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FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
Another year of HIMSS Maryland Chapter (MD HIMSS) activities concludes on June 30th as our fiscal year comes to an end. When we began last July, AI was gaining momentum, and it’s remarkable to see how quickly those conversations have evolved into real implementations, strategies, and more within just one year. This momentum shows no signs of slowing down, as every organization races to keep up or pull ahead. No one wants to be left behind, which is putting growing pressure on CIOs and IT leadership.
The healthcare industry is once again at a pivotal point. Uncertainty driven by policy and government changes continues to reshape our landscape. Technologies like AI, ML, LLMs, data, and analytics bring a new dimension to people, policies, and processes that cannot be ignored.
These past 12 months have been an exciting time for MD HIMSS. We earned both the HIMSS Chapter Gold and Advocacy Advisory awards. Our outstanding events committee and board organized a range of events, including networking socials, webinars, monthly CISO collaboration sessions, CIO advisory committee meetings, and last but not least, our Annual Health+Tech
Conference and Golf Tournament. As our largest event to date, we are proud to have had around 350 registered attendees at the annual conference, over 100 attendees at the golf tournament, and 30 sponsors. We were also proud to again welcome our charity partner, Healthcare for the Homeless, to join us at the conference and golf tournament, and thank everyone who supported this cause. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this our best performance to date, including the hard work of the events committee, our amazing speakers, the entire board, volunteers, and our sponsors!
This year, MD HIMSS awarded three scholarships, led by our professional development committee. Our communications committee has also done an excellent job keeping members informed through monthly newsletters, articles, and consistent social media updates. We hope these efforts have
helped you stay connected with the chapter and informed about broader industry developments.
I am once again honored and humbled to have served as your board president this year. I could not have fulfilled my responsibilities without the support of our board, committees, and membership. The support of our CIO advisory committee has also been invaluable. A big thank you to everyone!
Please join me in welcoming our incoming President, Jennifer Baron.
Thank you!
Ravi Singh
President, MD HIMSS
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CONFERENCE RECAP
The Maryland HIMSS community went above and beyond in May, delivering an outstanding 3rd annual conference and 13th annual golf tournament at Turf Valley Resort. With a sold-out crowd and top-tier presentations, the event was a powerful mix of learning, networking, and collaboration. A big thank you to everyone who attended, sponsored, and shared their expertise.
| May 20th, 2025 was declared Maryland Health IT Day with a Proclamation from Governor Wes Moore! | |
BOARD ELECTION ANNOUNCEMENTS
Maryland HIMSS 2025-2026 Board of Directors
President, Jennifer Barron, MSN, RN, Director PMO & Implementation, JHHS Supply Chain Transformation Management
President-Elect, Cindy Carson, MS, Director of Technology Partnerships, WebMD Ignite
Past President, Ravi Singh, President & CIO, FiDES Info Sys, Inc.
Secretary, Anna Schoenberg, DNP, MS, RN, NI-BC, FHIMSS, Chief Applications Officer, University of Pennsylvania Health System
Treasurer, Phil Campbell, MBA, Director Customer Service and Workplace Technology, Children’s National Hospital
Members at Large
Jennifer Moore, MHSA, Principal, Moore Health Care
Jeff Ostrow, MSIT, PMP, Director, Training and Development, Johns Hopkins
Tonya Reeder, BSN, MS-HCA, MBA, PMP, ITIL, CySA, CIO, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Bonnie Arze, MD, VP, Physician Quality & Performance Excellence Services/CMIO at Adventist HealthCare
Katheryn Whitmore, MS, CEO & Founder, STS Consulting Group, LLC
Jackie Rice, BSN, RN, Vice President CIO, Frederick Health
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FROM THE BOARD
This month’s From The Board insights are recommended by Jennifer Moore, MHSA, MD HIMSS Board of Directors, Past President, and Events Committee Co-Chair, Principal, Moore Health Care.
A Public Health Crossroads: Dr. Thomas Dobbs on Funding, Workforce Challenges, and Future Directions
In a recent Health Podyssey podcast interview, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Dean of the School of Population Health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and former State Health Officer, offered a candid assessment of the state of public health in the U.S.—and particularly in the South. Dobbs described a chronic underinvestment in public health infrastructure, a trend exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and now continuing despite earlier promises of reform.
Dobbs emphasized that the issue isn’t just funding levels, but also the lack of consistency and flexibility in how public health dollars are allocated. Emergency-specific surges in funding—often triggered by outbreaks like Ebola or COVID-19—create boom-and-bust cycles that undermine the development of sustainable systems and workforce capacity. “We could spend a lot less money and build a lot more robust infrastructure if we just provided some stability,” Dobbs noted.
The discussion highlighted the persistent workforce crisis in public health, particularly in states like Mississippi. Public health professionals, including nurses and disease investigators, are often paid noncompetitive wages, making it difficult to recruit and retain skilled talent. The situation
was made worse during the pandemic, where temporary attention to public health quickly faded once the crisis receded.
Dobbs also spoke about his experience managing Mississippi’s COVID-19 response, including the difficult decisions to delay elective procedures to preserve ICU capacity—an intervention he later studied and published on in Health Affairs. He expressed concern that the U.S. has missed key opportunities to systematically evaluate which pandemic interventions were most effective, leaving the country vulnerable in the face of future health crises.
Looking forward, Dobbs sees opportunity in more closely integrating public health principles into clinical care. He advocates for training healthcare providers in population health to improve outcomes and system-wide thinking. Given the limited and uncertain future of public health
department funding, he sees embedding public health approaches within clinical settings as a practical and necessary evolution.
In closing, Dobbs reflected on the vital role of public health in America's past—and its necessity for a healthy future. “Everybody can’t be personally responsible for ensuring their water is clean or that there’s no lead in their pipes,” he said. “There are some community responsibilities that are critically important. We must not only recognize them—we must fortify them.”
To listen to the podcast in its entirety, use this link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/f0067c1a
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As our fiscal year comes to a close, we are actively planning our working committees for the next year. Our committees are a great way to get more involved with the local chapter and build a network of connected industry professionals. A new Events sub-committee, virtual events 2025-2026, is being formed.
Please reach out if you are interested in getting involved. Other committees include Communications, Advocacy, Membership, and Professional Development/Scholarship.
| | Thank you to our chapter sponsors! | | |
MDHIMSS | www.maryland.himss.org | |
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