Our Team
Steven W. Bryant
President and CEO
Steven W. Bryant serves as the President and CEO of Bryant Healthcare Consultants. Mr. Bryant brings more than 30 years of experience in healthcare management and leadership to his work with hospitals, physicians, and healthcare organizations across the country. In his current and prior leadership role as President & CEO of The Greeley Company, Mr. Bryant played an instrumental role in driving the company's mission to help healthcare organizations solve complex challenges, improve efficiency, comply with regulations and standards, achieve practitioner engagement and alignment, and excel in delivering high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
A popular speaker and author, Mr. Bryant provides expertise in CMS compliance and continuous survey readiness; using the accreditation process to improve quality; finding maximum flexibility in Joint Commission, CMS, and other standards; and helping physicians understand and get value out of the accreditation process.
Prior to joining Bryant Healthcare Consulting, Mr. Bryant served as the President & CEO of The Greeley Company, a leading provider of consulting, education, interim staffing, credentialing & privileging, and external peer review services to healthcare organizations nationwide. Mr. Bryant began his healthcare journey at Brockton Hospital as the Administrative and Fiscal Director of Safety and Security with responsibility for compliance monitoring and Joint Commission coordination. He has also been an independent Joint Commission consultant. Mr. Bryant holds a B.S. in healthcare administration from Providence College. He is certified in Healthcare Safety Management from the American Hospital Association and the American Society for Hospital Engineering.
Lisa Eddy
MSN, MHA, RN, CPHQ, HACP-CMS
Lisa Eddy is the Vice President of Bryant Healthcare Consultants and brings over 25 years of experience in successful responses to State Agency and CMS adverse action threats and resolving accrediting organizations' challenges to healthcare organizations. Lisa fosters Bryant Healthcare Consultants' philosophy of compliance, which is to make the complex simple by removing overly complicated, unrealistic expectations that are not achievable, for simple, common-sense solutions that promote efficiency, protect patients, and comply with external regulations.
Lisa’s background in regulatory compliance, quality and risk management, nursing administration, and hospital operations allows her to assist clients with meeting the challenges of regulatory requirements through her experiential lens of healthcare industry realities. Lisa strives to help clients apply realistic, implementable solutions to the complexities of regulatory compliance. In addition to her role as the Vice President of Bryant Healthcare Consultants, she is instrumental in the development and facilitation of strategies for hospital-wide performance improvement and patient safety programs, policy simplification, and operational efficiency implementation. Lisa works with healthcare executive teams to integrate and align internal philosophies allowing leadership to navigate the unique challenges inherent within healthcare organizations today. Lisa specializes in helping organizations facing post-survey adverse action and/or CMS decertification, successfully clarifying requirements for improvement, and developing successful CMS plans of correction. She also serves as a member of the Joint Commission Consultants Forum.
Prior to joining Bryant Healthcare Consultants, Lisa was a Partner at the Chartis Group, leading regulatory compliance within the High-Reliability Care line of business. She served as the Vice President of Compliance at the Greeley Company prior to Greeley’s acquisition by the Chartis Group. Lisa also held the position of Vice President of Professional Services at a national healthcare publication and consulting firm, where she was responsible for consultation services and product development.
Lisa is a speaker and educator at client-requested and corporation-sponsored seminars and workshops, focusing on the areas of quality, safety and performance improvement, healthcare leadership, education, hospital management and operations, and successful regulatory compliance. Lisa is a registered nurse with a background in intensive care nursing and nursing executive leadership with degrees in Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Healthcare Administration and holds current certification as a CPHQ with the National Association for Healthcare Quality and is certified through the Healthcare Accreditation Certification Program in CMS requirements (HACP-CMS).
Amber Jordan
MHA, BSP, CHRM, HACP-CMS
Amber Jordan is the Vice President of Operations and a Consultant for Bryant Healthcare Consultants and brings 20 years of experience in healthcare operations. Amber’s area of expertise is primarily assisting clients with meeting CMS and accrediting agency regulatory compliance, specializing in operational process design, aligning clinical practices with CMS, and accrediting agency requirements at the point of care. She works with clients to improve bedside practice and foster operational efficiencies that meet or exceed state, federal, and accrediting agency requirements. Amber assists organizations in the proactive management of preventable harm with her understanding of adverse events management, severity rating, and event trending. She works with clinical providers through Bryant Healthcare’s Monitoring and Mentoring process which is structured to foster the improvement of process design. Amber brings her knowledge and skills in the field of psychology to collaborate with challenged behavioral health facilities, strengthening and advancing successful improvement efforts leading to improved outcomes and enhanced compliance.
Kim Bryant
BS, Manager Finance and Operations
Kim Bryant is the Finance and Operations Manager at Bryant Healthcare Consultants and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business. She has over 30 years of experience in healthcare, including Risk Management, Practice Management, Human Resources, Finance and Operations.
Kim began her career in Behavioral Healthcare in Risk and Practice Management. It was during her tenure in Behavioral Healthcare that she became involved in accreditation and regulatory affairs including Joint Commission, Medicare, Medicaid, and HIPPA compliance. In addition to Behavioral Health, Kim served as the Manager of Patient Registration/Communications and Centralized Scheduling for an acute care hospital in the New Hampshire area, where she was responsible for staff development and operational budget management. Kim has extensive experience in corporate Operations Management, Human Resources, Benefits, and Marketing for such companies as Johnson and Johnson and Hasbro, Inc. where she used her skills and knowledge base for organizational growth, productivity, and operational efficiency.
Kim most recently held the position of Accountant for Special Education/Student Services for the Hampton School District overseeing and managing budget development to align the needs of the children, staff, and the community.
Lena Browning Calloway
MHA, BSN, RNC-NIC, CSHA
Lena is an accomplished nurse executive and accreditation specialist with more than 20 years of progressive clinical and regulatory leadership experience in acute care settings. As a Principal Consultant at Bryant, she is widely recognized for her expertise in healthcare accreditation, regulatory compliance, and patient safety, and for her ability to guide organizations toward sustained survey readiness and operational excellence.
Most recently, Ms. Calloway has successfully served in six interim executive roles, including Director of Accreditation and Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety. In these capacities, she restructured and revitalized accreditation and quality departments, leading organizations to measurable improvements in patient outcomes and sustained regulatory compliance. Under her leadership, multiple organizations achieved successful triennial surveys with no “condition” findings. She has also coached numerous healthcare systems through abatement of Immediate Jeopardy situations, with all citations lifted and no condition level findings upon return surveys, demonstrating exceptional crisis leadership, regulatory acumen, and performance improvement expertise.
Prior to her consulting career, Ms. Browning Calloway held more than a decade of senior leadership roles in accreditation and regulatory compliance. She is highly experienced in navigating CMS Conditions of Participation, Joint Commission standards, and state regulatory requirements. Her additional expertise spans quality and patient safety, performance improvement, medical staff credentialing and privileging, contract management, and strategic planning across hospital and home care environments.
