Directory of Accreditation Review Team
Our elite team of professionals drive process improvement through accreditation for facilities focused on cardiovascular care. Questions for our Accreditation Review Team may be directed to ACC Accreditation Services Customer Care.
- Clinical Operations Director, Beth Stokes, BSN, RN, AACC, CCCC
- Clinical Education Manager, Donna Hunn, MSc, RN, MAN, ANP-C, AACC
- Accreditation Program Manager, Ruth Cantu, BSN, RN, AACC
- Customer Service Specialist, Andrew Wente
- Accreditation Coordinator, Carol Justus
Accreditation Service Line Team
Bev Livezey, Accreditation Service Line Manager
Philip Beckley, Atrial Fibrillation Service Line Specialist
Maghee Disch, Heart Failure Service Line Specialist
Kathy Hess, FreeStanding ED Cardiac Care Service Line Specialist
Angela Jones, Electrophysiology Service Line Specialist
Keri Morris, ACS Service Line Specialist for Chest Pain Center Accreditation
Amy Westfall, Cardiac Cath Lab Service Line Specialist
Accreditation Review Team
Our accreditation reviewers are highly experienced clinicians whose sole focus is to help facilities identify processes that improve the care of the ACS patient through accreditation. Their mission is to approach each site visit in a collegial manner to break down barriers and engage in meaningful conversations with professionals at the facility. As experts in the care of the cardiac patient, our team of reviewers have accredited healthcare facilities worldwide. They have developed and maintained a collective knowledge of process improvement initiatives, best practices, and help educate facility personnel while onsite. Our Accreditation Review Team includes:
Michele Wood Field Operations Director
Accreditation Review Specialists:
Kristy Chambers, Team Leader
Carolyn Ganoe, Team Leader
Michele Wood
MSN, RN, CPHQ, AACC
Michele became Field Operations Director in 2017; she has been associated with our accreditaiton team for over six years. Her diverse background in healthcare administration has focused on cardiac quality improvement, performance improvement, and data abstraction. Michele has contributed to several publications on topics such as STEMI process improvement and the financial impacts of the STEMI process. She helped to develop the heart failure transition program at the hospital with which she was previously associated and had oversight of all cardiac clinical registries and reporting. In addition to her hospital background, she was a firefighter and EMT and volunteered in dispatch for 12 years.
Darice Allard
MSA, RN, FABC, CPHQ, AACC
Darice brings 24 years of nursing leadership in the cardiovascular and neurosurgical arenas within the OhioHealth market. Since 2008 she has worked in several roles providing management, educational, and reviewer expertise. She has earned her FABC designation noting her completion of an Executive Leadership Fellowship with the Advisory Board and is also CPHQ certified in healthcare quality.
Leela Beers
MBA, BSBM, CVT, AACC, CCCC
Joining us in September 2008, Leela has been a Chest Pain Coordinator leading teams to successful CPC Accreditation for Cycle's III and IV. Leela also serves as a CV service line leader in the Tampa Bay area and has opened several new cath labs, EP, OH, and TAVR services. Leela is the Cardiac Cath Lab v1 Accreditation co-chair, assisting in the development of essential components for our Cardiac Cath Lab v1 Accreditation.
Tracey Blevins
MBA-HCM, BSN, RN, CNML, AACC, CCCC
Joining us in January 2015, Tracey has more than 25 years of nursing experience in cardiovascular, emergency, staff development, critical transport, and CV management of critical care services. She was a participant of the Cath Lab Accreditation writing committee and 19th Congress planning committee. Tracey has taught the CPC v5 workshop and has been a Regional STEMI speaker. She was previously the Chest Pain Coordinator at UNC Healthcare in Chapel Hill, NC leading them to achieve Cycle IV Chest Pain Center Accreditation.
Kristy Chambers
MSN, RN, AACC, CCCC
Joining us in February 2015, Kristy is now a Team Leader within the Accreditation Review Team. Previous to her ACC Accreditation Services employment, she was the Chest Pain Coordinator and Stroke Coordinator at Ogden Regional Medical Center where she served as chair for the HCA Mountain Division Cardiovascular Patient Care Coordinators Committee. She was a top 10 finalist for the Deputy Heart Attack Program with her Community and EMS Heart Attack Simulation Education Program. She is a TeamSTEPPS® master trainer and has years of experience in simulation education and training both nationally and internationally.
Anna Ek
BSN, RN, AACC
Anna began her work as an accreditation review specialist in 2007. Anna has a strong background in cardiac, surgical, and PACU nursing. She began her nursing career during the time of thrombolytic trials which ignited her longtime passion for cardiology. She is a strong advocate of EMS and the part they play in the pre-hospital care of the cardiac patient. In addition, Anna has a keen interest in induced hypothermia therapy and works to research the effects of hypothermia therapy on the post-cardiac arrest patient. Anna is the in-house expert on drastically improved outcomes for the patient population because of therapeutic hypothermia treatments and "cooling centers."
