National Advisory Committee
Mary Ann Christopher
Mary Ann Christopher is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), the nation's largest not-for-profit home health care organization. After 29 years of service, Mary Ann Christopher departed her position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, Inc. Mrs. Christopher is a founding co-lead of the NJ Action Coalition, working to transform the nursing profession to improve health care as outlined within the Institute of Medicine’s Future of Nursing report. She serves on the Boards of the Visiting Nurse Association of America and the National Association of Home Care and Hospice. Mrs. Christopher is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the Nurse Executive Program at the Wharton School, and the Public Health Leadership Institute of the Centers for Disease Control. She serves on a number of commissions and boards, including the Advisory Council of Seton Hall University College of Nursing. She serves as Secretary of the Board of the Greater Newark Health Care Coalition. She also serves as Chairman of the Monmouth County Human Services Advisory Committee and is a representative to the State Human Services Advisory Committee. Mrs. Christopher earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Fairfield University and a Master of Science in Nursing from Seton Hall University. Mrs. Christopher was appointed to the UMDNJ Board of Trustees in June 2006. Her term will expire in 2012.
Sonia Delgado
Sonia Delgado is a consultant with the Princeton Public Affairs Group. She has held public policy and business development positions at HIP Health Plans, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) Hospital, and Mercy Health Plan of New Jersey. Delgado was a senior policy analyst for Health and Human Services at the New Jersey State Senate Democratic Office and staffed Governor James Florio’s Commission on Health Care Cost Reduction. Delgado has an M.G.A. and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Ruben Fernandez
Ruben Fernandez currently serves as the Vice President for Patient Care Services at Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, NJ. Fernandez has over 25 years experience in senior leadership, having served as Vice President of Patient Care Services at North General Hospital in Harlem, Associate Dean for Administration at the College of Nursing at Rutgers, Newark and Vice President for Patient Care Services at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Fernandez is recognized for his contributions to nursing by various organizations. He is the recipient of the Margaret C. Haley Award, Seton Hall University; The Agnes and Rosemary Ludden Award for Innovative Nursing Practice, New York University; Honor Roll for Men in Nursing, National Nursing Museum, University of Texas School of Nursing; The Don Award, New Jersey Institute for Nursing; Seton Hall Roll of Honor and the 2008 Roll of Honor recipient of the New Jersey State Nurses Association, among many. Fernandez received his BSN from Seton Hall University a Masters in Nursing Administration from New York University and is a PhD candidate at Seton Hall University.
Catherine Alicia Georges
Catherine Alicia Georges is an educator, practitioner and community activist. Alicia, as she is known to most people, is currently Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Nursing at Lehman College of the City University of New York. Dr. Georges’ professional career spans more than three decades. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Seton Hall University College of Nursing, a Masters of Arts degree in Community Health Nursing Administration and Supervision from New York University School of Education, Division of Nursing, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Vermont. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society, Golden Key Honor Society, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and an honorary member of Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority and is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
Heather Howard
Heather Howard is a Lecturer in Public Affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, a Research Associate at the Center for Health and Wellbeing, and Director of the State Health Reform Assistance Network, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiative providing technical assistance to states implementing the Affordable Care Act. Howard served as New Jersey's Commissioner of Health and Senior Services from 2008-2010, overseeing a cabinet-level agency with a budget of $3.5 billion and staff of 1,700, responsible for public health services, regulation of health care institutions, senior services, and health care policy and research. Previously, she served as Governor Jon Corzine's Chief Policy Counsel, directing his policy agenda. She also has significant federal experience, having worked as Senator Jon Corzine's Chief of Staff, as Associate Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and as Senior Policy Advisor for First Lady Hillary Clinton, as an Honors Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division Health Care Task Force, and for the U.S. House of Representatives. Howard received her J.D. cum laude from New York University School of Law, serving a judicial clerkship with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and her B.A. cum laude from Duke University.