Ms. Browning Calloway earned her Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Southern Indiana and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Murray State University. She is a Registered Nurse Certified in Neonatal Intensive Care (RNC-NIC), a Certified Specialist in Healthcare Accreditation (CSHA), and maintains certifications in Basic Life Support, Neonatal and Pediatric Advanced Life Support, and Newborn Resuscitation and Post-Resuscitation Stabilization. She is also an active member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).
Ms. Browning Calloway is a respected leader, strategist, and coach who brings deep clinical insight, regulatory expertise, and a passion for excellence to every organization she serves.
Joshua Cartwright
DHA, JDc, MHL, CPHQ, CQIA, HACP-CMS
With more than a decade in healthcare leadership, Joshua is committed to advancing quality, regulatory interpretation and compliance, patient safety, and clinical excellence. As a Principal Consultant at Bryant Healthcare Consulting, Joshua supports the advancement of quality and compliance with multiple teams and partners across the United States.
Dr. Cartwright is a nationally recognized advocate for healthcare quality improvement, partnering with organizations such as the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the National Association for Healthcare Quality, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. He has helped lead award winning initiatives that transform care delivery, strengthen alignment across state and federal programs, and support organizations navigating leadership development, change management, and culture of safety transformation.
Before joining Bryant Healthcare Consultants, Joshua held senior leadership roles with a national healthcare consulting firm, academic medical centers including Johns Hopkins Medicine, and multi hospital health systems across the Southwest and East Coast, including Presbyterian Healthcare Services and Tower Health. In these roles, he oversaw quality, patient safety, compliance, regulatory risk, and infection prevention programs. He also contributed to the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, while his early work in transplant and cardiovascular care at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Southwest Transplant Alliance shaped his lifelong commitment to clinical excellence and patient centered care.
Joshua’s experience extends beyond traditional healthcare settings through federal security clearance work and longstanding partnerships with the Indian Health Service and Tribal Nations across the Southwest and Alaska. Through the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, he has evaluated healthcare organizational excellence with impact across more than 227 Alaska Native tribes. He also served as a federal CMS consultant supporting a large QIN QIO region during the 11th Statement of Work.
Guided by a passion for transformation, Joshua is committed to advancing sustainable quality, patient safety, continuous improvement, and a shared commitment to better care for all
Erica Brudjar
MPH, RN, HACP-CMS
Erica Brudjar is a consultant with Bryant Health Consultants, bringing over two decades of distinguished experience in healthcare to her role. With a Master’s in Public Health and a deep commitment to enhancing patient care, safety, and regulatory compliance, Erica's leadership and expertise have made a lasting impact on healthcare organizations. As a registered nurse with extensive experience in certification and licensure compliance, emergency medicine, and perioperative nursing, Erica has developed a nuanced understanding of the challenges facing diverse healthcare settings. Her expertise spans hospitals—including psychiatric, acute, and critical access facilities—dialysis centers, ambulatory surgical centers, freestanding emergency departments, birth centers, federally qualified health centers, and rural health clinics.
During her tenure at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Erica was responsible for licensing End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) facilities, ensuring they met operational readiness standards prior to admitting patients. She also led investigations into reported issues, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and prioritizing patient safety. As the Acute Care Section Manager, Erica successfully led teams dedicated to improving regulatory compliance and driving quality improvement initiatives across healthcare facilities. Her work contributed to measurable advancements in patient safety and quality of care for those seeking services throughout Colorado, in a variety of healthcare settings, including ESRD facilities. Currently pursuing her Doctorate in Public Health, Erica is committed to lifelong learning and professional growth.
Erica's contributions to Bryant Health Consultants are rooted in her proven ability to navigate complex regulatory landscapes, implement sustainable solutions, and drive exceptional outcomes for healthcare organizations across the continuum of care.
Christina Leisenring
MNSc, RN, CEN, HACP-CMS
Christina Leisenring is a senior healthcare executive and consultant with extensive experience leading complex clinical operations, regulatory compliance initiatives, and enterprise-wide performance improvement across hospitals, academic medical centers, clinics, and health systems. Her leadership philosophy centers on building durable, high-reliability systems rather than short-term fixes, aligning workforce strategy, nursing education and competency validation, policy implementation, and performance measurement to drive sustained quality, safety, and operational excellence.
Christina brings deep expertise in regulatory readiness and accreditation, including The Joint Commission, Comprehensive Stroke Center, and ACS Level I Trauma certification. She is highly skilled in guiding organizations through regulatory remediation, compliance resurveys, and survey preparedness by simplifying over engineered processes, strengthening leadership accountability, and embedding regulatory expectations into daily operations and governance structures. Her approach emphasizes data driven decision-making, financial stewardship, and practical operational redesign that improves reliability while supporting long-term sustainability.
Currently, Christina serves as a Lead Healthcare Consultant with Bryant Healthcare Consultants, where she leads regulatory readiness, compliance remediation, and performance improvement engagements. Her consulting work includes enterprise assessments across quality, safety, governance, staffing, and operations, translating findings into actionable roadmaps with defined ownership, timelines, and performance metrics. She is known for her ability to help organizations reduce unnecessary complexity, improve communication and critical thinking, and hard-wire compliance into organizational culture.
Previously, Ms. Leisenring held progressive leadership roles at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, including Interim Director of Clinical Services and Clinical Services Manager for the Emergency Department, Clinical Decision Unit, and SANE Program. In these roles, she led system-wide change initiatives, redesigned clinical units, managed large scale construction and expansion projects, strengthened quality and risk management programs, and ensured continuous readiness for trauma, stroke, and regulatory surveys. Her experience also includes leadership in Magnet documentation, workforce development, and regional trauma system advocacy.
Connie Gunter
MA-Criminal Justice & Policy Development, BSN-RN, HACP-CMS
Connie Gunter is a registered nurse and patient safety and quality improvement professional with more than 20 years of experience supporting clinical operations, regulatory compliance, and performance improvement across academic medical centers, emergency departments, and rural healthcare settings. Her work is distinguished by deep expertise in patient safety event analysis, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Apparent Cause Analysis (ACA), and Just Culture implementation, with a strong focus on building reliable systems that reduce risk and improve patient outcomes.
Ms. Gunter has extensive experience translating CMS Conditions of Participation and Accrediting Body requirements into practical workflows, performance dashboards, and monitoring tools that support continuous compliance and survey readiness. She is recognized for her ability to partner effectively with executive leaders, clinical leaders, and frontline staff to identify risk, analyze adverse events and near misses, and implement corrective actions that are operationally feasible and sustainable over time.
Currently, Connie serves as a Healthcare Consultant with Bryant Healthcare Consultants, where she provides embedded support to facilities to improve quality, patient safety, risk management, and regulatory alignment. Her consulting work includes mentoring executive leadership teams in RCA and ACA methodology, supporting Just Culture adoption, restructuring policies, and aligning patient safety and quality improvement programs regulatory requirements.
