Heart of America Chapter Leadership

President

Jamie Wolf MSHI, RN, NI-BC brings more than 17 years of experience as a registered nurse with 10 years of informatics experience. 

Vice President

Cherie Rourke MSN, RN, NI-BC brings more than 20 years of experience as a registered nurse specializing in nursing informatics and lean transformation within the healthcare industry. She currently serves as an Assistant Vice President in Facility Optimization and Design Services at Kaufman-Hall, a Vizient Company.

Secretary

Kelsey Bambara, RN, BSN, MSN, MHL, NI-BC is a highly experienced Registered Nurse with 18 years of diverse experience in various healthcare settings. She holds Board Certification in Nursing Informatics and has earned dual master’s degrees in nursing informatics and health Leadership. Currently, Kelsey serves as a Senior Healthcare Strategist at HDR, an architecture and engineering firm. Kelsey excels at untangling complex challenges, leveraging strategic innovation and process improvement to enhance care delivery. She has a deep love for nursing informatics and is passionate about lean principles, change management, workflow analysis, and data analytics.

Christina Wolf BSN, RN has been a nurse for 18 years working in the ER/Trauma including process improvement.  She currently works for the reporting department at Stormont Vail.

Treasurer

Elizabeth Weeks, BSN, RN, NI-BC, CMSRN, is a Value Stream Manager at The University of Kansas Health System. In this role, she drives improvement efforts and strategic initiatives across the Inpatient, Emergency, and Behavioral Health service lines. Elizabeth served as the 2021 President of the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA). Beyond her professional achievements, Elizabeth is a passionate Red Coater, serving as a volunteer ambassador for the Kansas City Chiefs. In her personal time, she loves traveling with her husband, exploring new destinations.

Social Media/ Marketing

Ashley Smith MSN, RN, NI-BC is bio-certified clinical informatics nurse for a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).  Her background includes quality, maternal child, med-surg, and specialty clinics.

Joan Benson MSN, RN, BC-NI, CPN has been a nurse for over 33 years, working at Children's Mercy for 30 years.   She has experience in the NICU and Orthopedic Clinic and has worked in Clinical Informatics for 11 years.  I have a Master of Science, Nursing Informatics from the University of Kansas and a Nursing Informatics certification from the ANCC.  I am excited to be involved in the Heart of America chapter of ANIA to expand our membership.