Scholars Who Shine this Summer
Northwell has put the spotlight on Candy E. Osborn, BSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, C-ONQS, Assistant Manager of Patient Care from the 2025-2026 Clinician Educator Cohort, recognizing her as a featured team member.
Candy Osborn brings compassion, empathy, and a deep commitment to women’s health to everything she does. Whether supporting patients through pregnancy, childbirth, or other important health milestones, she is a trusted resource for both patients and colleagues. Her ability to connect with people and provide support during life’s most meaningful moments has made a lasting impact on countless families.
Beyond her clinical role, Candy is deeply involved in the community. She helps organize support groups for new and expecting mothers, oversees the diaper giveaway program for Sharon Hospital, and regularly shares health information at local senior centers. Her dedication to caring for others extends far beyond the walls of the hospital and reflects the very best of our mission.
Candy presented alongside her Clinician Educator cohort members at the 5th Annual Grand Round and Academic Symposium. View her presentation details and poster seen on the Sched App here: OB Nurse Residencies in Maternal Child Health: A Journey from Novice to Expert
Click here to read Candy’s bio.
Candy Osborn is the Assistant Nurse Manager for the Maternity Unit at Sharon Hospital, where she has been a dedicated member of the team for over 25 years. With deep clinical expertise and a passion for maternal and newborn care, Candy plays a vital role in supporting patients, families, and staff throughout the childbirth journey.
She is a certified fetal monitoring instructor and NRP instructor and serves as the coordinator for the hospital’s prenatal education classes and postpartum support group.
Candy also contributes to hospital-wide initiatives through her committee work and regularly steps in as nursing supervisor when needed.
Candy holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Lycoming College and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Nursing Education at Chamberlain University. Her professional credentials include RNC-OB, C-EFM, and C-ONQS certifications, along with BLS, ACLS, PALS, and STABLE.
Outside of work, Candy enjoys gardening, reading, and doing puzzles. She is also an active member of her church and community choirs, where she shares her love of music and connection with others.
Connecticut Hospital Association 2026 Healthcare Heroes
Congratulations Haley Wheeler, MA, CCC-SLP, CBIS, on this well-deserved recognition. Haley is a Speech-Language Pathologist, Rehabilitation Services, Sharon Hospital.
She is also a member of the inaugural Clinician Educator Cohort of the Patricia A. Tietjen, MD Teaching Academy and serves as Scholar Fellow (2025-2027).
Click here to read a summary of her achievements.
At Sharon Hospital, Haley has elevated speech pathology from a traditional clinical service into a system-integrated, outcomes-driven program that strengthens care across sites and disciplines. She has spearheaded initiatives that standardize best practices, built a cross-market MS Teams network connecting more than 46 speech-language pathologists, and fostered collaboration that supports consistent, evidence-based care across Nuvance.
To strengthen this collaboration, Haley initiated regular knowledge-sharing discussions focused on emerging clinical topics and real-world patient challenges. By facilitating these conversations and providing curated research and discussion prompts, she has helped create an environment where clinicians can learn from one another and continuously elevate their practice. Feedback collected after the first year indicated improved connectedness among speech-language pathologists across the Nuvance market.
Her dedication to compassionate, patient-centered care is especially evident in her work with individuals living with Parkinson’s disease. She provides specialized therapy to support communication and swallowing function while recognizing the important role that social connection plays in managing chronic neurological conditions.
At Sharon Hospital, she leads a weekly SPEAK OUT! language group, which consistently attracts 8–10 adult participants with Parkinson’s disease to practice communication skills and support one another in a welcoming environment. She also organized a Parkinson’s community dinner, where she served as a speaker and provided education for patients, families, and community members about communication challenges associated with Parkinson’s disease. The event drew approximately 30 participants and strengthened connections between Sharon Hospital and the broader Parkinson’s community.
Through her leadership, Haley continues to cultivate a culture of learning, collaboration, and patient-centered care—demonstrating how clinical expertise, compassion, and innovation can work together to improve both patient outcomes and the professional community that supports them.
Check out her bio and the details of the many presentations she was featured in at the 5th Annual Grand Rounds and Academic Symposium here. Haley Wheeler, M.A., CCC-SLP CBIS – 5th Annual PATMDTA Grand Rounds & Academic Symposium
Team Member of the Year Finalist
Haley was recognized as a finalist for the Team Member of the Year in the Northwell President’s Award.