Connie’s clinical background includes extensive emergency nursing experience in a high acuity emergency departments, as well as service in rural emergency and ambulatory care settings. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice with a focus on public policy development, providing a unique perspective that integrates clinical practice, regulatory frameworks, and system accountability. She is known for her collaborative, systems focused approach and her commitment to advancing safe, high-quality care in complex and resource-constrained healthcare environments.
J'Neil Bogren
MSN, MHA, RN
J’Neil Bogren is a senior healthcare quality, accreditation, and regulatory compliance executive with more than 20 years of experience supporting complex healthcare organizations across the United States. Her background spans acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, behavioral health facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, and long-term acute care hospitals, with a particular emphasis on resource constrained healthcare environments. She is widely recognized for her executive level leadership and subject matter expertise in CMS Conditions of Participation, Joint Commission and DNV accreditation standards, and resolution of adverse regulatory actions.
Ms. Bogren brings deep expertise in leading CMS System Improvement Agreements (SIAs), accreditation recovery efforts, and regulatory vulnerability assessments. She has served as a trusted intermediary among CMS Regional Offices, State Departments of Health, executive leadership teams, and governing bodies, guiding organizations through high-risk regulatory situations to successful re-survey outcomes.
Throughout her career, Ms. Bogren has designed and operationalized integrated Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) programs aligned with enterprise risk management and patient safety priorities. She is known for hands-on leadership, disciplined project oversight, and the ability to build accountability across multidisciplinary teams. Her approach emphasizes change management, performance measurement, and sustained compliance rather than short-term corrective actions.
Currently, Ms. Bogren serves as a Quality and Regulatory Compliance Consultant and Lead Subject Matter Expert with Bryant Healthcare Consultants, Inc., where she supports governance oversight, quality and patient safety program redesign, regulatory risk identification, and performance improvement prioritization. Her prior leadership roles include Quality Director and Risk Manager with CHRISTUS Health, as well as Senior Regulatory Consultant with The Chartis Group (formerly The Greeley Company), where she was an integral part of successful CMS SIA and accreditation engagements. Ms. Bogren holds a Master of Science in Nursing and a Master of Health Administration and is a licensed Registered Nurse.
Melissa Hart
BSN, RN
Melissa Hart is a seasoned registered nurse and healthcare quality and regulatory compliance professional with more than 15 years of progressive experience supporting hospital based quality, safety, and compliance programs. Her background spans behavioral health hospitals, acute care settings, home health, and community based healthcare organizations, with demonstrated expertise in regulatory readiness, Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI), and nursing leadership.
Melissa is recognized for her ability to lead and operationalize comprehensive quality management programs that support continuous survey readiness and measurable patient safety outcomes. She has successfully guided organizations through state, CMS and Joint Commission surveys with minimal to zero deficiencies and has a strong track record of driving timely incident review and closure through disciplined process design and accountability. Her work reflects a practical, data-driven approach to quality improvement, emphasizing staff engagement, clear expectations, and sustainable change.
Currently, Melissa serves as a Consultant with Bryant Healthcare Consultants, Inc., where she provides coaching, education, and mentoring to nursing and administrative leaders on regulatory standards, documentation practices, and survey preparedness. She partners with interdisciplinary teams to identify regulatory risk, strengthen operational processes, and implement system-level improvements aligned with federal and state requirements. Her consulting work includes leadership education, change management support, and practice revision to improve reliability and compliance.
Prior to her consulting role, Melissa held multiple senior leadership positions, including Director of Quality and Compliance and Director of Nursing, where she led enterprise quality programs, patient safety initiatives, and nursing operations. She has overseen utilization review, case management, infection control reporting, and peer review systems, consistently achieving strong regulatory outcomes and improved clinical performance. Earlier in her career, she supported quality analytics, trauma and bariatric program metrics, sepsis reduction initiatives, and Joint Commission and CMS survey readiness across hospital departments. She is known for her collaborative leadership style, attention to detail, and commitment to advancing safe, compliant, and patient-centered care.
Laurie Billington
MHA, BS
Laurie is a healthcare quality, safety, and regulatory compliance leader with more than 20 years of experience supporting healthcare organizations in navigating complex regulatory, operational, and cultural environments. Her work spans acute hospitals, residential treatment centers, and community-based programs, with deep expertise in adverse event management, risk mitigation, survey readiness, and sustained regulatory compliance across CMS, Joint Commission, DNV, ACHC, CIHQ, and state oversight agencies.
Laurie’s experience includes leading quality and compliance programs for high acuity facilities, directing corrective action planning following adverse regulatory findings, mentoring executive and frontline leaders, and building integrated quality and safety infrastructures from governance to the point of care. She brings particular strength in crisis response, regulatory interpretation, policy and procedure development, staff training, and data-driven performance improvement.
Currently, Laurie serves as a consultant with Bryant Healthcare Consultants, providing regulatory and operational support to organizations facing CMS, state, or accrediting body challenges. She also holds leadership and advisory roles with the State of Colorado Department of Human Services, including service on licensing and incident review boards. She holds a Master of Healthcare Administration with a focus on organizational leadership and a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Studies.
Melissa Easdon
MBA, BSN, BA, RN, CEN, CPEN
Melissa Easdon is a strategic healthcare executive and consultant with over 30 years of experience leading clinical operations, regulatory compliance, and healthcare transformation across high-acuity environments. Recognized for driving measurable improvements in patient safety, throughput, and engagement. Nationally respected leader with deep expertise in emergency medicine, behavioral health integration, and regulatory readiness. Proven ability to guide organizations through complex change, optimize care delivery models, and align clinical operations with strategic goals.
Melissa is a nursing and operational leader in the acute care hospital and ambulatory settings. While her primary area of expertise is the Emergency Department, she has also created, led or supported a variety of other services, including behavioral health, observation, outpatient clinics, sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs), and informatics, and has also managed key accreditation and regulatory compliance activities. Melissa has worked in multiple hospital settings, from small community hospitals to Level I academic medical trauma centers, where she reduced LWBS rates, improved admission throughput, decreased the number of staff and patient safety events, increased staff engagement scores, and improved patient experience.
Melissa serves as a board member in her professional organization (Emergency Nurse’s Association )and presents regularly at national conferences on topics such as best practices for staffing, budgeting for nurse leaders, staff safety, behavioral health care, and shared decision-making.
Tina Music
BSN, RN, CPHQ
Tina Music is a seasoned healthcare leader with over three decades of progressive experience in quality management, patient safety, risk mitigation, and regulatory compliance. Most recently serving as Network Chief Quality Officer for Community Health Systems (2019–2025), Tina provided executive oversight for quality programs, medical staff services, patient safety, infection control, clinical informatics, and regulatory readiness across Lake Norman Regional Medical Center and Davis Regional Medical Center in North Carolina. Prior to this role, she held key leadership positions at Carolinas Healthcare System, including directing system-wide patient safety initiatives, leading Root Cause and Failure Mode Effect Analyses, and coordinating enterprise level quality councils. Her earlier tenure at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center as Director of Quality & Risk Management was marked by successful accreditation and certification achievements, including Magnet designation, and measurable improvements in patient safety outcomes.