Carolyn Ganoe
BSN, RN, AACC, CCCC
Joining us in January 2014, Carolyn is now a Team Leader within the Accreditation Review Team. Carolyn continues to serve as an accreditation review specialist for both Chest Pain Center (CPC) Accreditation and Heart Failure Accreditation. Prior to joining us, she was the Chest Pain Coordinator at Affinity Medical Center in Ohio leading them to achieve CPC Cycle III and Cycle IV CPC Accreditation with PCI.
Bridget Gilley
MSN, RN, CCCC
Bridget comes to us with a wide variety of experience including ED, education, Chest Pain Coordinator, Clinical Outcomes as well as nurse manager for a large telemetry floor, 10-bed observation unit and a 22-bed short stay unit. Bridget has also been published three times in Critical Pathways in Cardiology.
Bridget has a sincere passion for community education particularly when it comes to EHAC. Bridget received honorable mention for the EHAC person of the year award at the 2016 Congress.
Suzanne Inglis
MSN, BA, RN, FACHE
Suzanne joined us as an accreditation review specialist in April 2016. She previously served as Senior Vice-President of Clinical Services and CNO at Fisher-Titus Medical Center in Norwalk, OH. Her leadership experience has involved growth and expansion of facilities and cardiovascular service lines, project management, strategic planning and PI processes. Suzanne also holds a BA in English and women's studies. Suzanne has worked in many areas in her clinical career including, ICU, ED, Cath lab, EP lab and Post Angioplasty unit.
Robyn Keller
MS, RN, AACC, CCCC
Robyn began her career in the emergency department as a bedside nurse. She has obtained several trauma certifications for both adult and pediatric population groups as well as a certification for emergency nurses. Robyn has worked in several different facilities, managed a rural emergency department in her hometown in Virginia, and has worked in two major trauma centers. She has experience in the surgical area as both a scrub nurse and circulating nurse. Prior to joining us in 2015, she was the STEMI coordinator for a receiving hospital with a large academic facility. Robyn has taught EMS how to accurately differentiate and diagnose a STEMI from the field; how to appropriately activate the STEMI system, and has provided guidance and management oversight for EMS agencies and referring facilities transferring cardiac patients to a tertiary care center for treatment. In addition, she has many years of experience with data abstraction and data entry for national registries.
Deb Koeppen
BSN, RN, AACC, CCCC
Deb is a founding clinical member of our accreditation team. She has served in many roles within the organization including that of Director of Marketing and Business Development. As the Business Development Director she worked to broaden our reach into the international arena and continues that work today. Deb is an accomplished speaker and course director with a focus on process improvement and observation medicine.
Noemi Melendres-Wozny
BSN, RN, AACC, CCCC
Joining us in January 2012, Noemi brings extensive experience in cardiovascular care in the areas of clinical practice, administration, and business development. As an administrator, she established a comprehensive outpatient cardiovascular center with a cardiac cath lab. As a health system clinical manager, she developed the stroke and women & heart disease programs. She also initiated and managed cardiac rehab programs. As a consultant, Noemi has assisted cardiologists and neurosurgeons with practice start-up and management. She has worked as a regional cardiac manager for a major diagnostic company, where she provided hospitals cardiac-related education, guidance on LEAN process improvement and prepared 26 hospitals for Chest Pain Center Accreditation.
K. Marie Nicholls
BSN, RN-BC, CVRN, AACC
Marie has an extensive background in clinical cardiology and emergency medicine, and has a Board Specialty Certification in Cardiovascular Nursing. Prior to joining our team in 2015, she was a patient research educator for myocardial ischemia at Summa Health Systems in Akron, OH. While at Summa, she was a leading team member in the development and implementation of cardiovascular process improvement, formation and implementation of STEMI policy and procedures, a cardiac patient and staff educator, and an ACLS instructor. She has experience in electrophysiology and device interrogations. Marie was the site manager for the NCDR Clinical Registries and an active participant in the accreditation processes for CPC Cycle IV and Mission: Lifeline® 2014 STEMI Receiving Center Accreditation.
Susan Perrier
MS, RN, AACC
Officially joining us in 2013, Susan was previously an affiliate that supported the accreditation review team through a healthcare vendor partnership. As a cardiovascular advanced practice nurse her experience includes healthcare administration, advanced nursing education, critical and emergency care nursing, project management, healthcare diagnostics consultative services, and cardiac rehab services.
Kim Pheifer
BSN, RN-BC, NE-BC, CCCC
Kim joined ACC Accreditation Services in March 2017. Kim comes to us from Meridian Health in New Jersey. She recently served as a database administrator and and has experience in both cath lab operations and cardiac rehab management. She previously served as manager of cardiac services at Bayshore Community Hospital. Her community outreach efforts have included participation as a team captain for the American Heart Association's Shoreline Heart Walk.
Deborah Washington
BSN, RN-BC, AACC, CCCC
Joining us in February 2015, Deborah has taken the role of accreditation review specialist for Mission: Lifeline® Accreditation. She served on the writing committee for the Cardiac Cath Lab v1 Accreditation platform in 2015-2016. Deb has been a Certified Cardiovascular Care Coordinator (C4) since the C4 course was first offered in 2011. She has a background in emergency medicine, sexual assault/domestic violence care, cardiology with cath lab experience, and provides leadership and guidance as a chest pain coordinator. Deb led her previous employer's ED team to Chest Pain Center (CPC) Accreditation for Cycle III in 2010 and 2013. She also facilitated the CPC Accreditation for three other system hospitals in 2013.
