Garrett K. Chan, PhD, RN, APRN, FAEN, FPCN, FNAP, FCNS, FAANP, FAAN
President & Chief Executive Officer
Garrett Chan is the Chief Executive Officer and President of HealthImpact, California’s nationally recognized nursing workforce center. HealthImpact works closely with government entities, schools of nursing, health care providers, professional organizations, consumer groups, and foundations to address statewide nursing issues that impact the health of all Californians.
Dr. Chan served as Director for the Center for Education and Professional Development and Director of Advanced Practice at Stanford Health Care. He currently is an Associate Adjunct Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. He earned his PhD and MS in Nursing and completed Post-Masters work as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Summer Genetics Program, and completed the American College of Health Executives Senior Executive Program in Healthcare Administration. He is an elected Fellow in the Academy of Emergency Nursing, Palliative Care Nursing, Clinical Nurse Specialist Institute, National Academies of Practice, and the American Academy of Nursing.
Ricardo Ballin, DNP, MS, Certified Nurse Manager & Leader, Caritas Coach
Lead Faculty, Ambulatory RN Transition to Practice Program
Ricardo Ballin, DNP, MS, Certified Nurse Manager & Leader, and Caritas Coach has been a compassionate nurse leader for more than 24 years with diverse clinical, management and academia experience. Dr. Ballin serves in a Lead Faculty role for HealthImpact’s Ambulatory RN Transition to Practice Program (RTTP). He also holds a Lecturer position for The Valley Foundation School of Nursing at San Jose State University, where he teaches a wide range of courses for RN to BSN, BSN, MSN, and DNP students. Dr. Ballin obtained his RN from Evergreen Valley College, BSN from San Jose State, MS in Nursing Administration & Health Systems Leadership from UCSF and DNP from Fresno State University.
Dr. Ballin’s primary areas of focus are ambulatory specialty care services and correctional health and nursing leadership. His primary research interests have been centered on quality improvement, patient experience, workplace wellness, and supporting nurse transition to practice initiatives with an emphasis in Caring Science.
Shawn Bent
Program Coordinator
Shawn Bent joined HealthImpact in April 2023.
Edward (Eddie) Burns, Jr., MSN, RN, CNS, NPD-BC, PCCN
Director, Benner Institute for Teaching & Learning
Edward Burns, joined HealthImpact in May 2021. The Director of the Benner Institute for Teaching & Learning directly supports the upskilling of the nursing workforce, through elevation of diversity, equity, inclusivity, and belonging by creating a deeper understanding of the impact of social determinants of health and education on California’s health care workforce. Eddie’s 19-year health care career spans clinical practice in acute critical and progressive care, leadership roles, quality outcome improvement initiatives, and health care workforce professional development. He started his career as a new-graduate registered nurse in intensive care at Palomar Health, in San Diego CA. He was most recently with Stanford Health Care serving as a leader and Nursing Professional Development Specialist, supporting the Clinical Inpatient Float Pool, Critical Care and Acute Care Response Teams, the New Graduate Nurse Residency Program, and the interim CNS-role for the Hepatobiliary, Surgical Oncology, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Colorectal, and Urology service lines. He earned his MSN from Grand Canyon University with a specialization in nursing education and curriculum development and his BSN from the University of Akron (Ohio). He recently completed a post master’s certificate from CSU Dominguez Hills as an Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist and is CA BRN licensed. Eddie is ANCC board certified as a Nursing Professional Development Specialist and an AACN Progressive Care Certified Nurse. In 2023, Eddie started a PhD in Psychology at Grand Canyon University, hoping to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of psychological safety in the learning process.
Laura Ford
Media & Graphic Design Manager
Laura Ford joined HealthImpact in January 2016.
Owen Metzger, MBA, PMP
Manager, Strategic Initiatives
Owen Metzger joined HealthImpact in February 2021. Owen has a background in project management, supply chain management, information systems, and has a deep passion for organizational development. Most recently, Owen oversaw the VaxForce initiative which aims to vaccinate under-resourced communities across the state of California. Owen earned his MBA from San Francisco State University, his BA in Psychology from University of California, Davis, and his PMP certification from Project Management Institute.
