Luke Whalen, MD

University of Maryland Shore Emergency Center at Cambridge has named Luke Whalen, MD, as medical director. Dr. Whalen has served UM Shore Regional Health as an emergency medicine physician since 2018.

A cum laude graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland in St, Mary’s City, Md., Dr. Whalen earned his medical degree in 2014 from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond, Va. and completed a four-year residency in emergency medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 2018.

Dr. Whalen’s experience includes research and teaching as well as the practice of emergency medicine. While pursuing his medical degree, he participated in research on intervention to reduce inappropriate coagulation testing, and comparison of attending physician and nursing evaluations of emergency resident evaluations. As an undergraduate student, he completed a summer research fellowship at the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health.

During his residency, Dr. Whalen’s teaching experience included proctoring and debriefing case and procedural simulations for medical students and residents. He also provided hands-on training on the use of bedside ultrasound to Yale Medical School students and residents.

“Dr. Whalen is a fantastic addition to our leadership team in emergency medicine at Shore,” said Walt Atha, MD, Regional Director of Emergency Medicine at UM SRH. “He is committed to his career here; in fact, he secured a position with our practice early in his residency long before beginning his formal employment. He is a stellar emergency physician who is highly respected by all of his colleagues and coworkers. His careful and astute observation of the needs and opportunities in the Cambridge Emergency Department and his calm, steady leadership style will add tremendously to our ability to care for the patients of Dorchester County and beyond.”

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

Due to an unforeseen construction event, mammography equipment at the Eleanor and Ethel Leh Women’s Center at UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown is non-operational. University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is in the process of replacing the mammography machine with new, state-of-the-art equipment.

While the new mammography machine is being acquired and installed, patients are being directed to UM SRH breast imaging sites in Denton, Easton and Queenstown for screening and diagnostic services. We anticipate this temporary service downtime to last three to four months, with a goal to be operational again in Chestertown by May 2023. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Nelson Goldberg, MD and Roberta Lilly, MD will continue to see patients in the Leh Women’s Center, and DEXA scans may still be scheduled at this location.

Thank you for your understanding as we work to bring our community this new state-of-the-art equipment.

To schedule imaging services throughout the five-county region UM SRH serves, please call Central Scheduling at 443-225-7474.

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

Rashmi Benda, MD

The Cancer Program at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) has welcomed Rashmi Benda, MD, as Medical Director of the Requard Radiation Oncology Center. In this role, Dr. Benda will work closely with John Mastandrea, MD, Chief of Radiation Oncology at UM SRH, to further develop the robust clinical program at the radiation therapy center with state-of-the-art technology, including brachytherapy and stereotactic radiation services.

Dr. Benda also has joined the faculty of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). In this capacity, she will further define and implement processes to ensure that UM SRH remains fully integrated into the UMSOM radiation oncology program, the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center and the University of Maryland Medical System.

Working with Dr. Mastandrea, Mark Mishra, MD, Associate Director of the University of Maryland Cancer Network and Director of Radiation Oncology Clinical Research, and other members of the Clinical Trial Research leadership team, Dr. Benda will promote and grow existing radiation oncology clinical trials and research protocols.

Dr. Benda is a board-certified radiation oncologist with more than 24 years of clinical experience in both private practice and academic settings. She received her medical degree from the University of Miami’s Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, and completed an internal medicine internship at the Sinai Hospital of Detroit and a radiation oncology residency at Wayne State University, also in Detroit. Dr. Benda’s areas of expertise include clinical radiation oncology, clinical trials, and establishing and growing multidisciplinary clinics in academic and community-based cancer centers. She most recently worked for Baptist Health South Florida where she served as Chief of Breast Services at the Lynn Cancer Institute Radiation Oncology Department.

“Dr. Benda’s experience across the full range of radiation treatment techniques in cancer will be an asset to patients and colleagues at UM SRH,” said William F. Regine, MD, FASTRO, FACRO, FACRO, the Isadore and Fannie Schneider Foxman Chair and Professor of Radiation Oncology at UMSOM. “We are looking forward to having her on the UM radiation oncology team as an integral part of our academic, research, educational, and patient outreach activities.”

