Faculty and Staff

Seattle Sites’ Faculty

Kristin Anderson, MD
Carolyn Downs

Kristin Anderson (she/her), a Seattle-area native, studied neurobiology at the University of Washington before heading to the East coast for her medical school training at Tufts University in Boston. She graduated from Tufts with an MD/MPH in 2007, and then returned home to complete her family medicine residency at the Swedish First Hill Family Medicine program. Following residency, she pursued additional training through the Swedish First Hill geriatric fellowship program.

Upon graduation from fellowship, she was hired on at Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center, a clinic proudly founded by the Seattle Black Panther Party in 1968 and one of the Cherry Hill residency satellite continuity clinics.

Though she has worked with the Carolyn Downs residents in both the outpatient and inpatient settings since 2011, Dr. Anderson officially joined the faculty at Cherry Hill in the fall of 2014. She is currently the faculty lead for the geriatric and LGBTQ+ curricula and the faculty advisor for the Palliative Care Area of Concentration.

Dr. Anderson lives with her wife, Natalie, their daughter, her mother-in-law, two cats, and a dog (it's a full house!). She enjoys softball, hiking, travel, and a good cup of coffee.

Lisa Chan, MD
Cherry Hill, Site Director

Lisa Chan (she/her) is a second-generation Chinese (Taishanese) American who hails from Salt Lake City, Utah. She studied Biochemistry as well as Chinese Language & Literature at the University of Utah before going on to medical school at the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine. Lisa completed her Family Medicine Residency at our very own Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency and was the inaugural class at the International Community Health Services (ICHS) International District continuity clinic. She continued to work at ICHS after residency until she joined the Cherry Hill faculty in 2023.

Lisa’s clinical interests include integrative medicine, geriatrics, obstetrics, procedures, and clinical informatics. Outside of medicine, Lisa enjoys creatåing art, reading, kickboxing, kayaking, baking, trying out new recipes, and learning new languages (and building her vocabulary in Cantonese and Taishanese). She also enjoys hanging out with her partner, cat, and dog.

Trevor Dickey, MD
Seattle Indian Health Board, co-Site Director

Trevor (he/him) completed his residency at the Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency program in Seattle, Washington. He completed a fellowship in Addiction Medicine and a second fellowship in Hospital Medicine, both at Swedish Medical Center. He splits his time in between working as a primary care physician with the Seattle Indian Health Board and working as a hospitalist with Swedish Medical Center. In his free time, he enjoys cooking and being outside with his two sons.

Jenny Giang-Griesser, MD
Sea Mar, co-Site Director

Jenny Giang-Griesser (she/her) was born and raised in Windsor/Santa Rosa, California. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology with an emphasis in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior from UC Davis. Upon graduation, she studied medical Spanish and medical anthropology in Argentina and Ecuador, later completing medical school at the University of Wisconsin - School of Medicine and Public Health. She graduated from the Swedish Family Medicine Cherry Hill residency program and Sea Mar continuity site in 2021 and transitioned to Sea Mar White Center medical clinic afterwards, where she continues to provide full-spectrum care as a community preceptor and faculty attending for the residency program. In 2023, Jenny joined Ale Zaballa as residency co-site director for the Sea Mar site.

Jenny's clinical interests center around immigrant and refugee health, prenatal care, pediatrics, OB care + OB ultrasound, GYN procedures, and lactation education. Outside of work, she enjoys bouldering, cooking, studying languages, making balloon animal art, and spending time with her family.

Kim Kardonsky, MD
Seattle Indian Health Board, co-Site Director

Chinyere Obimba, MD, MPH
Cherry Hill and Seattle Residency, Program Director

Chinyere (she/her) is from Ann Arbor, MI, where she lived for 22 years surrounded by a large and loving extended family. After completing a double major at the University of Michigan in Cell and Molecular Biology and Spanish, she headed to the East Coast to attend Harvard Medical School, completing her Master’s in Public Health in Family and Community Health along the way. Her favorite parts of medical school included her participation in Student National Medical Association, advocating for local immigrant families through a community clinic-based project, co-directing a cultural show celebrating the African Diaspora and conducting a maternal-child health project in Northeast Brazil. She fell in love with family medicine because of its special dedication to the care of underserved populations and its unique position to address the social determinants of health for communities.