Tina began her career as a bedside nurse, progressively advancing through roles in education, human resources, and hospital administration. She is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), Six Sigma Green Belt, and TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer, with additional credentials in cause analysis and healthcare safety management. Tina is known for her collaborative leadership style, strategic vision, and commitment to continuous improvement in clinical excellence and patient care delivery.
Debra Ann Holender
BSN, RN, CIC
Debra Holender is a highly accomplished healthcare professional with over 27 years of expertise in infection prevention, regulatory compliance, and quality management across diverse healthcare settings. She is nationally certified in infection control and epidemiology and licensed as a Registered Nurse in California, New York, and North Carolina.
Debra has held numerous interim leadership positions at major institutions such as Mount Sinai Medical Center, UCI Health, and NYC Health & Hospitals Elmhurst. Her roles have included Interim Director of Infection Prevention, Accreditation & Licensure Manager, and Clinical Program Manager, where she has led multi-disciplinary teams, spearheaded regulatory survey readiness, and developed system-wide infection control strategies.
A seasoned consultant with APIC Consulting and The Greeley Company, Debra is recognized for designing evidence based policies, conducting Joint Commission and CMS surveys readiness assessments, and facilitating system improvement strategies and actions. She has repeatedly been recruited during critical transitions and regulatory challenges to stabilize operations and drive compliance and performance improvement.
Debra also served in long-term leadership capacities, including Director of Infection Prevention and Quality Manager at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center. Her efforts contributed to successful accreditations and certifications in Stroke, Chest Pain, Perinatal Care, and Bariatric Programs. She is an active member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), having served on the North Carolina board in several leadership capacities, including Treasurer. Debra’s strengths lie in her ability to lead change, foster collaboration, and implement sustainable improvements in patient safety and infection control.
Candace Eden
DNP, MSN, RN, FASHRM, CPPS, CPHQ, NE-BC
Candace is a nationally recognized nursing, quality, and patient safety executive with more than 40 years of progressive healthcare experience. An actively licensed RN in Florida and Georgia, she brings deep clinical expertise in emergency services, trauma, cardiology, and open-heart care, with leadership experience across trauma centers, tertiary and community hospitals, ambulatory settings, patient experience organizations, and the opening of a free-standing pediatric hospital.
Over the past 13 years, Dr. Eden has served in senior executive roles focused on nursing services, quality, risk management, and patient safety. A licensed Risk Manager since 1997, she has led enterprisewide performance improvement initiatives, regulatory compliance strategies, and patient experience programs, including executive level consulting related to HCAHPS performance.
Dr. Eden is highly experienced in regulatory readiness and accreditation, conducting Joint Commission Resources and CMS mock surveys, construction surveys, and disease-specific certification reviews. She has personally implemented Comprehensive Stroke Programs under both DNV and Joint Commission frameworks, achieving sustained performance improvements, and has conducted Comprehensive Stroke Center mock reviews under the 2025 standards. Her prior roles include RN Consultant with Joint Commission Resources and senior leadership positions at Orlando Health, AdventHealth, Kaiser Permanente (Georgia Region), Nemours Children’s Hospital, Northside Hospital (HCA), and Avatar (now Press Ganey).
A Fellow of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, Dr. Eden holds multiple national certifications, is PROSCI Change Management certified, and serves as a Master Trainer for TeamSTEPPS. She is active in professional education and leadership as faculty for ASHRM and the University of Central Florida and as a former President and current Board Member of the Florida Society of Healthcare Risk Management & Patient Safety. She earned her DNP from the University of Central Florida.
Kayera Bonnie Kashmiri
RN, BSOD, CIC, Graduate Certificate in Infection Control
Kayera Kashmiri is a nationally recognized Infection Prevention and Employee Health leader with more than a decade of experience improving safety, regulatory readiness, and operational performance across diverse healthcare environments.
Kayera brings extensive clinical and operational expertise spanning infection prevention, employee health, telemetry, orthopedics, neonatal and postpartum care, perioperative services, cath lab, GI lab, emergency medicine, rehabilitation, and environmental safety. She has served in numerous interim and contracted leadership roles—often in high‑risk, high‑complexity settings—where she has successfully implemented systems, infrastructure, and performance‑improvement initiatives that strengthened compliance and elevated organizational outcomes.
Highly regarded for her ability to quickly assess complex environments, Kayera specializes in identifying gaps, creating intuitive solutions, and building sustainable processes that support safe, efficient, and compliant healthcare operations. Her work in infection control has earned national recognition, including the prestigious National Sharps Award for innovation in reducing sharps injuries in the operating room. She has been published in multiple papers focused on reducing central line infections and has contributed to several white papers involving ATP monitoring, disinfection studies, and surgical site infection reduction.
Kayera’s versatility extends beyond traditional clinical settings. During the COVID‑19 pandemic, she served as Health Safety Supervisor for multiple major film productions, ensuring safe operations, preventing outbreaks, and enabling continuity of filming on sets across the U.S. and abroad. Her leadership in these environments demonstrated her ability to apply infection prevention principles effectively in non‑healthcare industries with complex operational demands.
Throughout her career, Kayera has led large‑scale Employee Health operations, improving respiratory‑fit test compliance, strengthening workers’ compensation programs, reducing safety events, and driving measurable performance improvements across multiple facilities. She has coordinated regulatory surveys, directed Joint Commission readiness efforts, led environment‑of‑care rounding across extensive inpatient and ambulatory networks, and consistently produced quantifiable improvements in patient and staff safety.
Her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Development, a Graduate Certificate in Infection Control from the University of South Florida, and national APIC
Certification in Infection Control. This combination of clinical expertise, organizational strategy, and system‑wide leadership enables Kayera to bring a balanced, results‑oriented perspective to every engagement.
A proven change agent with a strong track record of success, Kayera is known for her collaborative style, her commitment to staff engagement, and her ability to drive sustainable improvements in quality, safety, and regulatory compliance. She continues to be sought after for her subject‑matter expertise and her ability to stabilize operations, build high‑performing teams, and deliver measurable outcomes in complex healthcare settings.
Susan Bajus
RN, BSN, MSN
Sue has over twenty years’ experience in healthcare quality and safety, compliance and nursing leadership. As a Bryant consultant, Sue works with numerous clients to assess and implement Joint Commission, DNV, ACHC, AAAHC, CMS and State Agency regulations and plans of corrections focusing on clinical operational improvements. She specializes in project redesign necessary to bring healthcare organizations into compliance with regulatory requirements. Sue’s background in quality, compliance, safety, performance improvement, human resources, nursing and operational leadership allows her to address core client compliance needs, aligning organizations with regulatory requirements. Sue is project leader in implementation and excels in driving regulatory success activities post CMS adverse action threats.