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Benda to the UM Shore Regional HealthCancer Program,” said Jeanie Scott, Director of Oncology Services for UM SRH. “Her wide expertise makes her an excellent addition to the Requard Radiation Center team, and in particular, her experience in treating breast cancer will be most welcome to team members and patients in the Clark Comprehensive Breast Center.”

To learn more about the Cancer Program at UM SRH, visit umshoreregional.org/cancer.

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

University of Maryland Shore Medical Group (UM SMG) – Primary Care recently welcomed three new nurse practitioners. Kathryn Wilson, MSN, CRNP, FNP-C and Melissa Wood, MSN, CRNP, FNP-C joined the Easton practice. Ashley Schreppel, MSN, CRNP, FNP-B, FNP-BC joined the Denton practice. All three providers are natives to the Eastern Shore.

L-R: Kathryn Wilson, Melissa Wood, and Ashley Schreppel

Wilson earned her Associate of Science in Nursing from Chesapeake College in Wye Mills and her Master of Science – Family Nurse Practitioner from Walden University. Previously, she served as a family nurse practitioner for a local medical practice, and also served as a staff nurse for UM Shore Regional Health, Peninsula Regional Medical Center and Compass Regional Hospice.

Wood earned her Associate of Science in Nursing from Chesapeake College, her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Wilmington College in New Castle, Del., and her Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner track from Chamberlain University in Addison, Ill. Her past experience includes working in maternity, medical-surgical, home health care, pain management, and radiation oncology. Wood is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the Oncology Nursing Society, where she served as a board member for the Upper Eastern Shore chapter for two years.

Schreppel earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Salisbury University and her Master of Science –Family Nurse Practitioner from Walden University. Schreppel has worked at several area hospitals, including University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton as clinical nurse coordinator and charge nurse.

“We are fortunate to expand our primary care team on the Mid-Shore with excellent local talent,” said Timothy Shanahan, DO, Medical Director, UM SMG. “The addition of three highly qualified family nurse practitioners will help us better serve the needs of our community.”

To make an appointment with Wilson or Wood in Easton, call 410-820-4880. To make an appointment with Schreppel in Denton, call 410-479-5900.

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is a university-based regional health care system focused on serving the health care needs of Maryland, bringing innovation, discovery and research to the care we provide and educating the state’s future physician and health care professionals through our partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore professional schools (Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work and Dentistry) in Baltimore. As one of the largest private employers in the State, the health system’s more than 29,500 employees and 4,000 affiliated physicians provide primary and specialty care in more than 150 locations, including 12 hospitals and 10 University of Maryland Urgent Care centers. The UMMS flagship academic campus, the University of Maryland Medical Center in downtown Baltimore, is recognized regionally and nationally for excellence and innovation in specialized care. Our acute care and specialty rehabilitation hospitals serve urban, suburban and rural communities and are located in 13 counties across the State. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

Jennifer Baima, MD

The Orthopedic Center (TOC), a partner of UM Shore Regional Health, recently welcomed Jennifer Baima, MD.  Dr. Baima is a physiatrist, board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Electrodiagnostic Medicine, with over 16 years of experience in academic and clinical medicine.

Most recently, Dr. Baima served as associate professor in the Department of Orthopedics and Physical Rehabilitation at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Mass, where she focused on musculoskeletal medicine, cancer rehabilitation and electrodiagnosis. She has also taught at Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, all in Boston, Mass. She performed electrodiagnostic studies for the Boston VA hospital system.

Dr. Baima earned her medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, La., and completed an internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center. She fulfilled her residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Dr. Baima is a Fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and a member of the Association of Academic Physiatrists and the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine. She has authored dozens of peer reviewed publications and two books.

“We are so pleased to have Dr. Baima join our orthopedic team,” said Thomas Stauch, MD, President and Managing Partner, The Orthopedic Center. “Her skills and experience will be an asset to our team and the community.”

