Meet the Hospital-to-Home Systems Change Team

The Hospital-to-Home Systems Change Team is dedicated to improving the transition of care for infants and their families as they move from the NICU to home and community-based supports.


  • HOSPITAL-TO-HOME SYSTEMS CHANGE MANAGER

    I grew up in Bangor, Maine, and began my career in the film and television industry in Southern California before shifting to education and arts non-profits in the Pacific Northwest. My professional path changed again after the birth of my oldest child when, like 1 in 5 birthing parents, I experienced a Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorder and found myself searching for my “village”. It was not until he was a toddler and experiencing developmental delays that we connected with Early Intervention services and discovered our first true community of support. That experience inspired me to change careers and become a Family Resource Coordinator at the very Early Intervention agency, Northwest Center, that had supported my family. Over the past decade, my work at Northwest Center has focused on the service cliff infants and their caregivers face when transitioning home after a NICU stay, recognizing the critical need to address caregiver emotional well-being alongside feeding, growth, and developmental support for infants. I helped to create the Hospital-to-Home care model at Northwest Center, which became the gold standard for the region.  I have led efforts to scale this model statewide and beyond through our Hospital-to-Home Systems Change program which seeks to share the perinatal-informed, evidence-based and family centered practices of the care model with system level strategies to close gaps in care, build provider capacity, and ensure equitable access for families.  

  • HOSPITAL-TO-HOME SYSTEMS CHANGE SPECIALIST

    I am passionate about improving systems of care for children with pediatric feeding disorder (PFD) and dysphagia. As a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) and International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, I partner with families to help themnavigate these unexpected challenges while strengthening their relationship. I am a life-long learner and hold certifications in neonatal therapy and neonatal touch and massage as well as recently completed the LEND program (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities). Growing up, I learned the value of kindness, determination, and helping others. Being raised in rural Nebraska with family needing to drive hours to medical appointments left a lasting impact on my desire to improve rural healthcare. I married my high-school sweetheart, and we settled in Seattle, where we are raising our two young children.

    My personal experiences with pregnancy and birth complications with both of our children as well as the passing of our 3-week-old niece when our oldest was just a few months old have all shaped how I partner with families and approach providing care. What an honor it is to sit with families, bear witness to their story and be a small part of their journey.

    My quest for improving systems has led me to co-founding the SLP program in a local academic level 4 NICU; co-creating a novel interdisciplinary training approach with Northwest Center for Hospital-to-Home transitions; helping create our state’s qualifying diagnoses for early intervention services; taking a break from work to deal with burnout; being one of the first SLPs on a historically all OT/PT infant feeding team; putting my introvert tendencies aside to speak at conferences; and recently launching a mentorship and training business. I have had incredible mentors and unwavering support from family and friends.