Healthmark Industries announced the appointment of Stephen Kovach to Clinical Education Emeritus and the promotion of Mary Ann Drosnock, MS, CIC, CFER, RM (NRCM), FAPIC to Director of Clinical Education.
“Steve has been a vital element to our success at Healthmark over the years and we can’t thank him enough for his years of service,” said Vice President Ralph Basile. “Mary Ann has been a key part of our success and we are thrilled to promote her to this important position.”
Kovach is a former Clinical Education Director at Healthmark. He has been in the hospital field for over 44 years, starting out as a sterilization orderly. He holds a B.S. from Central Michigan University with a Major in Biology and History.
He is active on the state and national levels of various organizations and has served in many positions, including the educational chair for AORN Specialty Assembly for SP/MM and a voting member on various AAMI committees. Kovach also has been an instructor at the Community College level, published many articles varying from perfusion to the importance of cleaning surgical instruments, as well as authored chapters in the IAHCSMM 7th Technical manual and the Management manual. He was recognized with the IAHCSMM Award of Honor for his dedication to improving the role central service plays in the hospital and was named by Hospital Purchasing News as one of the 30 most influential people within the field of central service.
Drosnock joined Healthmark in 2015 as the Clinical Education Manager for Endoscopy. Before that, she was responsible for management of the Infection Control Program and Device Reprocessing Functions for Olympus America, including Canada and Latin America. In this role, she was responsible for the development of position statements and policies regarding device compatibility, and health and safety information related to device utilization and reprocessing.
She worked for nine years in the pharmaceutical industry in a supervisory capacity as a microbiologist in quality control, research and development. She moved on to be an adjunct professor of microbiology at a local college. Drosnock holds a B.S. in Biology from Albright College; a M.S. in Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs from Temple University; certifications in Drug Development and Pharmaceutical Science from Temple University; certification in Infection Control through Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and the Certification Board of Infection Control (CBIC); certification as a Flexible Endoscope Reprocessor (CFER) through the Certification Board of Sterile Processing (CBSPD); and status of Nationally Certified Registered Microbiologist (NCRM) through the American Society for Microbiology (ASM); and appointment as a Fellow of the American Society for Professionals in Infection Prevention and Control (APIC). She is an active member of AAMI’s Sterilization Standards Committee, including the co-chair of WG84, the work group responsible for the development of ST91, endoscope reprocessing document.
“I am honored to accept this position and together with my team of clinical educators, I look forward to continuing to promote proper processing of medical devices to prevent infections,” said Drosnock.