Leadership

Sandra Hearn hails from Boston and resides in San Diego CA. She served 30 years, retired in 2018 and completed her doctoral studies from Old Dominion University the same year. As a Fellow of the AANP, she is active on the Career Advancement Task Force since 2021. As the Chief Nursing Officer of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Dr. Hearn established the first electronic patient acuity, nursing workload management and staffing/competency tool for Navy Medicine. She spearheaded the ANCC Practice Transition Accreditation Program, first in the Military Health System. Served in numerous humanitarian missions in Afghanistan, the Caribbean and South American countries with the Navy and as a civilian. She served as the Chief Nursing Officer of Eastern Shore Rural Health System during COVID-19 and now has transitioned to The Joint Commission as a field nurse surveyor since 2022. Proud mother of 5, she recently wed Dr. Frank Pearson in 2023.

Kathryn M. Beasley PhD has extensive experience in both the Department of Defense and VA health systems health policy arenas. She has ten years of Capitol Hill experience advocating for a variety of health care issues affecting active duty personnel, retirees, veterans, and their families, in her role as the Military Officers Association of America’s Government Relations Director for Health Affairs. She served MOAA in this capacity for a decade.

She retired from the Naval Service in 2009 after serving 30 years. As a career Navy Nurse Corps officer, she served in a wide variety of staff and senior leadership positions within the Navy and the Department of Defense. She has had assignments serving in military treatment facilities both stateside and abroad. Her clinical specialties have been in the Surgical Intensive Care and Surgical Services as well as the Ambulatory care areas. She has had a wide variety of assignments, and her administrative emphasis has been in the Managed Care arena, TRICARE Operations, and Healthcare Operational Planning. Her leadership assignments have included Chief of Staff of Naval Healthcare New England; Deputy Commander and Director of Healthcare Operations at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda; Chief of Staff for the Commanding General for the NCR Multi-Service Market Area at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; and the Director of Planning and Operational Support for the Navy Surgeon General.

CAPT Beasley is a native of St. Louis Missouri. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Tulsa, Tulsa Oklahoma, a Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Business Administration from Boston College, Chestnut Hill Massachusetts, and earned her doctorate from the International School of Management. She is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

The first Afro-American Male, Nurse Corps Officer to Command a Naval Hospital; Brian earned his Bachelor of Science in nursing from American University then joined the Navy in 1983. Brian served in various positions, including SPD Manager, OR Department Head and Director of Surgical Services at multiple facilities. With a Master of Science in Nursing Administration/Leadership from Old Dominion University, he later became the COO of Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune and then CEO of Naval Hospital Okinawa.

After serving as Chief of Staff for the 36th Navy Surgeon General, Brian transitioned to the Vice President of Surgical Services for Salem Hospital in Salem, OR; as Director of Surgical Services at St Anthony’s Hospital in Lakewood CO; serves as an Instructor/Educator for AORN’s Nurse Executive Leadership Series; CEO and President of BD Perioperative and Healthcare Consulting, LLC. Currently Brian is the System VP of Perioperative Services, Common Spirit Health.

Michelle McKenzie started her nursing career as an RN in the civilian sector in 1987 until joining the Navy in 1989. She retired as a Navy Nurse Corp Officer after a 30-year Naval career. Leadership roles included Director of Quality, Deputy Commander for the Joint Medical Group, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Officer-in-Charge of several clinics and Director of Nursing. She is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality and since retirement has served as Chief of Quality and Patient Safety at the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) leading the facility to a full Joint Commission Accreditation and a complete governance restructure. She now serves as the Deputy Quality Management Officer for the Veterans Integrated Service Network. Michelle has served on the membership committee for The American Organization for Nursing Leadership and is a recognized subject matter expert and mentor for the Leadership Development Institute Committee at TVHS.

Cindy Kuehner is a career Navy Nurse. Her final position in naval service was dual-hatted, as the Commander, Naval Medical Forces Support Command, and 26th Director, U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. Cindy’s naval career spanned nearly 34 years and led her to assignments all over the globe. She served as Commanding Officer of the Navy’s largest overseas Navy hospital (2017-2019) and as the first nurse to serve as the Executive Officer of Naval Medical Center, San Diego (2015-2017). Her military deployments included both Operation Iraqi Freedom (Fallujah, Iraq, 2004) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Khost, Afghanistan, 2010). Cindy and her husband (also a retired Navy veteran) raised their three children during their dual active-duty service and are proud of their family’s multi-generational military service. In retirement, Cindy is keen on continuing to serve, in alignment with her professional expertise and commitment to Navy Nursing and the health of military and veteran communities.

Mary Ann Jarmulowicz served 22 years on active duty where she held multiple leadership positions, as the Director of Education and Training, Naval Hospital, Beaufort; Senior Nurse, MCRD, Paris Island; and various department head positions on both coasts and overseas. While on active duty, she attained a Masters in Adult Nursing and was credentialed as a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner. After retirement from active duty, she attained a PhD in Education and began a career as a nurse educator and received the NNCA Professional Nursing Award. As the Nursing Program Director at the Technical College of the Lowcountry, she significantly improved the NCLEX pass rate and graduated the largest cohort of Associate Degree Nurses. She currently serves as PCNNCA Secretary; Chair, Oral History committee; and member of NNCA Oral History Committee. Her volunteer efforts support the South Carolina Nurse Honor Guard, and a local veterans organization focused on suicide prevention.

Lisa joined the Navy in 1984 after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Highlights of her thirty-year career include tours as the Congressional Fellow in the office of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Nurse Corps Policy and Practice and executive medicine positions.

Prior to retiring, Lisa was Chief of Staff at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and led teams in the treatment of wounded warriors with TBI and psychological health conditions.

Lisa works as Healthcare Operations Manager, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. in support of Creative Forces®: The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Military Healing Arts Network. She coordinates programming associated with the delivery of care by 20 Creative Arts Therapists at DoD and VA partner sites nationwide.

Lisa and her husband Philip (fellow veteran & USNA '83) reside in Davidsonville, MD where they sponsor midshipmen.

Patrice Bibeau joined the Navy Nurse Corps in 1987 after having been a civilian critical care nurse. Her 30-year career included positions in Critical Care, Quality, Ambulatory Care, and Executive Medicine. Highlights include Chief of Critical Care and Assistant Director of Nursing at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda MD, Senior Nurse Executive at Naval Health Clinic Annapolis MD, and Lead Lean Six Sigma Black Belt at Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Washington DC. She published three articles in Dimensions in Critical Care Nursing and Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America. Her educational background includes an RN Diploma from New England Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Boston, BSN from University of Denver, and MSN in Critical Care Nursing at University of Pennsylvania. Having retired in 2017, she served as a Red Cross Volunteer and Healthcare Consultant and is currently employed at Naval Health Clinic Annapolis as the Utilization Manager.

Pat Fitzpatrick began his nursing career in a civilian facility in 1997 and commissioned in the USNR in 1998. He transferred to active duty in 2000, focusing on ER/Trauma, obtaining an MSN in ER/Trauma and ER nurse practitioner in 2008. He deployed to JTF GTMO (2009), Afghanistan (2011), and Continuing Promise (2015). He was the Transition Coordinator for the USNH Guam MILCON in 2014, Associate Director for Medical Services and Director for Strategy and Operations at NMC Portsmouth (2016-2019), Executive Officer at NMRTC Cherry Point 2019-2021, and Commanding Officer of NMRTC Bremerton (2021-2024). Pat retired to Montana in 2024 after 32 years combined active and reserve service. He remains active in statewide and local healthcare related issues affecting Montanans.