Our Nursing Leaders
Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center
Lindsay Cianciotto, MSN, RN, CNL
Assistant Vice President, Nursing Resources & Labor Relations
Lindsay serves as the Medical Center’s nurse liaison for the New
Jersey Nurses Union and oversees the Medical Surgical Division, Nurse
Staffing Office, Nursing Supervisors, Inpatient and Outpatient Wound Care,
and the Radiology nurses. She joined Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center
in 2008 as a nurse extern on a medical-surgical Unit that primarily served
women with a gynecological/oncology diagnosis. Upon completion of her
undergraduate degree in 2009, Lindsay was hired as a staff nurse on a
medical-surgical step-down unit. In 2011, Lindsay successfully piloted
the first Clinical Nurse Leader role on a 36-bed medical-surgical unit.
In 2013, she became Nurse Manager on a 42-bed pulmonary medical unit and,
in 2017, was appointed Director of Nursing Finance with oversite of 67
nursing department budgets. She received her Master’s Degree in
Clinical Leadership from University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ in
2013 and was the first Clinical Leadership graduate from UMDNJ to receive
the Clinical Excellence award. She received her Bachelor of Science in
Nursing from York College. Lindsay has held a certification as a Clinical
Nurse Leader through the AACN since 2013. Her core competencies include:
strategic planning, process evaluation and improvement, employee relations
and mentoring, union relations, productivity, and staffing.
Deanna Paxos, MSN, RN-BC, CNL, NE-BC
Assistant Vice President, Nursing Excellence & Clinical Education
Deanna’s oversight includes Nursing Education & Research, the
Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) Program, Nursing Quality, and Magnet. Deanna
began her nursing career at University Hospital in Newark as a medical-surgical,
critical care nurse. She transitioned to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center
in 2013 as a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) managing daily patient care by
collaborating with inter-professional team members. In 2016, Deanna accepted
the position of Director of Clinical Excellence and Innovation, to achieve
the organization’s first Magnet Designation in 2018. Deanna left
in 2019 to take a leadership position in NYC to further gain the knowledge
and skills within professional development. She received her Bachelor
of Science in Nursing and her Master of Science in Clinical Nurse Leadership
from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and is currently
enrolled in a Doctorate in Nursing Leadership program.
Leanne Sanabria, MSN, RN, NE-BC
Assistant Vice President, Patient Care Services
In her role, Leanne has oversight of Cardiac and Critical Care Services.
Leanne began her career at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in 2004 as
a medical-surgical, tele nurse. In 2007, she became a clinical coordinator
for medical-surgical units and shortly after transitioned to the cardio-thoracic
step down unit. In 2010, Leanne became the Nurse Manager of the Renal
and Pancreas Transplant Unit where she worked until 2013 when she was
promoted to the Administrative Director of Medical-Surgical. Leanne left
briefly to take a leadership position in NYC where she gained strong operational
skills, and focused on consistent delivery for patient safety, quality,
and patient experience outcomes. Leanne is a results oriented leader,
and excels at operational excellence and conflict resolution. She earned
her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from St. Elizabeth College of Nursing
and her Master of Science in Nursing Leadership from Rutgers University.
Maria E. Aponte, MPA, BSN, RN
Administrative Director of Emergency Services
Maria joined Cooperman Barnabas in 2021. With over 22 years of experience
in acute care, emergency and trauma nursing, she has oversight of the
transformative Emergency Department which treats more than 95,000 adults
and children each year. Maria has a passion for patient care excellence
and nursing leadership. She is most proud of her work in relationship
team building and engagement to achieve optimal patient experiences and
outcomes. Maria is integral to advancing high-reliability commitment,
continuous regulatory readiness, and nursing excellence. Maria received
a diploma in nursing from Hudson County Community College and completed
a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing from New Jersey City University. She
obtained her Master's in Public Administration with a concentration in
Health Care from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
John Dillman, BSN, RN
Administrative Director of Nursing, Business Operations for the Perioperative Department
As the Administrative Director of Business Operations for the Perioperative
Department, John has the responsibility to establish and develop the business
office for the Surgical Services at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center.
The Surgical Services Business Office has oversight of surgical scheduling,
surgical billing, analytics and perioperative budgets with the goal to
reduce costs and streamline the billing and scheduling process.
John started his nursing career at Cooperman Barnabas in 2010 in the Emergency Department, where he worked as staff, patient care coordinator and nurse manager. He transitioned to the Perioperative Division in 2017 as Nurse Manager of Operations, and most recently accepted the role of establishing the Surgical Services Business Office in early 2020.
Stephanie Richter, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CEN
Director for Nursing Education and Research
Stephanie works with a team of nursing educators to consistently meet the
needs of our nursing staff and our patients through innovation and evidence-based
practice. Prior to being named director in 2022, she served as the manager
for Nursing Education and Research, co-leading significant achievements
for CBMC, including accreditation with distinction for our Nurse Residency
Program in 2020, as awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center
for Practice Transition Accreditation Programs. Stephanie has been recognized
at local and national levels for her dedication to nursing and for her
leadership, notably a Daisy Nurse Leader Award recipient in 2021. Her
knowledge and skill set in scholarly inquiry has resulted in peer-reviewed
publications in journals such as
Journal for Nurses in Professional Development,
BioNanoScience, and
The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, as well as national presentations, including at an Annual Conference
of the Emergency Nurses Association. Stephanie received a Bachelor of
Arts in Chemistry from Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Science in
Nursing from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She obtained a Master of
Science in Health Services Leadership and Management with an Education
focus from the University of Maryland, School of Nursing, and she anticipates
graduating with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in Systems-Level Leadership in 2023.
Ginger Weatherston, BS, MAS
Administrative Director
Ginger, Director of Unit Management, has been at Cooperman Barnabas Medical
Center for over 25 years. She began her career at the Medical Center as
the department’s educator. She currently oversees the unit representatives
who provide the clerical support for our nursing units. Her other duties
include oversight of providing services for our deaf and hard of hearing
patients and the Electronic Death Registration system for the State. Ginger
currently is the facilitator for the Physician Collaboration Team which
works to improve our communication with doctors. She was also the liaison
for our physicians during the implementation of the electronic medical
record. Previously, she served as director of Patient Transport and Bed
Management.
Ginger received her bachelor’s of science in business administration from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, and her master’s degree in administrative science from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. She currently is an online facilitator for the University of Phoenix in the School of Health Sciences.