Dr Stanhope is a full time OB/Gyn hospitalist and medical director of Women and Children’s services at North Memorial Health Hospital. His clinical interests include hypertension, complex deliveries, and postoperative opioid prescribing. Prior to his current position, he provided contracted OB coverage at a number of facilities, high and low volume, in several states and completed two missions to South Sudan with Doctors Without Borders from which he gained invaluable experience learning the myriad needs and challenges different facilities and systems face.

OB/GYN at HealthPartners

MNPQC MOSTaRE Initiative Co-Chair

Alina Kraynak,  (she/her), is the Women’s Health Consultant at the Minnesota Department of Health. Dr. Kraynak provides education and guidance on various maternal health topics, serves as a collaborator and connector of statewide health interventions to health systems and community organizations. In her current role at MDH, she supports and coordinates the work of the Minnesota Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Dr. Kraynak is passionate about improving coordination throughout sectors, using population health principles to address health outcomes birthing people in Minnesota.

Dr. Kraynak worked for eight years as a critical care nurse in various nursing environments with diverse populations throughout the Midwest. She taught as adjunct faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Advanced Population Health, to which her DNP focus was addressing barriers in care coordination for patients with substance use disorders, with a Medicaid provider in Chicago, IL.

Anna has worked as an RN since 2001 in a variety of areas including postpartum/newborn care, labor & delivery, lactation consulting, maternal fetal medicine (obstetrical testing), childbirth education. She has been the Clinical Director for Family Health at MVNA since 2015. MVNA operates five evidence based and evidence informed home visiting programs that provide services to families living in Minneapolis and suburban Hennepin County.

Anne Walaszek, MPH (Anishinaabe) is the Maternal and Child Health Quality Improvement Specialist in the Women and Infant Health Unit at the Minnesota Department of Health. In her role, she leads two quality improvement grants, the Perinatal Quality Collaborative and the Communities Collaborating to Prevent Girls Opioid Abuse.
Ms. Walaszek has experience working at a national non-profit addressing cancer inequities within American Indian and Alaska Native communities. In this role, she provided leadership for a clinic and community health approach to develop and implement culturally tailored evidence-based interventions to effectively build capacity in health systems across Indian Country. Her public health experience reflects grant writing, program development, research and data management throughout her experiences at the Minnesota Department of Health Diabetes Program, Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota, and SAMHSA for their Child, Adolescent and Family Branch. Ms. Walaszek is a 2017 recipient of the Lou Fuller Award for Distinguished Service in Eliminating Health Disparities.”

Ann has been practicing full-scope midwifery since 2001. She is representing ACNM and is currently on the national ACNM Board of Directors.  As a Nurse-Midwife Director at MHealth, Fairview, she serves as a steering committee member of the perinatal quality and safety committee. Ann is involved with teaching the next generation of nurse-midwives as an adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor with the U of MN School of Nursing. 

Audrey Tate is a quality and safety specialist at the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA). She has been with MHA for over four years and works with their Pediatric, Perinatal, Pressure Injury and Sepsis Committees. In addition to her committee work, Audrey works on MHA’s high reliability organization education and various grant work. Audrey graduated from the University of Minnesota –Twin Cities with a BAS in Health Services Management and a minor in Public Health. Audrey has a passion for people and enjoys working with hospitals and health systems to improve quality and safety outcomes across the state.

Dr. Sabol received her Obstetrics & Gynecology training at Oregon Health & Science University and completed her Maternal-Fetal Medicine training at Washington University in St. Louis. She is now full-time faculty at the University of Minnesota/MHealth Fairview. Her career focus is centered on hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and quality improvement and implementation science in obstetrics. She is currently receiving her master’s in Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her experience with quality improvement started as a resident working on a multidisciplinary effort to improve communication and patient outcomes in the setting of unplanned cesarean deliveries. During her fellowship, to combat high postpartum readmission rates and to improve maternal outcomes, she implemented a postpartum home blood pressure monitoring system for all hypertensive patients delivered at that institution. She is eager and excited to work towards improving access, quality, and healthcare equity for birthing people in our state.