“Haley’s dedication to restoring communication and strengthening clinical practice has improved the lives of countless patients and families.”
— Melissa Braislin, MBA, MS, CCC-SLP, Director, Rehab and Cardiology Services, Sharon Hospital, Westchester/Hudson Valley/Connecticut market
Haley Wheeler fell in love with speech language pathology as a college student, and throughout her career she has been laser-focused on a fundamental goal: helping people communicate better.
A 10-year veteran of Sharon Hospital, Haley has elevated speech pathology from a traditional clinical service into a system-integrated, outcomes-driven program. During her tenure, patient experience scores have dramatically increased, and she’s improved clinical documentation rates among her peers. She also created a shared Microsoft Teams forum through which speech-language pathologists across the Nuvance market of Northwell Health exchange resources, research and patient-care strategies.
Haley’s weekly SPEAK OUT! language group is another example of her focus on improving patients’ communication skills. The group allows patients with Parkinson’s disease to practice communication skills in a supportive environment.
In recognition of her commitment to advancing her professional knowledge, Haley has won multiple ACE awards for continuing education from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. An inaugural scholar at Nuvance Health’s Patricia A. Tietjen, MD Teaching Academy, Haley is currently completing training to perform flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES), a diagnostic procedure being introduced as a new service at Sharon Hospital.
Through her leadership, Haley cultivates a culture of learning, collaboration and patient-centered care — and has remained engaged with her mission to improve communication for all her patients.
Haley Wheeler fell in love with speech language pathology as a college student, and throughout her career she has been laser-focused on a fundamental goal: helping people communicate better.
IAMSE IM-REACH Program
Haley Wheeler has been accepted into the IAMSE IM-REACH Program (2026-2027).
The IM-REACH mentoring certificate program provides an opportunity to enhance skills, gain experience, and engage in reflection and growth as a mentor and ultimately influence your relationship with your mentee. The goal of this program is to develop well-rounded, diverse health professional education mentors through targeted professional development in key aspects of mentorship, which includes both knowledge and skills. The program will provide evidence of that mentorship leads to specialized achievement that enhances and supports career advancement for both mentors and mentees.
Congratulations to Dr. Leslie Andriani on Her Fairfield County Top Patient Care Award Nomination
Dr. Leslie Andriani, a gynecologic oncologist at Norwalk Hospital, has been nominated for the prestigious Dr. Melville G. Magida Award. Presented annually by the Fairfield County Medical Association, the award recognizes young physicians who exemplify outstanding patient care, clinical excellence, and dedication to their communities.
Since joining Norwalk Hospital in 2023, Dr. Andriani has quickly established herself as an exceptional surgeon, educator, researcher, and advocate for women facing gynecologic cancers. Her nomination was presented by Philip R. Corvo, MD, Chairman of Surgery, Norwalk Hospital.
One of Dr. Andriani’s most significant accomplishments has been the development of Norwalk Hospital’s Opportunistic Salpingectomy Program, an innovative ovarian cancer prevention initiative. The program offers eligible women the option of removing their fallopian tubes during unrelated elective abdominal surgeries, a procedure shown to significantly reduce the risk of ovarian cancer while adding minimal surgical risk. Hospital leaders hope the program will serve as a model for expansion throughout Connecticut.
Dr. Andriani has also made crucial contributions to medical research and education. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, serves as an active investigator on clinical trials in gynecologic oncology, regularly presents research at national conferences, and plays a leadership role in training the next generation of physicians. Her commitment to medical education has been recognized with a medical student teaching award and her appointment as Associate Director of the OB/GYN Residency Program.
Beyond her clinical expertise, colleagues describe Dr. Andriani as a compassionate physician who consistently goes above and beyond for her patients. Letters supporting her nomination recount her willingness to advocate tirelessly for women facing complex diagnoses, including arranging specialized care and personally ensuring patients received the support they needed during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Her calm demeanor, exceptional communication skills, and patient-centered approach have earned the trust and admiration of both patients and colleagues.
The Dr. Melville G. Magida Award is given annually by the Fairfield County Medical Association (FCMA) and the Rosenthal Family Foundation honoring a local physician for exceptional clinical skills, compassionate person-centered care, and medical leadership. Awardees will be celebrated at the FCMA Annual Dinner October 8.