As Chief Nursing Officer of a five hundred-bed hospital, Sue provided oversight for the completion of a Woman’s Hospital, Rehabilitation and Behavioral Hospital, within the system. In that capacity she was responsible for management of all nursing and clinical support services including cardiovascular, intensive care, women’s health, NICU, rehabilitation, behavioral health, cancer center, pediatric, surgical services, endoscopy, medical units and emergency care. Sue has served as Chief Compliance Officer and Quality Director where she managed continuous CMS and Joint Commission regulatory readiness programs; staff education, peer review, critical event follow-up and survey response and action plan implementation. Sue’s background includes operational and clinical management of physician office groups and ambulatory surgery centers. Sue maintains a current Texas license as a registered nurse with experience in Nursing Leadership, quality assessment and performance improvement, surgical services recovery room nursing, medical/surgical pediatric director, oncology nursing and home health nursing. Sue holds degrees in Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Nursing.
Kathryn Cotner
MSN, RN
Kathryn is an accomplished healthcare executive and registered nurse with progressive leadership experience spanning clinical practice, nursing management, and enterprise level quality and regulatory oversight within a large state operated psychiatric hospital system. She currently serves as Chief Quality Officer for a 516-bed acute care psychiatric hospital, where she provides executive leadership over quality assessment/performance improvement, patient safety, infection prevention, medical records, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Her work directly influences the quality and safety of care delivered across Colorado’s public mental health system.
Throughout her tenure, Ms. Cotner has demonstrated deep expertise in CMS Conditions of Participation, Joint Commission standards, and state regulatory requirements, leading hospital-wide efforts to strengthen compliance, governance, and performance improvement infrastructure. She is responsible for setting strategic direction for quality and safety programs, developing and presenting data-driven reports to executive leadership and governing bodies, and translating complex regulatory requirements into actionable operational plans.
A recognized leader in quality improvement and hospital operations, Ms. Cotner is known for her ability to identify system gaps, manage organizational risk, and drive meaningful change through data analysis, root cause investigation, and staff engagement. She facilitates hospital-wide quality councils, oversees enterprise policy development, and mentors departmental leaders to embed accountability and continuous improvement into daily operations. In addition to her executive responsibilities, she contributes to statewide initiatives, and is regarded as an expert resource in hospital quality, safety, and regulatory compliance, including serving as an expert witness when needed.
Marise E. d'Abreu
MSN, RD
Marise d'Abreu is a highly experienced Registered Dietitian and Diabetes Educator with a career spanning over two decades in clinical nutrition, private practice, and healthcare consulting. She holds a Master of Science in Foods, Nutrition, and Dietetics from the University of Bombay and completed her Dietetic Internship at the University of California, Berkeley. Her thesis on lipid alterations in chronic hemodialysis patients was presented at the First Asian Pacific Congress of Nephrology in Tokyo.
Marise served as a Renal Dietitian with DaVita Dialysis in Sacramento, CA, where she provided comprehensive Medical Nutrition Therapy and collaborated closely with multidisciplinary teams to optimize patient care. She is also the founder of My Private Dietitian, a successful private practice in El Dorado Hills, CA, offering personalized nutrition counseling for conditions such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and weight management.
Her extensive experience includes consultant roles with Nutrition Therapy Essentials, the Greeley Company, and now Bryant Healthcare where she provided clinical and regulatory guidance to acute and psychiatric facilities, conducted regulatory readiness assessments, and led training initiatives to uphold dietary compliance and quality standards. She also worked as a Clinical Dietitian at Sutter Medical Center, contributing to patient education and care across a range of specialties, including cardiac, oncology, ICU, and pediatrics.
Multilingual and culturally competent, Marise is fluent in Portuguese, Hindi, and English, with working knowledge of Spanish and additional Indian languages. Her dedication to patient-centered care and continuous improvement underscores her commitment to advancing health through nutrition. Her leadership is driven by a commitment to quality, collaboration, and compassionate care, ensuring that hospitals not only meet regulatory benchmarks, but exceed expectations in delivering safe, effective, and people-centered services.
Lloyd Duplechan
Serving as President of the Healthcare Environment Institute, and a consulting partner with Bryant Healthcare Consultants, Lloyd Duplechan is an accomplished, performance driven, forward thinking Health Care Executive and Consultant with 40 years of experience in healthcare leadership, operations, support services, environmental management, risk management, statutory, accreditation and regulatory compliance, and quality/performance improvement.
Lloyd has performed in leadership and consultative roles in the commissioning, construction and licensing of four general acute care hospitals, and prepared ESRD facilities for licensure surveys, including policy development, physical environment and equipment inspections, water and dialysate quality standards and metrics, required quality assessment and performance improvement dimensions, infection prevention, in accordance with state licensure regulations, AAMI standards and federal CMS Conditions for Coverage of ESRD facilities.
Lloyd served as Kaiser Permanente Southern California Regional Director of Environmental Risk Management, overseeing internal services of Plant Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Environmental Health and Safety, as well as over 45 successful Accreditation Surveys. He is recognized nationally and internationally as an author and speaker in the areas of leadership, performance improvement, quality measurement, emergency management, engineering, environmental management and regulatory/statutory compliance ( through the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics®, the American Hospital Association, and the Bureau of National Affairs), and has lead teams that amended statewide environmental legislation. Lloyd completed the Healthcare Executive Leadership program at the Harvard Business School and was invited by the DHHS to serve on the NIH National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council.
Candace Fong
PharmD
Dr. Candace Fong is a nationally recognized pharmacy executive and consultant with more than 30 years of experience leading medication safety, medication management, and regulatory compliance initiatives across complex healthcare systems. Her career is defined by a sustained focus on reducing medication related harm through standardization, system redesign, and alignment with CMS, Accrediting Organizations, and DEA requirements. Candace has held senior system level roles overseeing medication safety and controlled substance management for large, multi-state health systems encompassing more than 140 hospitals and 1,000 ambulatory sites, giving her deep insight into the operational, clinical, and regulatory drivers of safe medication use at scale.
As former System Vice President of Medication Safety for a national health system, Candace led enterprise-wide medication safety strategy, including adverse drug event reduction, opioid and antimicrobial stewardship, controlled substance diversion prevention, and barcode medication administration optimization. She spearheaded the development of standardized dashboards, policies, and toolkits to improve prescribing practices, medication administration reliability, and regulatory readiness, while mentoring pharmacy leaders and collaborating closely with nursing, medical staff, compliance, and executive leadership. Her work has contributed to measurable reductions in high-risk medication events, improved opioid prescribing oversight, and sustained compliance across diverse care settings.
Currently, through her consulting practice, Candace provides expert support to healthcare organizations seeking to strengthen medication safety programs, controlled substance management, and regulatory compliance. Her approach emphasizes practical, scalable solutions that integrate policy, technology, workflow, and accountability to create durable safety systems rather than short-term fixes. Widely published and invited to speak nationally on medication safety, opioid stewardship, and diversion prevention, she is regarded as a trusted advisor to executive teams navigating high-risk medication and compliance challenges in today’s healthcare environment.
