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Virginia Business // November 29, 2024//
Helping the sick, improving workplaces for health care workers and researching illnesses, these Virginians put others’ needs ahead of their own, making the commonwealth a better place.
Sarah HenshawNursing senior director, Carilion Clinic Cardiovascular Institute, Roanoke
While studying nursing at Radford University, Sarah Henshaw worked as a nursing assistant at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. She liked it so much she stayed put after graduation.
Henshaw planned to spend her entire career as a bedside nurse, until a supervisor told her to think about management. This appealed to her, being able to use her voice to ensure other nurses get what they need to deliver quality care.
In 2018, Henshaw became a unit director — a supervisor of other nurses. Four years later, Carilion promoted her to a senior director role, managing other unit directors.
As if her high-powered career and being a single mom to two kids isn’t enough to keep her busy, Henshaw shares her passion for wellness working as a personal trainer at Roanoke’s Ferguson Fitness.
Dr. Juan MonteroFounder and president, Montero Medical Missions, Chesapeake
Dr. Juan Montero’s personal medical mission began when he immigrated from Mindanao, an island in the Philippines, at age 24 in 1966. He came to Norfolk as a post-graduate trainee in general surgery at DePaul Hospital, which closed in 2021. He went on to hold a thoracic fellowship at the University of Virginia and practiced thoracic surgery until 2007.
Meanwhile, Montero established Chesapeake Care Clinic in 1992, which remains one of the most comprehensive free clinics in the U.S., he says. It’s open to all uninsured and underserved people who qualify under the 300% federal poverty level of the 1.7 million people of Hampton Roads.
In September, he was inducted into the prestigious American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgeon Educators as an associate member.
Dr. Steve OndraVice president of Center for Transforming Health and director of CMS Alliance to Modernize HealthCare, Mitre, McLean
A neurosurgeon and Army veteran, Dr. Steve Ondra has a long and storied history in health care, having served as a senior health policy adviser for health affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs during the Obama administration and as interim chair of neurological surgery at Northwestern University’s medical school.
In July, he began overseeing not-for-profit public interest firm Mitre’s Center for Transforming Health and the CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare (Health FFRDC), which advises federal government agencies on providing health care more equitably. Ondra joined Mitre in 2022 and was chief medical adviser and acting managing director of the Health FFRDC.
A graduate of West Point, Ondra was awarded a Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal for his service during combat deployments in operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield.
Monét RobertsAssistant professor, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Monét Roberts is carrying on the legacy of the “Mother of Modern Medicine,” Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman born in Roanoke whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line. These cells were cultured and expanded without her knowledge or consent in 1951, the year she died from cancer in Baltimore. Lacks’ story became known broadly in 2010, with the publishing of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”
In February, Roberts received the inaugural Henrietta Lacks Legacy Award by Young Doctors Roanoke, in recognition of her cancer research. She founded the Roberts Glyco-Diversity Lab, where her research focuses on sugars on the surface of cells and how increases or changes in these sugars can prompt cancer.
The findings from her lab could be applied to age-related diseases and women’s reproductive health, says Roberts, who earned her master’s degree and doctorate in biomedical engineering from Cornell University.
Coleen Santa AnaCEO and managing partner, Alere Care Solutions; founder, Luminary Lens, Virginia Beach
The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated massive gaps in the U.S. health care system. In her role as CEO and managing partner of Virginia Beach-based Alere Care Solutions, Coleen Santa Ana is dedicated to connecting health care employers with skilled workers to strengthen the industry’s workforce. This places her among the 13% of women CEOs in the health care industry.
Alere Care Solutions goes beyond just filling vacancies, she says, and takes into consideration “ethical recruitment” that helps health care systems address staffing shortages, reduce turnover, enhance patient care and operate more efficiently.
The former Sentara hospital president started her career at the ripe age of 15 volunteering at a hospital. She also founded a “coach-sulting” business, Luminary Lens, which provides consulting, coaching and leadership training services.