To make an appointment with Baima, call 410-820-8226.

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is a university-based regional health care system focused on serving the health care needs of Maryland, bringing innovation, discovery and research to the care we provide and educating the state’s future physician and health care professionals through our partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore professional schools (Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work and Dentistry) in Baltimore. As one of the largest private employers in the State, the health system’s more than 29,500 employees and 4,000 affiliated physicians provide primary and specialty care in more than 150 locations, including 12 hospitals and 10 University of Maryland Urgent Care centers. The UMMS flagship academic campus, the University of Maryland Medical Center in downtown Baltimore, is recognized regionally and nationally for excellence and innovation in specialized care. Our acute care and specialty rehabilitation hospitals serve urban, suburban and rural communities and are located in 13 counties across the State. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

The first baby of 2023 arrived just after midnight, January 1, at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s Birthing Center at UM Shore Medical Center at Easton. The baby girl was born at 12:40 am to Lakeisha Alston and Durell E. Hyland Sr., both of Fruitland.

Luvenia Lee Hyland was born weighing 7 pounds, 11.8 ounces, and was 21 inches long. She joins eight older siblings at home.

Alston and her newborn were gifted a congratulatory basket from UM Shore Regional Health, which included baby clothing, diapering, bathing and health items, pacifiers, baby toys and a baby book. Shore United Bank also donated a $250 savings bond certificate to the newborn.

More than 870 babies were born at the Birthing Center at UM Shore Medical Center at Easton in 2022.

University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton recently was recognized for the second time as High Performing in Maternity Care (Uncomplicated Pregnancy) by U.S. News & World Report. This was the second time U.S. News has published a list of Best Hospitals for Maternity Care. To be recognized among the Best Hospitals for Maternity, hospitals had to excel on multiple quality metrics that matter to expectant families, including newborn complication rates, C-sections among lower-risk pregnancies, early elective delivery rates, the hospital’s ability to meet new federal criteria for birth-friendly practices, and how successfully each hospital supported breastfeeding. In the ranking of nearly 650 hospitals providing labor and delivery services nationwide, fewer than half received the “high performing” designation — the highest a hospital can receive for maternity care. Only five hospitals in Maryland, out of 15 surveyed, ranked as high performing maternity hospitals in the state.

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of 10 University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

Gabrielle Gill

Certified nurse midwife Gabrielle Gill, MSN, CNM, WHNP recently joined the University of Maryland Shore Medical Group – Women’s Health. Gill joins Javier Cajina, MD, Palak Doshi, MD, and Audrey Drummey, MD; nurse practitioners Jennifer Dyott, Dale Jafari and Angie Price; and certified nurse midwives Molly Bernish, Sunny Granger, Tristen Holloway and Lauren Rosales in the practice.

Board certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board, Gill recently practiced at Chesapeake Health Care OBGYN in Salisbury, Md., where she managed patients throughout their family planning process, helped deliver babies, and saw patients for gynecological care, helping patients with birth control implants and infertility procedures. In previous positions, she served as a certified nurse midwife at Hamilton Health Center in Harrisburg, Pa. and as a registered nurse in New Haven, Conn., where she filled several roles, including triage nurse at Obstetrics and Gynecology of Greater New Haven, nurse with Planned Parenthood, and flu clinic nurse at Pediatric and Medical Associates, PC. Prior to receiving her nurse practitioner degree, she volunteered with AmeriCorps as a medical volunteer with the Pregnancy Aid Center in College Park, Md.

Gillearned a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y. She received both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in nursing and completed her nurse midwife certification with a women’s health nurse practitioner specialty at Yale University School of Nursing in Orange, Conn.

During her time at Yale University School of Nursing, she was one of two students chosen to accompany the medical director of the Yale Midwifery Program to Laos, where she helped train 80 nurses, midwives and physicians on normal birth and complications including hemorrhaging, breech birth and twins.

Gill is accepting new patients. To schedule an appointment, please call 410-820-4888.

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of 10 University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.