Brittney Dahlin is the Chief Operating Officer and Director of Quality Improvement for the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers (MNACHC). She has a Master’s in Health Informatics from the College of St. Scholastica. She is a Registered Health Information Administrator and a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality. She has over 10 years of experience working within and with community health centers in quality improvement leadership roles. She also serves as adjunct faculty for Charter Oak State College teaching Community Health Concepts as part of their Master of Healthcare Administration program.

In her current role with MNACHC, she provides training and technical assistance to health center staff in a variety of different topics including clinical quality improvement, operations, compliance, and health information technology. MNACHC serves as a health center representative and liaison for state and national committees and workgroups. 

Cara Schnick (she/her) is a Perinatal Program Consultant at the Department of Human Services under the Population Health Innovation team. Her main roles are co-managing the Integrative Care for High Risk Pregnancies (ICHRP) grant program and leading the Health Services Advisory Committee. Prior to joining DHS she worked on program design and implementation, care continuity, and clinical sexual health education for maternal and child health programs in high risk populations; She also spent over a decade supporting birth and lactation as a doula. Cara graduated from St Catherine’s University with a Masters in Public Health concentrated in Global Health, and an Undergraduate degree in Public Health and Policy.

Cassie is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist with Minnesota Perinatal Physicians, part of Allina Health. she has research experience in preterm birth prevention, preeclampsia, and labor management, with multiple publications. Cassie has a longstanding interest in teaching, global health, and access to care for underserved communities. She has experience creating a clinic for uninsured women in NYC and multiple medical/surgical trips to Central America to provide care in conjunction with local physicians.

Diane Banigo is a doctorate-prepared nurse-midwife, a perinatal consultant, an educator, and a small business owner with over 21 years of women’s health experience. Dr. Banigo has been a leader in Minnesota’s Healthy Black Pregnancies, previously referred to as Integrated Care for High-Risk Pregnancies (ICHRP) pilot focusing on improving maternal child health outcomes in the African American community.

When Dr. Banigo is not at women’s bedside, she is with her community or passionately helping other organizations cultivate change through Ignited Faces of Beauty (iFOB) or Igniting Power of Woman (iPOW). Fostering collaboration, iFOB and iPOW work with individuals wanting to live a more fulfilled life and systems ready to design and implement culturally responsive and inclusive solutions to narrow disparities. With her support, Dr. Banigo challenges complacent social norms and thoughts while encouraging care entities to model equity by igniting innovative change. 

Dr Plummer specializes in neonatal critical care at Children’s Minnesota. She is originally from Ohio and attended medical school at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, OH. She completed her residency and fellowship at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Her clinical interests include nutrition, growth, and neurodevelopmental outcomes in premature and critically ill infants. She is passionate about caring for infants hospitalized in the NICU and building relationships with their families. Dr Plummer is involved in the education of neonatal fellows, pediatrics residents, family practice residents and medical students. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two children.

Jamie Galbreath is a Quality Improvement Associate Director at a nonprofit health plan, UCare in serving more than 400,000 members. She has received her doctorate in Public Health with a specialization in Community Health Promotion and Education. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist and completed a certificate program for a mini MBA in health care management from St. Thomas University. She has over 10 years of experience in the health care industry and currently leads clinical and public health performance improvement projects designed to improve member health outcomes.

Preferred pronouns: she/her/hers

Jeanne Friebe, Outpatient Lactation Consultant, CentraCare Plaza, Women’s Health Outreach, has been working with breastfeeding families for the past 37 years as an RN in the Family Birthing Center at St. Cloud Hospital in Labor and Delivery, postpartum, the NICU, and through Childbirth Education instructing. In working with the NICU level 2 and 3 premature newborns and their families, Jeanne found that her passion for breastfeeding flourished as she worked with mothers struggling to breastfeed, produce milk, and pump. In 1997, she was hired to start an in-patient Lactation Program at the St. Cloud Hospital and had the opportunity to focus most on the breastfeeding population. Currently, she serves as a member at large on the MN breastfeeding coalition. In 2019, she opened a Milk Depot in Central MN, through the MN Milk Bank for Babies, and currently serves on that Board of directors as well. Jeanne is currently leading a workgroup as we are pursuing the 10 Steps Mother Baby-Friendly designation through the MN Department of Health.

