Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors

Less Pain. More Love.

Healwell’s Board brings a variety of critical talent, skills, and industry knowledge to guide our overall direction.

Caroline Hamric, Chair

Caroline Hamric is the Deputy Director of City Kids Wilderness Project, a nonprofit that harnesses outdoor adventures to build resiliency, broaden horizons, and develop life skills for underserved DC youth. She has spent her career serving nonprofits dedicated to women’s rights, environmental protection and the rights of animals, and is keenly interested in how organizations learn. Caroline received her Master of Science in Organization Development from George Mason University in 2016, and is a proud alumna of Hollins University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business.

In her free time, Caroline enjoys volunteering in her community, taking road trips to the mountains and petting every dog she encounters.

Angela Wrubleski, Treasurer

Angela Wrubleski serves as the Chief Operating Officer and brings over fifteen years of experience in the healthcare industry to Open Arms. Prior to joining the team, Angela supported two large hospice organizations as a Regional Operations Director. Between these two roles, her responsibilities included oversight of a $180 million budget, implementation of cost saving measures to reduce medical supply and DME costs, management of inpatient and community palliative care programs, and creation of efficiencies that reduced the accounts receivable backlog by 3 million in two months. In addition, she mentored multiple individuals to help them grow from site specific roles to regional or executive level positions. It was her passion for quality healthcare at home that drew her to Open Arms Solutions. She believes the future of healthcare is at home.

When not at work, Angela enjoys attending Cubs games, global wine tastings, and spending time with her husband and friends.

Rory Farrand, Secretary

Rory Farrand is a clinical expert with more than 20 years of leadership in palliative care, including experience in clinical practice as well as within corporate services, training and development, field operations & customer service. Rory is one of the nation’s leading experts in the field of palliative care operations, having experience in palliative business startups, clinical systems, and day-to-day management of palliative clinical providers. She currently works with Confidis Consulting as a Senior Consultant on all palliative care operational projects.

From 2022 - 2025 she provided subject matter leadership to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization as Vice President of Palliative and Advanced Care. From 2019 - 2022 Rory was Corporate Director of the Palliative Division for VITAS Healthcare, where she was responsible for the development and targeted expansion of palliative care programs across VITAS Healthcare’s entire service area. Prior to VITAS, she was Regional Vice President of Clinical Operations at Aspire Health, where she launched multiple new Palliative care markets. At that time, Aspire was the largest stand-alone palliative care provider in the United States.

Rory is board certified as an adult/gero nurse practitioner (ANCC) with a post-Master's certification in Palliative Care from California State University's Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care. She has designed palliative care clinical education programs for multiple providers, and contributed to numerous publications on hospice and palliative care, including the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Nursing.

Helen Bradshaw, Director

Helen (she/her) is a civil rights attorney whose practice focuses on racial justice issues in Virginia. She brings a wealth of experience in regulatory interpretation and analysis as well as a critical understanding of the collateral consequences faced by people who have been touched by the criminal legal system.

Helen holds a BA from Sweet Briar College, an MA from University College Dublin, an MPhil from Trinity College Dublin, and a JD from American University Washington College of Law. When she is not working, Helen enjoys learning about (and tasting!) food and wine culture, hiking in the blue ridge, and helping her dog select the very best couch cushions for fort making.

Tara Coles, Director

Tara is a Palliative Care physician at Georgetown University Hospital. She was born in New York but has lived in the Washington DC area for almost 25 years. She attended George Washington School of Medicine and completed her EM residency training and served as Chief Resident at Boston Medical Center. She has worked clinically in both academic and community medical settings. Her professional passions are humanism and creativity in medicine, work-family balance, women’s leadership, injury prevention, and palliative care. She and her husband John are raising four children and enjoy spending their time together surrounded by nature, books, music, and friends.

Gabriela DeAnda, Director

Gabriela is HPNA (Hospice & Palliative Nurses Association) Certified in Hospice and Palliative Care and is an RN for Montgomery Hospice and Prince George's County Hospice. Gabriela's prior experience on a board was in 2002 for the DC Massage Therapy Licensing Board. She graduated with a Bachelor in Arts in Theatre Arts from Loyola Marymount University which helped her land jobs with Joe Weider's Muscle and Fitness Magazine's BodyBuilding Camp, flight attendant for Pan Am, Administrative Manager for the National office of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and finally as a Small Business Owner of her own massage therapy practice from 1998 -2008. She is so excited to be invited to Healwell Board and to make being sick suck less!

Altonia Garrett, Director

Altonia Garrett is a career health care business leader serving not for profit organizations as an executive, nurse, and innovative leader in delivering high quality advanced illness care.

Altonia earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences with a concentration Health Care Administration from James Madison University, a nursing degree from Marymount University, and an MBA (Master of Business Administration) and MHA (Master of Health Care Administration) from University of Maryland University College.

She is passionate about the delivery of high-quality, innovative community service programs that enhance the life of all citizens, particularly for those who are among the most vulnerable - especially the poor, the aging, and those living with disabilities or mental health conditions.

Jeff Kost, Director

Jeff Kost has more than 30 years’ experience leading fundraising and communications programs for local, regional and national organizations, primarily in healthcare, including HIV/AIDS social services, nutrition for chronically ill individuals, hospice and palliative care, and individuals with substance use and mental health disorders. He has also served as a consultant supporting nonprofits with growing fundraising capacity building and campaign planning.

Outside of work, Jeff appreciates the arts and theater, pursues his passion as a self-proclaimed foodie, travels, and relaxes at home with his husband and dog.

Naomi Mercer, Director

Naomi Mercer is a recognized diversity, equity, and inclusion leader with a unique perspective formed through corporate service, military leadership, and academic experience. In addition to her tenure as a DEI practitioner, she has engaged diverse audiences at more than 130 conferences and facilitated workshops for executive teams, management leaders, and boards of directors. Naomi has authored more than 20 articles on DEI in academic journals and published books, including the award-winning DEI Foundations (2022) for the banking industry.

Naomi lives in Northern Virginia with her family, spouse Kerry Takenaka, daughter Aurora who is a student at George Washington University, and two hedonistic cats.