Mary Hoppa
MD, MBA
Doctor Mary Hoppa leads the Medical Staff Services Division at Bryant Healthcare Consultants, where she provides expert guidance on complex medical staff governance matters, including peer review, medical staff bylaws, physician alignment, regulatory compliance, and performance improvement. She brings more than 25 years of senior healthcare leadership and management experience, advising healthcare organizations nationwide on effective, sustainable solutions to medical staff challenges.
Dr. Hoppa is widely regarded as a trusted authority on medical staff governance and leadership. Her expertise spans credentialing and privileging, peer review and quality oversight, medical staff education, conflict resolution, and Medical Executive Committee operations across both academic and community hospital settings. She is frequently sought after as a thought leader and national speaker on medical staff bylaws, policies and procedures, and physician leadership effectiveness.
An accomplished author, Dr. Hoppa has written multiple foundational texts on medical staff leadership, including The MEC Handbook, Medical Staff Leader’s Practical Guide, The Top 40 Medical Staff Policies and Procedures, and Engage and Align the Medical Staff and Hospital Management. Prior to joining Bryant Healthcare Consultants, she served as Vice President of Medical Staff Bylaws and Governance at The Greeley Company. Her executive experience also includes roles as Chief Medical Officer at a large hospital in the Chicago area and Medical Director for two insurance plans. Earlier in her career, Dr. Hoppa practiced family medicine for more than 15 years and served on the Iowa Board of Medical Examiners.
Gay Howard
RN, CPHQ, CLNC
Gay Howard is a consultant with Bryant Healthcare Consultants. She brings over 30 years of experience to the identification and solution of complex challenges facing healthcare institutions and providers across the country. Her expertise spans the scope of healthcare from infection prevention and control, regulatory compliance to quality assessment and performance improvement, nursing leadership and risk management. A prolific author and speaker, Gay is equally at home in the hospital, medical group, and managed care settings.
Gay is accomplished in the specialty of infection control and prevention, with strong knowledge of APIC, CDC, SHEA, AAMI and AORN recommendations. Gay has strengths in the evaluation and establishment of quality, risk management, credentialing, and resource management programs for hospitals, managed care organizations, ambulatory care, behavioral health, home health, and long-term care. She is experienced in helping healthcare organizations succeed in and resolve issues identified by surveys from CMS, The Joint Commission, DNV, ACHC, AAAHC, and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Gay is a registered nurse a member in good standing of the National Association of Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) and the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM), The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), and the Association of Perioperative Nurses (AORN).
Randall Lea
MD, MPH
Doctor Randy Lea is a board certified orthopedic surgeon and senior physician executive with over two decades of distinguished leadership in healthcare quality, medical operations, and system integration. With a career spanning both clinical and administrative roles, Randy has served as Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at hospitals across the U.S., including Mount Carmel Health System, Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital (Dartmouth Health), and Signature Healthcare.
Randy holds a Doctor of Medicine from Louisiana State University and a Master of Public Health from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. As a Senior Research Fellow at the Workers Compensation Research Institute, he provides clinical and data-driven insights on healthcare delivery models, value-based care, and occupational health.
Renowned for his crisis management expertise, he has led turnarounds in hospitals facing regulatory scrutiny and operational instability, including reopening a fire-closed facility and guiding institutions through COVID-19 surges. His work has led to significant improvements in patient safety metrics, care transitions, and provider engagement.
A skilled educator and policy contributor, Randy has developed innovative peer review frameworks, piloted length-of-stay reduction strategies, and collaborated on national studies exploring pain management, social determinants of health, and outcomes in workers' compensation care. His commitment to underserved populations includes medical mission work across five countries and leadership in both rural and urban safety-net hospitals.
Jill Marshall
MPH
Jill Marshall is a seasoned healthcare executive with more than 28 years of progressive leadership experience across large, complex behavioral health and public healthcare systems. She currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of a 516-bed, licensed, accredited, and certified acute psychiatric hospital, one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the United States, where she provides strategic, operational, and financial oversight for inpatient, outpatient, laboratory, and pharmacy services. Her leadership is grounded in a strong balance of strategic vision, fiscal discipline, and hands-on operational engagement, resulting in high levels of employee, patient, and physician satisfaction.
Throughout her career, Jill has demonstrated deep expertise in hospital administration, regulatory compliance, quality and safety oversight, and she brings this expertise to Bryant
Healthcare Consultants, Inc. She has led organizations through periods of growth and transformation, ensuring compliance with federal, state, and accrediting body requirements while advancing organizational culture, patient safety, and service excellence. Her experience includes executive leadership roles within state-operated psychiatric hospitals, community behavioral health organizations, and multi-facility systems, with direct accountability to governing boards and state health and human services agencies.
Recognized for her ability to build strong organizational cultures and collaborative partnerships, Jill is known for forging effective relationships across clinical, administrative, governmental, and community stakeholders. She brings advanced training in public health policy and administration, Lean Six Sigma, and change management, and is frequently engaged as an expert witness and consultation for behavioral health investigations and compliance matters. Her career reflects a sustained commitment to advancing high-quality, safe, and accountable behavioral healthcare through disciplined leadership, operational excellence, and mission-driven service.
Pam Pacetti
MSN, RN, CNOR
Pam Pacetti is a senior perioperative nursing leader and consultant with more than 40 years of experience across surgical services, post-anesthesia care, cardiac catheterization, endoscopy, and sterile processing. She brings over two decades of executive and operational management experience, with a distinguished track record leading complex surgical service lines in both inpatient and outpatient environments.
Pam is widely recognized for her expertise in perioperative operations, regulatory compliance, and survey readiness. She has successfully led and supported numerous CMS, The Joint Commission, DNV and AAAHC surveys and corrective actions. Her work includes the development, revision, and implementation of policies and procedures aligned with AAMI, AORN, ASPAN, and SGNA standards, ensuring safe, compliant, and efficient perioperative practice.
Throughout her career, Pam has overseen large, high-acuity surgical programs, including trauma, cardiovascular, neurologic, robotic, orthopedic, and general surgery services. She has managed multi-site perioperative operations with extensive operating room capacity, procedural suites, and 24/7 perioperative support services. Her leadership experience includes responsibility for clinical directors, nursing staff, capital and operating budgets, workflow optimization, surgeon relations, and interdisciplinary coordination across complex healthcare organizations.
Currently, Pam serves as a Perioperative Subject Matter Expert and Consultant with Bryant Healthcare Consultants, Inc., where she supports facilities with perioperative assessments, operational improvement, regulatory readiness, and performance optimization. Her consulting engagements emphasize practical, sustainable solutions tailored to resource-constrained and federally regulated healthcare environments. Pam is known for her decisive leadership style, strong operational insight, and ability to integrate regulatory requirements with perioperative workflows to improve safety, efficiency, and compliance.
Sharon Prudhomme
MBA, RN, CPHQ
Sharon Prudhomme is an accomplished healthcare executive, nurse leader, and regulatory consultant with more than 30 years of experience in hospital operations, quality improvement, risk management, and accreditation readiness.