Chinyere then made her way west and completed her family medicine residency at Swedish Cherry Hill with Carolyn Downs as her continuity clinic, completing an Area of Concentration in Integrative Medicine. She joined faculty at Cherry Hill in 2018 after working for two and a half years at Carolyn Downs. She became Associate Program Director of Curriculum in 2021. In addition to her responsibilities as APD and Integrative Medicine faculty, she also contributes to the Anti-Racism curriculum. Her other interests include parent-child health and developmental pediatrics. She’s also into language learning, everything Brazil, creative writing, singing, dancing, reading, cooking, documentary watching and city-going. She lives on the "east side" with her husband, trickster son and active, sassy toddler daughter.

Lindsay Orme, MD
Cherry Hill

Hieu Pham, MD, MSPH, AAHIVS
International Community Health Services, Site Director

Hieu (he/him) considers himself a Saigonese and New Yorker at heart. He was fortunate to spend his formative years in Saigon, Viet Nam before moving to Queens, New York with his brother and mom. Hieu attended Columbia University for his undergraduate studies and went on to study Public Health at Johns Hopkins. He spent time working in population health before going to Rush Medical College for his medical degree. He met his partner at Rush and went on to couples match at Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency at the International District clinic. He continues to work at the International District clinic as an attending. As an immigrant, queer physician of color, Hieu is particularly interested in immigrant and refugee health and care for the LGBTQIA+ population. His other clinical interests include HIV care and prevention, chronic hepatitis B, procedures, POCUS, women's health, and obstetrics.

When not practicing medicine or involved with residency activities, Hieu really enjoys reality TV shows, camping, board games, and learning how to cook the food of his motherland, as well as trying new recipes. On the weekends, you will find him and his partner, Ed, wandering the International District and little Saigon enjoying some good coffee, baked goods, and dim sum. Hieu is always in search of the best bún bò huế.

Mary Puttmann-Kostecka, MD
Cherry Hill and Associate Program Director

Mary Puttmann-Kostecka, MD, MSc (she/her) completed undergrad at St. Louis University where she studied political science, Spanish and international relations. During her undergraduate experiences she was drawn to healthcare as a way to advocate for social justice. In the year before medical school, she completed a masters of social psychology in Health, Community and Development at the London School of Economics where she learned the power of community level change and participation. She then went on to complete medical school at Georgetown University, residency in Santa Rosa, California and then completed a maternal-child health, advanced OB fellowship at PCC Community Wellness in Chicago, IL. She spent another year in Chicago as interim Inpatient Medicine Course Director for West Suburban Family Medicine Residency. Her professional interests include OB, international health, migrant health, immigration, trauma healing, peer education, community health center organization and social justice. She also enjoys cooking, skiing, anything outdoors, spending time with her family, cards, board games and playing the Afro-Brazilian martial art of capoeira.

Samuel Rennebohm, PhD
Cherry Hill

Sam (he/him) was born here at Swedish and grew up just a few miles from the hospital. He completed his undergraduate degree in Ethnic Studies at Columbia University and a Masters of Divinity at the Graduate Theological Union. After divinity school, Sam balanced a number of ministry roles, including grief and bereavement counseling, faith-based community organizing, and mentoring young adult service corps volunteers. While theology and spirituality provided some answers for Sam, they ultimately raised many more questions. Clinical psychology seemed to provide a disciplinary structure well suited for exploring those questions.

Sam completed his doctoral training in the School of Psychology, Family, and Community at Seattle Pacific University. As part of his doctoral training, Sam spent a year at the First Hill Residency as a Behavioral Health Practicum Student. He completed his Doctoral Internship at the VA Puget Sound-American Lake, with rotations in Primary Care Mental Health, PTSD treatment, and Couple/Family Therapy. He then completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Seattle VA in Couple and Family Health.

His clinical and scholarly interests include population based approaches to mental health, contextual behavioral science, brief acceptance and commitment interventions, and behavioral health consultation for families and romantic partners.

Outside of work, Sam likes to spend time with his partner and toddler and their extended family, develop new routes for bike commuting, and follow Seattle municipal politics.

Nasya Sierra, MD
Carolyn Downs, Site Director

Nasya Sierra (she/her) received her undergraduate degree in Biology and Government with a special interest in Health Policy at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California. She went on to complete her MD degree in her home state at University of Washington. With special interest in full spectrum care and social justice, she completed her residency at Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency – Carolyn Downs Clinic. She later stayed on at Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center, the only Black Panther Clinic still serving patients. She joined faculty at Swedish Cherry Hill as Carolyn Downs Residency Site Director in early 2022. She also manages the HIV AOC and Carolyn Downs Youth Mentorship Program. Nasya’s curricular interests include mentorship within sustainable pipeline programs, reproductive health, POCUS, and inpatient medicine.