Dr. Jessica L. Nyholm is an obstetrician-gynecologist in Minneapolis and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including M Health Fairview, University of Minnesota Medical Center, and Maple Grove Hospital. She began as a specialist in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Jessica is passionate about Quality Improvement in Obstetrics, with involvement in both the OB Clinical Practice Council through North Memorial Health and Zero Birth Injury (ZBI) through M Health. Additionally, she has an interest in perinatal infections, with a focus on cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy. 

Jenny Schoenecker is the Associate Vice President of Quality and Safety where she leads the
Minnesota Hospital Association’s quality and safety division and staff to develop, implement, and
facilitate hospital and health system quality and safety initiatives to help achieve the quadruple aim for communities across MN. Jenny provides MHA members with technical and implementation support, including consults, training/education, on-site visits, and assistance with quality and safety action plans.

Jenny is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality and has a passion for positioning Minnesota’s hospitals and health systems as demonstrated national leaders in all aspects of quality, safety and mental health. Jenny also enjoys interacting with upcoming healthcare leaders in a healthcare quality improvement and patient safety course that she teaches to undergrad students at the University of Minnesota.

Jennifer has partnered with individuals and families to enhance their sexual and reproductive health for over 25 years. A midwife by trade, Jennifer centers her work on the principles of Reproductive Justice, and values diversity in thought, gender, race, and lived experience. She believes that everyone ultimately wants to be seen, heard, respected, and to be their best, healthiest self.

John Sellner is the Director of Quality and Safety at the Minnesota Hospital Association. John has over 10 years of experience in healthcare specifically in the field of pharmacy. As a pharmacist, John has worked in many clinical and operational leadership roles. John brings with him extensive knowledge in disease state management, patient outcomes, and clinical quality improvement.

Karen P. Fogg is the Maternal and Child Health Section Manager in the Child and Family Health Division at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Karen joined MDH at the end of 2019, and she is responsible for a tapestry of state-wide programs including the federally-funded Title V’s MCH program, MCH technical experts, and grant portfolios with the goal of improving, promoting and protecting the health of women, children, adolescents and families. Prior to joining MDH, Karen spent 15 years working in global reproductive, maternal and child health programs, including 10 years with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) a senior maternal health advisor. Karen holds a Master of Public Health degree from Emory University.

Dr. Kirsten Coverstone is an audiologist and coordinator of the statewide Early Hearing Detection & Intervention program. She has led a number of quality improvement projects involving hospitals, clinics, & specialists in an effort to improve outcomes and decrease disparities in timely follow-up and diagnosis of hearing loss.

Interim Chief
Birth Center, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women’s Health

Dr. Nezworski enjoys taking care of diverse populations of women during adolescence, pregnancy, menopause, and beyond. She thinks of her role as an obstetrician/gynecologist as a bridge to information about women’s health and works collaboratively with her patients to explore solutions that will work best for their own personal needs.

Leeann primarily works at Regions in St. Paul and is the Medical Director for the Family Birth Center but is active across the HP/Park Nicollet Org and its owned hospitals. She has been a part of developing and implementing processes such as Team Stepps, TJC/Core Measures compliance, and much clinical/quality work. Leeann enjoys doing this behind-the-scenes work as well as patient care and hopes to help us in MN be more connected throughout the State.

Leslie has her BSN, MS, and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and is a certified nurse-midwife, RN, and registered public health nurse. She is an associate professor of nursing at Metropolitan State University, focusing on undergraduate research and epidemiology courses, women’s health, and public health. She serves on the AWHONN-MN leadership team and practices as a CNM at a reproductive health clinic in the twin cities.