Kevin Wehrle
RN, AACC
Prior to joining us in 2007, Kevin worked for Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay, Ohio. While at that facility, he was a staff nurse/charge nurse within the ICU as well as the Cath Lab and eventually became the Manager of the Cardiovascular Service Line that included the cath lab, cardiac rehab, stress testing department, and the non-invasive vascular lab. He was part of the steering committee that developed a full interventional STEMI program with open heart surgery as a backup.
Debbie Wolfe
BSN, RN, CHFN, CCRN, AACC, CCCC
Debbie joined the accreditation review team in 2015 after 27 years in the hospital setting. Her nursing career has included roles as bedside critical care nurse as well as critical care educator, heart failure coordinator/inpatient and outpatient; she has also managed quality measures surrounding the MI patient. Debbie has been a member of AAHFN since its inception and carries CHFN credentials. In 2013, she was awarded Cleveland, Ohio's Faces of Care award.
Accreditation Service Line Team
Bev Livezey
MBA, RN, AACC
Accreditation Service Line Manager
Bev is our Accreditation Service Line Manager. Bev joined us in 2012 as an accreditation review specialist and later served as the clinical leader for our business development team. She has 25 years of extensive experience in hospital administration, strategic planning, regulatory/compliance, and clinical program development. She previously served as VP of Cardiovascular and Women's/Children Services at a hospital in Pennsylvania. Her hospital leadership experience involved the development of a cardiovascular service line integrating vascular services into the Cath Lab, construction of a hybrid lab, and development of an EP program. She also served as clinical lead in the construction of a replacement hospital.
Philip D. Beckley
PhD, AACC
AF Service Line Specialist
Phil is our Atrial Fibrillation Service Line Specialist. Phil has participated in all Atrial Fibrillation writing committees and teaches AF workshops. He joined the us in 2008 with a clinical background in cardiopulmonary perfusion. He served as the Perfusion Education Program Director at The Ohio State University for two decades, and is currently appointed as Emeritus faculty in the College of Medicine. With his doctorate in Physiology, Phil's research and publications focused primarily on the effects of artificial circulation devices on the cardio-respiratory system.
Maghee Disch
MSN, RN, CNL, CHFN, AACC
HF Service Line Specialist
Maghee is our Heart Failure Service Line Specialist. Maghee participated in the Heart Failure v3 Accreditation writing committee and teaches HF workshops. Before joining us in 2013, she served as the Clinical Nurse Leader for the Heart Failure Program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Her experience at Ohio State included work as a Staff Nurse/Charge Nurse within the Heart Failure, Transplant and LVAD populations.
Kathy Hess
MS, RN, AACC
FSED Service Line Specialist
Kathy is our FreeStanding ED Cardiac Care Service Line Specialist. She joined us in 2011, bringing a diverse critical care, clinical and leadership background that included the coordinator role in a cardiac catheterization department housing four labs. In addition, she served as a member of a cardiovascular management team that expanded its heart services program from diagnostic catheterizations to cardiac interventional procedures with on-site CABG capabilities.
Angela Jones
BSN, RN, CCDS, CEPS
EP Service Line Specialist
Angela is our Electrophysiology Service Line Specialist. Angela will lead the EP Accreditation writing committee and teach future EP Accreditation workshops. Before joining us in 2017, she worked for Medtronic in Columbus, Ohio. Previous roles included Principal Clinical Specialist for Northern Lakes, AF Solutions, where she trained and educated support staff and physicians in safe and effective use of Medtronic products. She also had management responsibility for operational, quality, and career enhancement for clinical specialists.
Keri Morris
BSN, RN, AACC, CCCC
ACS Service Line Specialist
Keri joined us in April 2012 serving as an accreditation review specialist for both CPC Accreditation and Mission: Lifeline.® She became our Chest Pain Center (CPC) Service Line Specialist in 2015. Keri participated in the CPC v5 writing committee, serves as C4 faculty, and teaches CPC workshops. Prior to joining us, she was the Chest Pain Coordinator at Methodist Germantown Hospital (located near Memphis, TN) leading them to achieve CPC Cycle II and Cycle IV Accreditations as well as TJC AMI and stroke disease specific certification. She also developed and implemented a hypothermia protocol at that facility.
Amy Westfall
BSN, RN, CCRN
CCL Service Line Specialist
Amy joined us in November of 2016 as our Cardiac Cath Lab Service Line Specialist. She previously served as an Administrative Nurse Manager of cath, EP, IR and cardiac imaging for Ohio Health. Amy has 18 years of cath lab experience, which included working as a staff RN and staff developer in an interventional cath lab, hybrid lab and EP as well as pre- and post-op. Her previous responsibilities included oversight of staff competencies, education, and policy and procedure development.
