UM Upper Chesapeake Health Announces New Senior Leadership Team Members

University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health (UM UCH) has announced three new members of its senior leadership team: Laura J. Mansfield, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, senior vice president/chief nursing officer; Colin Ward, DrPH, MHS, senior vice president/chief operating officer; and Dr. Faheem Younus, MD, vice president of quality/chief quality officer.

Laura Mansfield, the chief nursing officer, is new to UM UCH. She has more than 30 years of nursing experience and holds two board certifications--Nurse Executive, Advanced (NEA-BC) and Medical-Surgical Nursing (RN-BC) . She came to UM UCH from NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she served as the senior director of nursing. In that role, Mansfield directed, planned, developed, coordinated and evaluated in-patient operations, nursing care and treatment of patients in Medicine and Surgical Services.

She also served as director of nursing, cardiology services for Mount Sinai Hospital/Mount Sinai St. Luke's in New York City; nursing service administrator for Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown, N.J.; director of nursing for Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx; and director, patient satisfaction, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, N.J.

Mansfield has received several honors including the Transformational Leadership Award from Orange Regional Medical Center, The Nursing Leadership Award from Kean University and Outstanding RN for Critical Care Nursing from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. She was nominated for the Kim Glassman Nursing Leadership Award at NYU Langone Health System and was a top 20 finalist for Hudson Valley Magazine's Excellence in Nursing Award.

She is pursuing a Doctorate of Nursing Practice at Villanova University. In addition, she holds a Master of Science in Nursing from Kean University; a Master Certificate in Six Sigma - Healthcare from Villanova; and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The College of New Jersey, School of Nursing.

Promoted within the UM UCH senior leadership team is Colin Ward, DrPH, MHS. He joined UM UCH in April 2014 as vice president of population health and clinical integration and is now senior vice president and chief operating officer. Ward provides leadership, direction and operational oversight to University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Hospitals to meet strategic and operational objectives. Ward is responsible for performance improvement initiatives including quality, operational and efficiency improvements that support patient care and service. A high school graduate of The John Carroll School, Ward has long associations with the Harford County community. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. Ward previously served as the executive director for the Greater Baltimore Health Alliance and the director of strategic planning for Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

In addition to a Doctoral Degree, Ward has a Master of Health Services degree and has previously served as an adjunct faculty member at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Also joining the UM UCH senior leadership team is Faheem Younus, MD, FIDSA, FACP, an award-winning clinician and a certified physician executive (CPE) who leads UM UCH's quality and safety programs. Dr. Younus has headed up the UM UCH infectious disease team for over 20 years. He has provided the vision to develop and sustain patient safety and quality programs at both UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and UM Harford Memorial Hospital. He also provides strategic oversight for the patient experience program.

Younus is a change management expert and is respected for his ability to transform and align a multidisciplinary team behind a common goal. He has been repeatedly chosen by his peers to receive the "Top Doc" award given annually by Baltimore magazine. He also received the Presidential Service Award from the Obama administration for his humanitarian services. He is the author of many peer-reviewed articles.

"We are so fortunate to have dynamic and innovative leaders such as Laura, Colin and Faheem join our senior leadership team," said Lyle E. Sheldon, FACHE, president/CEO of UM UCH. "Their knowledge, skills and forward thinking will help us continue to provide the best health care possible to our community today and in the future."