and build efforts. Sarah became Chief Nursing Informatics Officer (CNIO) of Central Maine Healthcare in 2019.

Sarah is a certified nurse informaticist through the ANCC and has been working with nurse.com since 2011 to present the regular course for ANCC nursing informatics certification. In addition to managing the discussion board, she teaches about data management and healthcare technology, system design life cycle, and exam strategies.

Laura M. Ogle, DNP, CENP, CNE, CEN is the Director of Nursing Professional Development. Prior to MedStar Health, Laura served in the United States Army for 15 years. She assumed various practice, leadership, and professional development positions in the emergency department throughout her time in service.

She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Southern Indiana in 2022; she also completed a Master’s in Nursing Education degree from Grand Canyon University in 2014, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2008, and an Associate Degree in Nursing in 2007. In addition to her administrative role, Ogle is also a Trauma Nursing Core Course and Emergency Nursing Pediatric Course instructor with the Emergency Nurse’s Association. She also volunteers as the Youth Coordinator at her church.

Dr. Ogle is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Association for Nursing Professional Development, National League of Nursing, and Emergency Nurse’s Association.

Nursing Director, Ortho & Oncology

Anne M. Johnson, MSN, RN has been with MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital as a Nursing Director since October 2008. Prior to transitioning to Director Ms. Johnson worked as a direct care nurse at Southern Maryland Hospital starting in September 2005.

She earned her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of South Carolina in 2018. Ms. Johnson began her career after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, from the University of Maryland, in 1981. She has worked in a variety of other acute care hospitals as a direct care nurse, prior to joining MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center.

Ms. Johnson is a member of the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses (NAON).

Wendy Post, DNP, MSN, RN is the new Director of Women and Infants Services at Medstar Southern Maryland Medical Center. Wendy is currently a graduating student at Georgetown University’s Executive Master’s Program for Clinical Quality, Patient Safety and Leadership. She has focused her Capstone at Georgetown on black birthing individuals’ experiences and was awarded a grant from the Georgetown Gender Justice Initiative to continue this critical work. Her research interest is in the intersection between the clinical quality of care delivered, disparities in maternal and infant mortality, and morbidity and postpartum depression and its impact on underserved communities.

Wendy earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2019. In addition to his clinical and administrative roles, Post is also one of the Regional Clinical Educators for Prenatal Education at Kaiser Permanente Mid- Atlantic states. She also worked in previous clinical nursing roles in Clinical Quality, CMS Regulatory/Accreditation, high risk labor and delivery, public health advisory cadres and infection control and prevention.

Dr. Post is a member of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi honor Society, The American Public Health Association and is a cadre member of the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).

Nursing Director, Dedicated Cardiac & Cardiac Subspecialty

Kimberly Brown-Gross, RN, MSN-PMHNP, started employment in July 2000 as a new graduate on 1 east. In 2015, Kim was given the opportunity to become the Assistant director of 1 east. Two years later, she became the Nurse Director of 3 east, 3 west and telemetry.

Kimberly returned to school in 2015 to obtain her BSN while working full-time as the assistant director on 1 east. After graduating from University of Maryland University College (UMUC), she decided to further her education at Walden University to obtain a master’s degree as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). She graduated from Walden University with honors in August 2021.

Kimberly received the Nurse of the year 2009, CNO award April 2021, and the nurse leader of the year May 2022.

Nursing Director PeriOperative Services

Deborah A. Walker, RN, BSN, MHA, returned to MedStar at our Southern Maryland Hospital Center location as the Director of Perioperative Services in June 2017. Ms. Walker had previously worked for over 17 years in varied roles in the Operating Room at Medstar Washington Hospital Center. Prior to rejoining Medstar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Ms. Walker served in Director roles within Perioperative Services in both hospital and Ambulatory Surgery settings around the Metropolitan Area.

She earned her Master of Healthcare Administration from Warren University in 2009. In addition to her clinical and administrative roles, Ms. Walker is a member of the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN), and with the Howard University Nurses Alumni.

Ms. Walker is also a member of both Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Howard University Alumni Association and the Prince Georges County Alumni Chapter of Howard University.