Leadership
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Don McKenna
Regional President, Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center and Penn State Health Hampden Medical CenterAs regional president, Don McKenna sets the standard for operational excellence in the West Shore region and drives operations and growth for both Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center and Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center, which is scheduled to open in 2021.
McKenna previously was the president and chief executive officer of Jupiter Health in Florida, where he oversaw the creation of a comprehensive stroke center with neuro-surgical and interventional services, the development of an open-heart surgery program and the opening of two new urgent care centers. He also managed more than $125 million in capital projects while with the organization.
Before joining Jupiter Health, McKenna served as the president and chief executive officer of St. Mary’s Health Care System in Athens, Ga., for 10 years, where he led the acquisition of two additional hospitals to expand the health system’s presence throughout northeast Georgia.
McKenna earned a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from Long Island University.
Biography -
Judy Himes, MSN, RN, NE-BC
Interim Chief Nursing OfficerJudy Himes is interim chief nursing officer at Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center.
She has served as chief nursing office and director of nursing for Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center since 2005. Himes has built a reputation for collaboration among her nursing peers and with physicians and other members of the care team. She is known for her mentorship, coaching and professional development of staff nurses and nurse managers.
Himes has more than two decades of senior nursing leadership experience at hospitals and health systems in the central Pennsylvania region, including the Lebanon VA Medical Center, where she served as associate chief of the nursing service for Acute Care/Specialty Services.
Prior to that role, Himes was vice president for Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at Pinnacle Health System and served as director of nursing operations at PinnacleHealth.
She obtained her Master of Science in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh and her Bachelor of Science in nursing from the Penn State. Himes is an active member of the Penn State College of Nursing Advisory and Development Board.
Biography -
Dick Welsh
Vice President of Human Resources, West Shore RegionDick Welsh is vice president of Human Resources for Penn State Health’s West Shore Region. He is responsible for strategic leadership of human resource operations at Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center, Penn State Health Holy Spirit and Life Lion LLC.
Welsh has served the health system for 17 years, taking on roles of increasing responsibility including director of talent acquisition and senior director of human resources, talent acquisition and compensation. He played a key role in the organization’s transformation from a single academic medical center into a multi-hospital health system, by building a high-performing recruitment function and leading the Human Resource workstream for many acquisitions during the past six years.
Welsh’s earlier career included serving as a recruiting superintendent for the U.S. Air Force in Bellevue, Neb., and as a recruiter for PinnacleHealth System, Harrisburg, Pa.
An Air Force veteran, Welsh is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. He also is an active member of the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation’s Healthcare Task Force.
In addition to earning a Master of Business Administration in human resource management at American Century University in Albuquerque, N.M., Welsh holds a bachelor’s degree in human resource management from Bellevue University, Bellevue, Neb., and an associate’s degree in personnel administration from the Community College of the Air Force, Maxwell Air Force Base, Gunter Annex, Ala.
Biography -
James Leaming, MD
Interim Vice President of Medical Affairs, Penn State Health Hampden Medical CenterDr. James Leaming is interim vice president for medical affairs at Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center. In this role, he is responsible for leading the development and recruitment of the medical staff. He also oversees the acute care hospital’s relationships with private practice physicians to ensure clinical integration and patient and provider quality and satisfaction.
In addition, Leaming is medical director of Emergency Medicine for both Hampden Medical Center and Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center. He joined Holy Spirit Medical Center in 2016 after serving Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for eight years, including roles as director of Emergency Medicine Research, director of Emergency Medicine Observation and director of the Department of Emergency Medicine Research Fellowship.
Board-certified in emergency medicine, Leaming graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio. He completed his residency and then a research fellowship while at SUNY Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, N.Y.
Leaming is accredited by the American Board of Emergency Medicine, is a member of the Pennsylvania Medical Society and is a member and fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine.
Biography