OB/GYN

Lisa Johnson RN, BSN is currently the Director for Women’s and Children’s Services for Sanford Bemidji Medical Center. Lisa has her Masters in Healthcare Administration from Minnesota State University-Moorhead. She brings 15 years’ experience in caring for women and their families in a rural community setting.  Lisa is passionate about ensuring all women in Minnesota have access to high-quality and safe patient care leading to improved birth outcomes.  With a special interest in substance use disorders in pregnancy, she has led programming focusing on ensuring moms and babies are kept together as a family unit.

Melissa has been working in obstetrical nursing for the past 22 years at a variety of facilities, from the small community hospital to a large urban obstetrical care unit, in the OR and as a charge nurse. Her current work as a Nurse Clinician began in August of 2013 at CentraCare, St. Cloud Hospital. Melissa was a finalist in 2016 for the March of Dimes “Nurse of the Year” and awarded the “Nurse of the Year in Women’s Health” in October of 2020. 

Melissa is a part of the Molnlycke Speaker’s Bureau. She is a former Perinatal Expert Consultant with the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), and serves on the MHA Perinatal Safety Committee. Melissa serves on the Minnesota Perinatal Quality Collaborative, Maternal Hypertension Subcommittee member and faculty, and the Maternal Mortality Review Committee through the Minnesota Department of Health. Melissa is a 2012 Graduate of Western Governors University with a Master’s in Nursing Education. She is a present member of ANA, AWHONN, MOLN, AORN, ASPAN and Sigma Theta Tau professional nursing organizations, and served as the AWHONN MN state chair in 2019-2020. She was featured in “The Call of Nursing” written by William Patrick.

Dr. Mira Grice Sheff joined the Minnesota Department of Health as the State Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist in August 2015. She is also the Principal Investigator for the Minnesota Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (MN PRAMS), a joint project between the Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is designed to find out why some babies are born healthy and others are not. Prior to joining the health department, she was an assistant professor at State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, where she conducted research and taught graduate-level courses in the subjects of women’s health and injury and violence prevention. She received both her Masters and PhD from the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences.

Natalie Jacobson-Dunlop, APRN, CNM, MS is a Certified Nurse Midwife who currently practices at MHealth Fairview/University of Minnesota Physicians and University of Minnesota and as adjunct assistant professor with the School of Nursing. Natalie earned her Bachelor of Arts from Beloit College in 2000 and Masters of Science in
Nurse Midwifery from Oregon Health & Science University in 2008. She has experience working in multiple practice locations including hospital, birth center, and home birth. Natalie is passionate about providing sensitive, quality, individualized care with an emphasis on shared decision making and honoring each persons choice in their healthcare. Natalie serves on the Committee for Equity and Justice with the Minnesota Affiliate of the American College of Nurse Midwives and the Diversity, Equity and Justice Committee with the University of MN OBGYN Department. She advocates for reproductive justice and seeks to address healthcare inequalities in midwifery and women’s health using anti-racist strategies.

Dr. Nathan T. Chomilo is Medical Director for the State of Minnesota’s Medicaid & MinnesotaCare programs and practices as a General Pediatrician and an Internal Medicine Hospitalist with Park Nicollet Health Services/HealthPartners. He completed his combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota and was the Pediatric Chief Resident at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital. His advocacy work has included the impact early childhood intervention and healthcare access have on the long-term prospects of our children and how physicians and health systems can address racial & health equity. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Early Childhood and Section on Minority Health, Equity & Inclusion, is one of the Early Childhood Champions for the MN chapter of the AAP, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School, helped start the organization Minnesota Doctors for Health Equity (MDHEQ), was formerly appointed to the Minnesota Governor’s Early Learning Council and previously served as the Medical Director of Reach Out and Read Minnesota.

Dr. Rauk leads quality for Fairview System in OB for 10 years and serves at MHA as the lead of their Perinatal Committee. He is the Vice-Chair of the Quality and Safety Department and an OB-GYN at the University of Minnesota.