She is recognized for driving measurable improvements in patient safety, regulatory compliance, and organizational performance across acute care settings. Currently, an Independent Consultant with Bryant Healthcare Consultants, Sharon advises executive leadership teams on CMS and Joint Commission compliance, survey readiness, and corrective action strategy implementation. She has also provided services as a Regulatory and Accreditation consultant with The Greeley Company, where she supported medical staff and accreditation best practices. Sharon previously served as Chief Nursing Officer and Risk Manager at Lovelace Women’s Hospital in Albuquerque. As CNO, she led initiatives that significantly reduced hospital-acquired conditions and restraint use, strengthened workforce stability, and enhanced clinical quality outcomes. In her risk leadership role, she directed infection prevention, peer review, root cause analysis, and accreditation survey preparation, contributing to multiple successful DNV surveys. A Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), Sharon is an award-winning leader and national presenter on quality and service excellence. She brings a strategic, results-driven approach that aligns regulatory expectations with operational execution to support sustained compliance and high-reliability performance.
Ken Rohde
BS
Ken Rohde focuses on improving business effectiveness through technology-based approaches to tracking and preventing human errors; analyzing, modeling, and managing risk and the overall Cost of Quality; effective communication of strategy, and improving organizational safety and effectiveness.
Ken brings over 40 years of experience in quality management to his work in healthcare, manufacturing, and nuclear power. Ken's roles in quality, risk, performance improvement, and project & systems management make him uniquely qualified to assist organizational leaders develop solutions to their toughest challenges. He instructs, speaks, and consults in the areas of:
- Safety and quality system evaluation and improvement, change management, corrective action program evaluation and redesign, and human performance evaluations
- Risk assessment, effective data collection, analysis, trending, and communication
- Occurrence reporting & error reduction strategies, root cause & apparent cause analysis, failure modes and effects analysis
- Process simplification, effective procedure writing, engineering and systems effectiveness, and design error reduction
- Organizational leadership
Ken has actively consulted throughout his career with hundreds of healthcare facilities throughout the United States. In the manufacturing domain, he has developed and directed the corrective action processes for Asea-Brown Boveri (ABB) and Westinghouse Electric Company. He has also participated in or managed projects to improve business effectiveness and business development for healthcare, nuclear power, and manufacturing facilities around the globe including the development of major infrastructure projects at the national government level and risk assessment and strategic support for technology startups.
Mr. Rohde’s diverse management experience, including his management of technical, business development, financial forecasting, costing & price analysis, and communications groups, allows him to understand the interconnected nature of knowledge, corrective actions, and business effectiveness improvement initiatives as they are integrated into the organization’s daily operations. Mr. Rohde holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Hawaii. Ken is a regular presenter at NAHQ annual seminars.
Bud Pate
BA, REHS
Claude (Bud) Pate is an independent consultant and serves as a senior member of the Bryant Healthcare Consultants team, bringing over 40 years of problem-solving to his work with hospitals and healthcare organizations nationwide.
Bud brings his experience with The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services for 15 years as a state agency surveyor, moving into the role of supervisor of the acute and ancillary services division responsible for state licensing and Medicare certification for all hospitals, home care agencies, and clinics in Los Angeles County, to Bryant Healthcare’s client base. Bud is known throughout the nation as a subject matter expert in CMS and Accrediting Organization compliance. Bud specialized in process simplification, clinical quality, patient safety, regulatory compliance, and Emergency Department flow. His passion is to assist healthcare organizations in achieving long-term, sustained regulatory compliance, quality, and safety by eliminating overly complicated, unrealistic expectations, and replacing those with simple, common-sense solutions that promote operational efficiency, safety, and quality.
Bud authors and produces educational materials from sample policies to webinars, podcasts, and modular educational presentations, available on Greeley’s website, to guide healthcare organizations in unique and uncomplicated methods to achieve and remain in compliance with CMS and accrediting agency requirements. With his extensive knowledge of the CMS Conditions of Participation, Bud skillfully navigates the bureaucracy frequently associated with state and federal regulations and served as Greeley’s Compliance Practice resident expert for understanding and interpreting regulation intent.
Prior to assisting Bryant Healthcare Consultants, Bud spent over 20 years with the Greeley Company as the Vice President of Content and Development. Upon Greeley’s acquisition by the Chartis Group, Bud provides support in compliance development and support. Bud also spent 15 years as an executive consultant and director of licensing and accreditation for Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California region. Before joining Kaiser, Bud was with The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services for 15 years. Bud also represented the California and American Hospital Associations on various Joint Commission committees and was a member of the Joint Commission Consultants Forum.
Bud has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biochemistry and Zoology holds a certificate in environment management from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Administration, and is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist in California.
Kathleen Shaw
BA, RN, CLNC
Kathy Shaw is a consultant member of the Bryant Healthcare Consultants team bringing over 25 years of experience to her efforts in assisting clients with meeting and exceeding regulatory requirements.
Kathy specializes in behavioral health and has functioned in the positions of Chief Executive Officer, quality/safety director, and various nursing leadership roles. Kathy’s experience at the executive leadership level enables her to coach and mentor leaders and other clinical staff in operationalizing the key concepts of quality and safety, fostering improved patient outcomes. Kathy’s inpatient psychiatric facility experience from the executive suite level to the bedside provider allows for her exceptional ability to identify and resolve the most challenging issues facing behavioral health organizations today. In addition to the behavioral health environment, Kathy is a strong contributor to Bryant Healthcare’s CMS, State Agency, and accrediting organization adverse action remediation projects, successfully assisting clients in a successful resurvey. She is also a highly regarded team member conducting regulatory assessments and working with clients to achieve survey success.
Kathy is a registered nurse graduating from the Jennie Edmundson School of Nursing, Diploma Program. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Health Care Administration from St. Joseph’s College, Windham, Maine, and is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant (CNLC).
Jeanne Wypyski
MSW, LCSW, ACHE
Jeanne Wypyski is a healthcare executive and regulatory compliance consultant with more than 35 years of experience in clinical leadership, hospital administration, and healthcare consulting across behavioral health, acute care, and community-based systems.
Her career spans roles as Chief Executive Officer, Hospital Administrator, Clinical Supervisor, and Senior Compliance Consultant,
with a consistent focus on operational excellence, regulatory compliance, quality improvement, and patient safety. She brings deep expertise in CMS and Joint Commission standards, survey readiness, gap analysis, corrective action planning, and sustained compliance in highly regulated healthcare environments.
Jeanne has led organizations through some of the most complex regulatory challenges, including achieving successful CMS termination resurveys and Systems Improvement Agreements, as well as Joint Commission and State Agency surveys. Her leadership experience includes oversight of multi-service behavioral health hospitals, acute care hospitals, residential and outpatient programs, telepsychiatry, substance use treatment, and specialty services such as ECT, with responsibility for large multidisciplinary workforces and multimillion-dollar operating budgets. A defining strength of Jeanne’s career is her extensive background in behavioral health.
