University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health (UM UCH) has elected several important leadership positions to its board of directors and medical leadership team.

Lawrence (Larry) Scanlan, CPA, FHFMA, a resident of Havre de Grace, has been elected chairperson of the UM UCH board following the retirement of Dr. Roger Schneider after 26 years. Scanlan was appointed to the UM UCH, hospital and foundation boards of directors in June 2015. He was named vice chair of the UM UCH board’s Planning Committee in January 2018.

Scanlan is president of his own consulting and executive coaching firm, Scanlan & Associates, LLC. He has held executive and financial management leadership positions for more than 40 years. In addition to his consulting and executive coaching firm, Scanlan has served as president of The Hunter Group, managing director of Navigant Consulting and co-founder and president of Insight Health Partners.

He began his career with what is now Deloitte, CPAs, before moving into the health care sector, serving as chief financial officer for two hospital organizations and later as president of two hospitals in Pennsylvania--Ephrata Community Hospital in Lancaster County and Community General Hospital in Reading.

A Certified Public Accountant, Scanlan is also a Fellow in the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He has authored more than a dozen articles and spoken at numerous conferences. His first book, “Hospital Mergers—Why They Work, Why They Don’t,” was published in 2010 by the American Hospital Association Press.

An active volunteer, Scanlan served on the board, and then as the chairperson, of the board of trustees at Peirce College in Philadelphia. In addition, he has served on the national board of directors of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and has been an adjunct faculty member at St. Joseph University in Philadelphia and Delaware County Community College in Media, Pa.

James Harkins, a former Harford County Executive and member of the House of Delegates—where he served on the Appropriations and Judiciary committees—was elected vice-chairman of the UM UCH board. He has served on the UM UCH, its hospitals and foundation boards since 2015. He retired as director of Maryland Environmental Service in 2016, where he provided oversight of this state agency of 1,100 employees who are involved in 849 diverse environmental projects in three states. In addition, he serves on the board of visitors of the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, is a board member for the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority, a trustee of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System and a board member of the Presbyterian Home of Maryland, the builder of a CCRC retirement community in Bel Air. Harkins also serves on the church council of Emory United Methodist Church.

Bryan Kelly, co-founder and principal owner of The Kelly Group, was elected treasurer of the UM UCH board in addition to being appointed chairperson of the UM UCH Finance Committee. He has served on the hospital and foundation boards since 2013. He also serves as a member of the University of Maryland Medical System Financial Affairs Committee.

At The Kelly Group, Kelly, a Certified Financial Planner™ professional, specializes in portfolio management, retirement planning and estate planning. Active in the community, he serves on the board of directors for Harford Bank. He has also served as chair, vice chair and member of the board of trustees for Harford Community College and was the co-chair of the UMBC Economics Advisory Council. In addition, he is a former president of the board of directors for the Maryland Association of Community Colleges and the former chairperson of the board of the Academy of Finance, Harford County Public Schools. Kelly also served on the boards of the Harford Community College Foundation and Financial Planning Association of Maryland.

Richard P. (Dick) Streett Jr., V.M.D., a veterinarian, was elected secretary of the UM UCH board. He has been involved with UM UCH for many years, including serving on the foundation board starting in 1999, which he chaired from 2007-15, and serving as treasurer of the UM UCH board. Streett is also the chairperson of the Planning Committee. He founded a veterinary practice in 1971 that now has locations in Churchville, Bel Air and Havre de Grace. Streett is also a partner in The Spenceola Group, a commercial and residential property development and management firm.

An active community member, Streett is past chair of the Harford County Economic Development Advisory Board and Harford Community College board of trustees and a past member of the Maryland Higher Education Commission. He has served on executive and advisory boards for state and national veterinary associations. Streett is a co-founder and vice chair of the Greater Harford Committee, secretary of the board of directors of the Maryland Environmental Service and serves on the Global Council of the Dean of the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He is a past member of the Maryland Agricultural Commission.

A longtime supporter of UM UCH and The Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation, R. Bryan Kilby was appointed to the UM UCH and its hospitals' boards of directors. He has been a member of the UCH Foundation board since 2012, serving as its treasurer since 2016. Kilby is a dealer principal of Jones Junction which includes Nissan Hyundai, Subaru, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Kia, Toyota and Allstate Insurance Agency.

Kilby has been active in the community, giving time and energy to organizations such as the Harford County Economic Development Board and the Deer Creek Watershed Board. Kilby served as an active leader in the planning efforts for the Bel Air New Car Dealers Association's annual Labor Day new car show, in which participating dealerships made a donation to local nonprofits for every vehicle sold. Kilby's numerous leadership positions have included serving as president of the Baltimore Area Dealers Association's Hyundai Advertising and as an advisory board member for the Nissan National Dealer Advisory Board and Subaru “Share the Love” campaign.

Jason M. Birnbaum, M.D., has been appointed to UM UCH, its hospitals and foundation boards of directors. He is a Board Certified internist and specializes in critical care medicine and pulmonary diseases, with practices in Bel Air and Havre de Grace. He has been a member of the UM Upper Chesapeake Health medical staff since 2002 and has served as both medical director of UM Upper Chesapeake’s critical care units and medical director of respiratory and pulmonary rehab since 2006. In 2012 Birnbaum was appointed UM UCH chair of medicine, with responsibility for both UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and UM Harford Memorial Hospital. He served on the UM UCH board of directors as a medical staff representative from 2012 -16.

As the recently-elected president of the UM UCH medical staff, Muhammad Jokhadar, M.D., serves on the UM UCH and its hospitals boards of directors. In addition to serving as president of the medical staff, he is also the chief medical informatics officer of UM UCH. Jokhadar previously served as the medical director of the Hospitalist program at UM UCH from 2009-18. From 2013-15, he served as the medical director of the Clinical Decision Unit and has been the Informatics physician lead since 2012. A former vice president of the medical staff, he is also on multiple committees including Performance Improvement, Infection Control and Physician Technology Advisory Board, of which he is chair, and several others.

Jokhadar received his education at the Damascus University of Medicine in Damascus, Syria, and completed his residency at Greater Baltimore Medical Center where he was chief resident from 2002-03. In addition, he is a member of the Society of Hospital Medicine.

Lisa Thomas, M.D., a board certified emergency medicine physician, was elected by the UM UCH medical staff to serve as a member-at-large to the Medical Executive Committee, representative to the Performance Improvement Committee and representative to the UM UCH board of directors. She has been at UM UCH for six years. A graduate of Fallston High School, Thomas received her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed her emergency medicine residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School Program, in Boston. She also served as chief resident from 2010-11. Thomas resides in Harford County with her husband, Dr. Mathew Thomas, a plastic and hand surgeon on staff at UM UCH and three children.

“University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health is extremely fortunate to have such experienced and dedicated community leaders among our board and medical leadership,” said Lyle E. Sheldon, FACHE, president and CEO of UM UCH. “Our new members include experienced health care executives, champions for quality health care and volunteers who are passionate about our community, who are actively involved in its improvement. Their different backgrounds offer great perspectives and support innovative ideas that fulfill our vision to create the healthiest community in Maryland.”

About University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health

In December 2013 Upper Chesapeake Health became University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health. It consists of the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and the Patricia D. and M. Scot Kaufman Cancer Center in Bel Air, the Senator Bob Hooper House in Forest Hill and the University of Maryland Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace. The leading health care system and largest private employer in Harford County, UM Upper Chesapeake Health offers a broad range of health care services, technology and facilities to the residents of northeastern Maryland. Visit www.umuch.org for more information.