Director of Nursing-Birth Center at Regions Hospital

Perinatal and Informatics nurse leader known for excellence and exceptional commitment to collaboration, planning, communicating, coordinating, taking initiative, and problem-solving to ensure excellence in healthcare delivery. Has effectively led interdisciplinary teams to improve and standardize healthcare delivery in the United States and Qatar. Passionate about women’s healthcare, organizational structure, Health information systems and the advancement of nursing leadership and governance as a foundation to achieve the highest quality, evidence-based, best practice across healthcare systems.

Dr. Samantha A. Sommerness DNP, APRN, CNM (Sam) began her nursing career in 1993 in the care of women and children in the US Army. Her professional nursing practice is diverse as she holds a certification as a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), spent 6 years in the United States Army as a labor and delivery nurse, and was deployed to Bosnia for 1 year during Operation Joint Endeavor. Sam is a passionate educator and health care consultant and has held a variety of positions, from 2007 to 2014, she spent 7 years developing obstetrical care models for health systems. She has been a faculty and facilitator for a national project for AHRQ’s Safety Program for Perinatal Care where over 50 hospitals enrolled to improve patient safety, team communication, and quality of care for mothers, and their newborns within labor and delivery units. Since 2015, Sam has been a full-time educator and serves as a Clinical Associate Professor for the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. a.      Sam has held a variety of positions in AWHONN. She served on the 2018 AWHONN National Program Committee.  She was President of the Minnesota section (2012-2014) and has been involved in the Minnesota Section Committee in both conference planning and education since 2008.  She is currently in her third year of the Ph.D. program, speaks nationally on perinatal safety, and perinatal opioid disorder, and is a published author.

Sara has over 27 years of experience in the health care field. Her experience includes Med-Surg, OB/GYN, Home Health, Public Health, Pediatrics, Internal and Family Medicine. She is well versed in federal and state programs focusing on Medicare and Medicaid.

She is currently President and Acting Treasurer for the Minnesota Black Nurses Association where she’s supporting community advocacy and building partnerships to improve health disparities in all underserved populations. Sara obtained my Doctorate of Nursing Practice at Capella in 2019. 

Siri is an OB/GYN with broad experience in both urban and rural settings, having trained in DC, provided backup and referral for her rural private practice partners in the Red River Valley for 25 years, and now she is a hospitalist for a perinatal group at Abbott NW these last 7 years. Her parallel passions for advocacy and global health prompted MPH work under Peter Pronovost (‘check list’ expert) at Johns Hopkins, focusing on patient safety, health equity, team engagement, communication, and accountability in order to improve processes and ultimately outcomes – and is the lens through which she works, or volunteer in Haiti or at the Capitol. Siri is currently serving as the MN Section ACOG Chair, having just completed 3 years as the Legislative Chair, and is delighted to learn from and engage in the vital work of the MNPQC for the women of Minnesota.

Stephanie Delkoski is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota and holds a faculty practice at M Health Fairview Women’s Clinic. She is representing the Minnesota Nurse Practitioners Association (MNNP) and is currently on the MNNP Board of Directors.  She graduated with her BSN degree at the University of Wisconsin — Madison (2011) and completed her DNP degree at the University of Minnesota (2016).  Stephanie has been involved in quality improvement work since early in her career. She has a special interest in perinatal mental health, decreasing the disparities in healthcare and educating the next generation of nurses and nurse practitioners to provide inclusive and holistic care.  

Susan has been a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Women’s Health for over 30 years. She has a long history with MPO as a volunteer, conference presenter, planning committee member, and has served on the Board of Directors. She is currently the MPO Executive Director and Co-Director of the Minnesota Perinatal Quality Collaborative (MNPQC). 

Dr. Yamamura is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women’s Health at the University of Minnesota. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Minnesota. In addition to being an active clinical partner in the University MFM practice, she also serves as ACOG District VI Champion for FASD Prevention and is the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Director at the University of Minnesota. Her primary interests are medical education and preterm birth prevention. Dr. Yamamura is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and has a subspecialty certification in Maternal-Fetal Medicine.