Regina Orozco, PhD, RN, MSN, RNC-ob
Program Director, Benner Institute for Teaching and Learning
Regina Orozco joined HealthImpact in August 2023. As Program Director of the Benner Institute for Teaching & Learning, she has brought years of knowledge, passion, and advocating for justice as a nurse and nurse educator to the team and to the nursing workforce. Dr. Orozco entered the nursing pathway as an associate degree graduate from Napa Valley College in 2004 and immediately transferred to Sonoma State to obtain a BSN with a minor in Women’s Health and then consecutively earned her MSN with a concentration in Nursing Education in 2007. She returned to the educational sector after supporting and encouraging the growth of her three children, to achieve her lifelong goal of obtaining her doctorate degree. In 2020, she graduated from the University of California, Davis with a Ph.D. in Leadership and Nursing Science with her dissertation focused on the lived experiences of the women of color who entered the nursing profession in California as a licensed vocational nurse. Her findings spotlighted the inequity, biases, and microaggressions currently impacting educational institutions and the confined vocational choices for women of color in the nursing pipeline. Dr. Orozco started and continues her 20-year bedside nursing career in Maternity, supporting patients giving birth the way they want to give birth. This aspiration for system wide advocacy and individualized patient care has also fostered her 17-years as an educator in pre-license programs. In addition to promoting patient advocacy in the classroom and clinical setting, her enthusiasm for student activism drives her approach and andragogical choices in nursing education and in the transfer of knowledge to those educators that she has the privilege of mentoring.
Sandy Phan, DNP, RN, NPDA-BC, CRRN
Program Manager, Benner Institute for Teaching and Learning
Sandy Phan joined HealthImpact in 2023.
Laine Snowman
Finance Manager
Laine Snowman has worked with HealthImpact since 2011.
Ella Vallejo, MSN, RN, CNL, PHN
Program Manager – Nurse Preceptorship Program
Ella has been an acute care nurse for 13 years and currently works as an Assistant Nurse Manager on an intermediate care unit, at a large medical center in San Jose. Ella received her MSN from Xavier University (2019) and she is nationally certified as a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL). Some recent achievements for Ella and her team include creating a new VAD specialty program, that obtained Joint Commission accreditation in 2019. Her department received the prestigious Team Daisy award in 2020. In 2021 Ella helped create and pilot a new graduate program that would become the model for her hospital region.
Ella is married and lives with her partner and adorable puppy, Indy, in San Jose. She has a passion for the nurse “coach” role and is certified in addiction recovery and spiritual integration. She helped support the creation of a 2-day simulation workshop into a nurse residency program and was instrumental in supporting the needs assessment for Practice Transition Accreditation Program (PTAP) designation.
KT Waxman, DNP, MBA, RN, CNL, CHSE, CENP, FAONL, FSSH, FAAN
Director, California Simulation Alliance
Dr. KT Waxman is an international nurse leader and executive with extensive experience in academic and healthcare settings. She is a Professor and the Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. She is also the director of the California Simulation Alliance (CSA) at Healthimpact and is the editor-in-chief for Nursing Administration Quarterly (NAQ). An internationally known speaker and author, Waxman is past president of the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL) and past board member, serving as treasurer for the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL). She is a past president of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.
Her work has been published extensively and can be found in the Journal for Simulation in Healthcare, Clinical Simulation for Nursing, Journal of Nursing Education, NAQ, JONA, Nurse Leader and other journals. She has authored/edited 5 books and numerous book chapters on finance and budgeting and simulation.
Dr. Waxman received a DNP from the University of San Francisco, with an emphasis on health systems leadership and a concentration in clinical simulation. She holds the following certifications: Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL), Certification in Executive Nursing Practice (CENP), Certification as a Simulation Healthcare Educator (CHSE), and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (FAONL), and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (FSSH).