Local
Comings & Goings
Hanna named chief medical officer at Inova Mount Vernon
The ‘Comings & Goings’ column chronicles important life changes of Blade readers.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: [email protected].
The Comings and Goings column also invites LGBTQ+ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, landed an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a new job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Dr. Pete Hanna on his appointment as Chief Medical Officer at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital. Hanna said, “We all know the immense amount of pressure COVID-19 placed on the healthcare community and especially hospital staff in this last year. I feel quite humbled and honored to take on my new leadership role as Chief Medical Officer at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital especially in this challenging period. Inova is a true national leading system in healthcare quality, safety and patient experience and has a focus on providing a safe and inclusive work culture. It is a true partner with all the diverse communities of Northern Virginia, which adds to making it a wonderful place to work.” He added, “I have always been fond of D.C. and knew I would end up in the area, with its vibrant community and unlimited potential to make an impact. I already have many wonderful friends here and look forward to getting to know a lot more.”
In addition to his role at Mount Vernon Hospital, Hanna is chair of surgery at Saba University School of Medicine and MUA. He is a general surgeon by background. He serves as vice chair of the Board of Trustees at the Maryland Healthcare Education Institute and is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board for the Maryland Hospital Association and the quality board for Healthcare for the Homeless.
Prior to joining Inova, he was chair of the Department of Surgery and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at LifeBridge Grace Medical Center, previously Bon Secours Baltimore Health System, and was one of the leaders of clinical informatics at the enterprise Bon Secours Health System.
He serves on the Human Rights Campaign’s Greater Washington DC Steering Committee, and was previously co-chair of the Baltimore subcommittee and currently on the Federal Club committee. He has always been involved in the communities he served.
Hanna graduated from Damascus University School of Medicine and completed his residency in general surgery at Marshall University, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, in Huntington, W. Va. He also has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Pete Hanna (Photo courtesy of Hanna)
Congratulations also to Michael H. Weinberger Senior Project Manager at Metro Strategies in Chicago, Ill. Metro Strategies is a policy, planning, and public affairs firm working on a variety of transportation and planning projects.
Weinberger will work on major infrastructure projects in the Chicagoland Region, including public transportation improvement initiatives, storm water management interventions, and other critical policy projects. Upon taking the position, he said, “The National Capital Region has prepared me for anything and everything. Getting to work with stakeholders on public works projects the past 15 years has been a dream come true for me and I will take that experience to heart; using it every day during my next adventure.”
Prior to moving to Chicago, Weinberger was manager of Operations Planning & Service Delivery with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in D.C. He was a project manager with Sharp & Company in Rockville and had been with Foursquare Integrated Transportation Planning, in Rockville for five years.
He earned his bachelor’s in Sociology, graduating cum laude from American University; and his master’s of Community Planning from the University of Maryland in College Park.
Michael H. Weinberger (Photo courtesy of Weinberger)
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
Comings & Goings
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Police mental health struggles gain growing attention
Man faces first S.C. ‘hate intimidation’ charge
Trump budget would codify expanded global gag rule
Cuba under pressure and without answers