Nazar Panosian
MHA, PMP
Nazar Panosian, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) consultant with Bryant Healthcare Consultants, Inc. Nazar has a strong track record of driving operational excellence, financial optimization, and large-scale project execution within leading academic health systems. He is recognized for his ability to translate complex data into actionable strategies that enhance clinical efficiency, improve patient access, and strengthen financial performance.
While serving at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Nazar supported high impact initiatives across oncology, critical care, and executive leadership operations. His work includes leading productivity modeling for over 50 providers within an NCI-designated cancer center, designing scalable clinical workflows, and partnering with executive teams on budget architecture for multi-million-dollar divisions. He has also contributed to capital planning for a 36-bed ICU expansion, patient flow redesign in high-acuity environments, and strategic integration efforts tied to organizational growth.
Nazar possesses a strong foundation in quality improvement and process engineering, having applied Lean Six Sigma methodologies to streamline workflows and reduce clinical risk. His work in infection prevention and control in the surgical environment led to targeted improvements contributing to measurable reductions in surgical site infections (SSIs). Earlier in his career, he drove significant cost savings and operational improvements in post-acute care settings, generating measurable financial impact and improving care delivery models.
He holds a Master of Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Science in Health Service Administration from Clemson University. In addition to his PMP certification, Nazar holds credentials in Lean Six Sigma and project management, reflecting his commitment to continuous improvement and high-performance healthcare operations.
Ken Blackwell
CHFM, CHSP
Ken Blackwell is a highly accomplished Life Safety Code Specialist and healthcare facilities executive with more than 20 years of experience in healthcare operations, regulatory compliance, and environment of care management. Throughout his distinguished career, he has developed a reputation for helping healthcare organizations navigate complex regulatory requirements while building sustainable compliance programs that support patient safety and operational excellence.
Mr. Blackwell spent more than 15 years with The Joint Commission, where he surveyed over 700 healthcare facilities across the United States. During his tenure, he served as a Preceptor for newly hired surveyors seeking certification as Life Safety Code Surveyors and was certified to survey Acute Care, Behavioral Health, and Ambulatory Care organizations. His extensive survey experience provides clients with a unique understanding of accreditation expectations, regulatory risk, and compliance strategies.
His areas of expertise include healthcare regulatory compliance, life safety code assessments, environment of care reviews, life safety drawing updates, operations management, strategic planning, business process improvement, team development, and performance improvement initiatives.
Prior to and throughout his regulatory career, Mr. Blackwell held several senior healthcare leadership positions, including Vice President of Facilities and Support Services at United Medical Center, Director of Engineering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Director of Engineering at Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base, and Director of Occupational Safety and Health at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He has provided leadership for healthcare facilities ranging in size from 250,000 to 2.8 million square feet.
In addition to his operational and regulatory expertise, Mr. Blackwell is an accomplished public speaker and author of numerous articles focused on Environment of Care and Life Safety compliance topics.
Before entering healthcare leadership, Mr. Blackwell proudly served more than 10 years in the United States Air Force as an Air Traffic Controller, where he developed the discipline, leadership, and operational focus that continue to define his professional approach today.
Herk Johnessee
MSCIS, BSN, RN
Herk Johnessee is a Bryant clinical consultant, registered nurse, and healthcare technology leader whose distinguished career spans more than 40 years across clinical practice, healthcare operations, regulatory readiness, and performance improvement. His extensive experience in emergency medicine, intensive care, burn and trauma services, surgical services, hospice care, and flight nursing provides clients with a uniquely broad perspective on healthcare delivery and organizational performance.
Since 2018, Herk has served as both an International and Domestic Nurse Consultant with The Joint Commission, partnering with healthcare organizations around the world to strengthen regulatory readiness and accreditation performance. Through comprehensive mock surveys, targeted gap assessments, leadership coaching, and customized education programs, he has supported more than 100 healthcare organizations in achieving successful three-year accreditation outcomes.
In addition to his regulatory expertise, Herk has held senior consulting positions with Deloitte, Navigant, Cardinal Health, and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. Throughout his consulting career, he has led large-scale initiatives focused on supply chain transformation, clinical effectiveness, operational improvement, change management, and Epic electronic medical record implementation. His ability to integrate clinical, operational, and technology perspectives enables him to identify practical solutions that improve quality, safety, efficiency, and regulatory compliance.
Herk's clinical foundation remains a defining strength of his professional career. He has served as a flight nurse, burn unit director, intensive care nurse, pediatric and adult hospice case manager, and interim nurse manager during the COVID-19 pandemic. These diverse experiences have provided him with firsthand insight into the challenges faced by frontline caregivers and healthcare leaders alike.
He holds a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a combination that uniquely positions him at the intersection of healthcare delivery and information technology. He maintains active licensure as a Registered Nurse through the Nurse Licensure Compact and remains committed to lifelong learning and professional excellence, most recently earning his Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) credential through the National Association for Healthcare Quality in 2026.
Angela Rowe
DNP, MSN, BSN, RN
Angela is a Bryant Consultant specializing in CMS Conditions of Participation, Joint Commission accreditation standards, and UNOS regulations, with particular skill in mock surveys, tracer methodologies, regulatory gap analyses, and plans of correction (POCs). She currently consults supporting organizations with survey readiness, corrective action planning, and performance improvement.
Previously, Dr. Rowe held progressive leadership roles at Baptist Health Medical Center Conway and Arkansas Children's Hospital, including Director of Perioperative Services, Director of Accreditation and Transplant, and Transplant Administrator. Among her career highlights was leading a CMS transplant survey that resulted in zero findings. Her clinical foundation includes over a decade of experience as a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist and PICU RN.
Kristine Corradetti Smith
RN, MSN, CPPS
Kristine Corradetti Smith is a highly accomplished Bryant Healthcare Consultant specializing in healthcare regulatory, accreditation, and patient safety with extensive experience supporting healthcare organizations across the continuum of care, including acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and behavioral health settings. With a strong foundation as a former ICU and peri-operative nurse and Patient Safety Officer, Kristine brings both frontline clinical insight and executive-level regulatory expertise to every engagement.
Kristine has served in senior leadership and consulting roles with nationally recognized healthcare organizations, including Penn State Health, Mount Sinai Medical Center, and Johns Hopkins Health System, and as a surveyor and lead auditor for DNV Healthcare. Her expertise spans Joint Commission, CMS Conditions of Participation, DNV, and ACHC standards, with particular strength in survey readiness, mock surveys, tracer methodology, systems analysis, and sustainable corrective action planning.
Kristine is recognized for her ability to quickly identify underlying system and process vulnerabilities, translate complex regulatory requirements into practical operational strategies, and partner collaboratively with leaders and frontline staff to drive meaningful, sustainable improvement. Her approach aligns closely with Bryant’s philosophy of meeting organizations where they are; leveraging strengths, fostering collaboration, and implementing realistic solutions that enhance quality, patient safety, operational reliability, and continuous readiness.