Peter Inverso
Former State Senator Peter Inverso is president and CEO of Roma Financial Corporation. Inverso was a member of the New Jersey State Senate from 1991 to January of 2008, representing the 14th legislative district in Mercer and Middlesex counties. Inverso is the immediate past chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson Health Care Corporation at Hamilton. During his time in the state Senate, Inverso sponsored “Megan’s Law,” which requires sex offenders to register on an Internet database, as well as the School Breakfast Program and the Outstanding Scholars Recruitment Program. Inverso is a trustee of Project Freedom, which provides housing assistance for people with disabilities, and was a board member of Angel’s Wings, which provides respite care for at-risk children under the state’s care. He has a B.S. in Commerce and Accounting from Rider University and an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from the College of New Jersey.
Penelope Lattimer
Penelope Lattimer is assistant director for the Rutgers University Institute for Improving Student Achievement (RIISA), a program that works with community Pre K–12 school districts to further the success of New Jersey students. Lattimer is the former Assistant New Jersey State Commissioner of Education and served as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction in a large urban district, a high school principal, and teacher.
Marcella McKay
Marcella McKay is vice president for Nursing and Professional Affairs for the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA) and an alumna of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellows Program. She is also CEO for the Mississippi Hospital Association Health, Research & Educational Foundation, which addresses Mississippi’s health care workforce issues. McKay co-authored the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Colleagues in Caring grant, from which the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce (ONW) evolved in 1996, and continues to serve on the ONW Advisory Board. She served on a number of nurse shortage task forces and nursing education councils. McKay has a Ph.D. in Clinical Health Science and an M.S.N. in Maternal-Newborn Nursing from the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She also has an M.Ed. in Special Education, a B.S. in Biology and an ADN in Nursing from Mississippi University for Women.
Mary Sibley
Mary Sibley is Director of Policy and Public Affairs for Sandoz Inc., a member of the Novartis Group of Companies (Novartis AG - NYSE: NVS), a recognized world leader in healthcare with core businesses in pharmaceuticals, consumer health, generics, eye care and animal health. She has been president and CEO of the Visiting Nurses Association of Staten Island and deputy commissioner of Human Services for New Jersey. Sibley is a past member of the New Jersey Board of Nursing and has taught nursing at the graduate level at area colleges. She has an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth and is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Nursing.
Arnold Speert
Arnold Speert currently serves on the board of four Erickson Living continuing care retirement communities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and is a senior consultant for the higher education search firm, AGB Search. Speert served as president of William Paterson University from 1985-2010. During that period the institution was transformed from a college to a comprehensive university and had its first successful capital campaign. The student population, undergraduate and graduate, grew to 11,000 students. His areas of expertise include institutional governance, institutional community building, diversity and the mutual dependence of the three. Speert earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton University after a bachelor's degree from the City College of the City University of New York.
Mary Wachter
Mary Wachter is chief strategy officer for the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey, which is the largest, non-profit visiting nurse association in the state dedicated to the promotion, restoration and maintenance of the health status of individuals and the community. She has served as acting director of State Government Affairs for Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., deputy director of the New Jersey State Nurses Association and chief of staff for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. She has an M.S. in Nursing Health Policy and Community/Public Health Nursing, an advanced certificate in Health and Public Policy from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in Nursing from Rutgers.
Susan Walsh
Susan Walsh is the ACO Medical Director at Jersey City Medical Center. Previously Susan served as Deputy Commissioner for the Public Health Services Branch in the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services overseeing the Divisions of HIV/AIDS Services, Family Health Services, Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health Services, as well as the Office of the State Epidemiologist. Prior to joining the Department of Health and Senior Services, Dr. Walsh had a long service career in primary care and public health. Dr. Walsh earned her medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry-New Jersey Medical School and completed her residency at University Hospital in Newark.
April 9, 2010 - The New Jersey Nursing Initiative mourns the passing of National Advisory Committee member Representative Bob Franks. A true champion of nurses and a trusted advisor, his insight and leadership will be greatly missed.