Executive Management

Cathy Hamel has over 20 years executive experience in healthcare management from small physician practice management to Fortune 500 business development and operations responsibilities, including acquisition and development activities. She held executive positions at NeighborCare At Home, Severn Healthcare, Inc., Columbia Healthcare Corporation and TeamCare. At Columbia HealthCare Corporation she participated on a team that submitted an application and subsequent survey for the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award for Healthcare. She was directly responsible for the Information Management survey responses. Cathy has been with Gilchrist since August of 2008 and started as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer. She was promoted to Executive Director in November 2009 and President in 2015. In addition, she was appointed to the position of Vice President of Continuing Care Services for GBMC Healthcare, in July 2011. Cathy serves as the President of the Hospice Alliance in Maryland where she was instrumental in building a state-wide program for children’s hospice services, Alliance Kids. She also serves on the Board of Global Partners in Care where palliative and hospice care is promoted internationally.

W. Anthony Riley, M.D. is the Chief Medical Officer of Gilchrist. He joined the organization in 1994 as founding medical director of Gilchrist Hospice Care. He also serves as Division Head of the Geriatrics Section at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where he has been a member of the medical staff since 1983. In these roles he provides medical leadership to a practice of over 40 physicians and nurse practitioners. This practice provides geriatric, palliative medicine, hospice, and medical director services in the home, residential facilities, long term-care facilities, the office, and hospitals in the Baltimore region. Dr. Riley also is the founding medical director of the Elder Medical Care Home Care program.

Dr. Riley serves as the Board Chairman of the Greater Baltimore Health Alliance, which is the accountable care organization (ACO) associated with GBMC. He also serves as Chair of its Quality Committee. Dr. Riley’s professional interests include: physician management, health care reform, and innovative health care delivery.

Dr. Riley is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in primary care at the University of Maryland.

He has served on the faculty of the residency programs at both University of Maryland and at GBMC. Under his leadership, Gilchrist currently serves as a training site for the Johns Hopkins palliative medicine fellowship program.

Dr. Riley is an expert and frequent lecturer on doctor-patient communication and medical decision-making in serious illness.

Wayne Barth has over 20 years of finance experience in a health services organization. He joined Gilchrist in December of 2007 as Controller and was then promoted to Senior Director of Business Operations. Wayne has been responsible for all financial aspects of a complex healthcare provider of rehabilitation services in long-term care. He has extensive knowledge of financial systems and experience in evaluating operations to ensure efficiency. His prior positions include Controller, Vice President of Accounting and Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis at Symphony Health Services, LLC. Wayne is on the Board as the Treasurer of Hospice and Palliative Care Network of Maryland.

Shannon Wollman has been a development professional for over 19 years within the Greater Baltimore area. Her extensive background includes major gifts, annual and planned giving programs, special events, donor concierge services, staff development and management. Shannon began her career as a major gifts officer at Sinai Hospital and Levindale Hebrew and Geriatric Hospital, part of the LifeBridge Health system, and successfully oversaw a $20 million capital campaign for the Herman & Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital. In 2011, Shannon joined Johns Hopkins and in 2013 became director of development for the Heart and Vascular Institute, where she oversaw all fundraising efforts for the program. Over the course of her six-year tenure there, more than $40 million was successfully raised for the research and programmatic priorities of the divisions of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Before joining Gilchrist in December 2018, Shannon most recently held the position of Vice President of Development at Howard County General Hospital: a Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine. A graduate of Towson University, Shannon grew up in Baltimore and spent 10 years in New York City pursuing a theatrical career before returning to Maryland. Shannon and her family reside in Ellicott City.

Leana Hoover, Licensed Nursing Home Administrator, has 25 years of experience in healthcare. With a background in nursing, she has spent 15 years in the long-term care industry, where she developed her interest in providing care to the geriatric population. During her work in skilled nursing facilities, she served in the capacity of Director of Nursing and then progressed to Nursing Home Administrator. She is an active member of the Health Facilities Association of Maryland and currently serves on the board working with other healthcare providers serving the geriatric community.

Jessica Gabbard has more than 10 years of experience in the hospice industry, holding multiple executive roles in hospice business, strategic planning, quality improvement and clinical operations. Her prior positions include, National Director of Hospice & Palliative Care Operations at Trinity Health at Home, in Livonia, Mich. In that role, Gabbard oversaw service delivery and strategic direction for all hospice and palliative programs. She managed a $40 million annual budget for seven regions, achieving significant clinical, operational and financial improvements. Jessica has extensive experience in lean healthcare management and is currently finishing her MBA/MHA at South University. Jessica resides in Monkton with her family.

Education:

MSN: Masters of Science in Nursing, South University

BSN: Baker College of Flint

Certification: CHPN: Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse

Gilchrist’s Chief Access Officer will be appointed soon.

Anne Evans joined Gilchrist in September 2012. She directs the business development team and partnerships within the health care delivery system. Anne brings expertise in consultative sales, managed care contracting, market analysis, and program innovation which she gained through 30 years of experience in the post-acute provider arena. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Towson University where she graduated summa cum laude and serves as member of the Advisory Board for the Towson University health care management program.

Stacy Bellmore has over 25 years of health care and marketing experience. She previously worked for Block, McGibony, Bellmore & Associates, a nationally known hospital consulting firm, as Vice President. She was responsible for strategy, marketing, continuous quality improvement and certificate of need. She also worked for Erickson Retirement Communities as Director of Financial Feasibility and then as Director of Sales Optimization. From Erickson, she moved to TESSCO Technologies, where she held multiple roles in product and marketing. Stacy joined Gilchrist in 2017, where responsibilities include rebranding, creating a new website, communication activities for service lines, advertising, publications, collateral and social media. Stacy resides in Owings Mills with her husband. They have five adult children.

Kathy Guggino joined Gilchrist in June of 2018. Kathy has held various positions within the Johns Hopkins Health System where she spent the majority of her career. Kathy has an MPA, with a Health Policy specialization, from New York University and is a Certified Joint Commission Professional. Kathy has over 15 years of healthcare quality, regulatory compliance, patient safety and strategic planning experience with expertise in performance improvement tools and methods. She and her team are accountable for advancing Gilchrist along its journey to become a High Reliability Organization through Leadership Engagement, Robust Process Improvement and improving the safety culture. The team responsibilities include the measurement of key quality metrics including the patient and family experience and subsequent improvement activities, the decrease of preventable harm events, accreditation and the orientation, education and development of staff.

Diane Sancilio is a clinical social worker with 16 years of management experience both in the public and private sectors of the field of child welfare as well as in hospice care. Her responsibilities included leading teams to develop and run programs, ensure high quality services, foster partnerships in the community, fundraising and business development. Most recently, Diane came from another hospice organization where she was the Director of Volunteer Services and Chair of the nationally recognized We Honor Veterans Program. She joined Gilchrist in May of 2017.

I’m excited to lead the Gilchrist HR Team. I’ve been in the GBMC system for three years. My most recent role was HR Manager for GBMC Health Partners. I have over 20 years of experience in HR—most of which has been in health care. I have a special connection to hospice and elder care. I enjoyed being an HR manager for a nursing home and chronic hospital for four years. I very much enjoy the work of supporting employees who take care of our patients and their loved ones. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Washington and maintain the PHR and SHRM-CP human resources professional certifications. I am also a trained mediator.

In my off time, I love to spend time with my family, preferably doing something outside. I am also a yoga teacher and have been practicing yoga for 20 years.