(l. to r.) Steve Snelgrove, president of Howard County General Hospital (HCGH); Carlessia Hussein, R.N., Dr.PH., Promise of Health in Howard County award recipient; keynote speaker Atul Grover, M.D., executive vice president of the Association of American Medical Colleges; and Kevin W. Sowers, M.S.N., R.N., F.A.A.N., president of the Johns Hopkins Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Howard County General Hospital presented an overview of the county’s health and the hospital’s latest activities at the second annual State of Health Care in Howard County: Our Changing Health Care Culture event on Oct. 28. Carlessia Hussein was honored at the event, and Dr. Atul Grover delivered the keynote address.
(l. to r.) Jennifer Smith, vice president, Howard Hospital Foundation; Maryland State Delegate Jessica Feldmark; and Elizabeth Rendón-Sherman, chair of HCGH Board of Trustees.
Howard County General Hospital President Steve Snelgrove presented an assessment of the county population’s health and discussed the hospital’s latest initiatives, from subsidized employee housing to participation in the Howard County Bikeshare program. He summarized the hospital’s increasing capabilities in breast, musculoskeletal and psychiatric care and shared the latest on the hospital’s campus construction project.
(l. to r.) Leonardo McClarty, president of Howard County Chamber of Commerce; Larry Twele, CEO of Howard County Economic Development Authority; Chuck Phillips Jr., senior vice president of KCI Technologies Inc.; and Steve Snelgrove, president of HCGH.
The State of Health Care event featured two longtime health care professionals:
Carlessia Hussein received the Promise of Health in Howard County award, which recognizes those who have made sustained contributions to the health and well-being of the Howard County community. Hussein is chair of the Howard County Board of Health and retired director of Maryland’s Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities. She established and managed the office with the goal of increasing awareness, involving health systems and communities and reducing health disparities among small population groups in Maryland.
Hussein has spent more than 40 years working to improve the quality of health care to all populations with special focus on those in poorest health. Among her efforts, she gives scholarships to minority middle school boys in Howard County and Baltimore.
(l. to r.) Sue Song, former member, HCGH Board of Trustees; Maryland State Senator Clarence Lam, M.D.; and Saba Salman Sheikh, M.D., Columbia Medical Practice.
Dr. Atul Grover, executive vice president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, spoke about changing health care culture at the State of Health Care event. Grover provides strategic leadership in medical education, academic affairs, health care affairs, scientific affairs, learning and leadership programming, diversity and inclusion, public policy and communications for the Association of American Medical Colleges. In addition, he is a health policy and management associate at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and clinical professor of medicine at George Washington University’s School of Medicine.
(l. to r.) Nikki Highsmith-Vernick, CEO, Horizon Foundation; Paul Skalny, immediate past chair, HCGH Board of Trustees; Elizabeth Rendón-Sherman, chair, HCGH Board of Trustees; Elizabeth Edsall Kromm, HCGH vice president of Population Health and Advancement; William Saway, M.D., Columbia Medical Practice and HCGH board member; and Heather Campbell, representing Senator Ben Cardin.
The State of Health Care event took place from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 28, at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory’s Kossiakoff Center in Laurel.
About Howard County General Hospital
Howard County General Hospital: A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine is a not-for-profit health care provider with 225 licensed beds located in Columbia, Maryland. A comprehensive, acute-care medical center, Howard County General offers a full range of services, from neonatal care and oncology to outpatient treatment and critical care.
The hospital has a professional staff of more than 1,000 physicians and allied health professionals, representing more than 100 specialties and subspecialties; a workforce of more than 1,800 individuals and over 370 volunteers.