Emily Vayda, MD
Cherry Hill

Emily Vayda (she/her) grew up in the Midwest but soon found herself drawn to the East Coast. She earned her degrees in biochemistry and nutrition, alongside a focus in community development, from the University of Vermont. Captivated by the vibrant community at UVM, she decided to stay and pursue medical school. Emily completed her Family Medicine residency at Maine Medical Center in Portland before making a bold move with her partner and their cat to start their careers in the Seattle area. 

For the first two years of her practice, she worked at a FQHC, providing care to a primarily Latino/Chicano population. In early 2025, Emily joined the faculty at Cherry Hill Family Medicine.

Her clinical interests include reproductive health, obstetrics, pediatrics, medical procedures, and advocacy. Emily and her partner are thrilled to live in Seattle, where they enjoy quick access to the mountains and ocean, vibrant food culture, and the convenience of biking around the city. Since moving, they’ve added a new feline friend to the family, making for a lively household.

Jackie Wong, MD
Cherry Hill

After completing her Art History and Biochemistry degrees at University of Washington, Jacqueline (she/her) headed east for medical school at Drexel University College of Medicine. After enjoying Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, she returned home to Seattle and completed her residency at Swedish Family Medicine Cherry Hill in 2009. Following her residency, she completed an Addiction Medicine fellowship before splitting her time between Seattle Indian Health Board, a community CHC, and Addiction Recovery Services in Ballard, an inpatient detox/treatment unit for pregnant women with addiction issues until 2014. She joined the Cherry Hill faculty part time in 2014 and continues to work at Addiction Recovery Services. Jacqueline's interests include addiction medicine, women's health and obstetrics. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family, hiking, reading, cooking (with the occasional misadventure) and training her cat (who thinks he's a dog).

Alexandra Zaballa, MD
Sea Mar, co-Site Director

Alexandra Zaballa (she/her) received her undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Diversity Studies at the University of Washington. She earned her medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine, completing both the Underserved Pathway and Hispanic Health Pathway. She completed residency in 2019 at Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency where she worked at Sea Mar South Park. After graduation she continued her work at Sea Mar Burien practicing full spectrum family medicine. She joined the faculty at Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine in 2022 as the Sea Mar Site Director. Her clinical interests include reproductive health and obstetrics, immigrant and refugee health particularly in the Latinx community, social justice and advocacy, and addiction medicine. Outside of the clinic and hospital, Alexandra enjoys spending time with her husband and family, quality time with friends, and all things outdoors including running, hiking, biking and playing soccer.

Rural Training Program Faculty

Rob Epstein, MD
Rural Training Program, Program Director

Born and raised in Seattle, Dr. Epstein (he/him) earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington, going on to earn a master’s degree in Nursing at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  He then worked in the rural Southwest on the Navajo Reservation and then Northern Pakistan as a Nurse Practitioner where he decided to undertake the additional training to become a doctor.  Rob returned to Seattle to attend the University of Washington School of Medicine. He completed his family medicine residency in Spokane in 2001 and then moved to Port Angeles.

Dr. Rob and his wife, Betsy Wharton have enjoyed raising their children, Forrest and Maya and becoming a part of the Port Angeles community over the last 20 years. His clinical interests include high risk obstetrics including C-sections, pediatrics, procedural medicine such as endoscopy and hospital medicine, and addiction medicine. He was the first buprenorphine waivered physician in Port Angeles starting in 2007. He has taught medical students and residents since he arrived in Port Angeles and helped create the Port Angeles Rural Family Medicine Residency Program in 2015. Dr. Rob is the Program Director of the Port Angeles Rural Residency and a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, his academic interests center around Rural Generalism and his hobbies include historic woodworking/building projects, backcountry skiing, river/canyon boating and sustainable alternative energy.

Ned Hammar, MD
Rural Training Program

Haitian-born artist Ned Hammar (he/him) takes to heart these words from the real Dr. Hunter Patch Adams: "The health of the individual cannot be separated from the health of the family, the community, and the world." At the age of six, he moved with his family from rural Haiti to the town of Halfway, Oregon, where he grew up bucking hay bales, scrubbing dairy barns, guiding whitewater river trips, and learning to live in community.

After graduating from Wesleyan University with a bachelor's in chemistry—and the majority of his remaining classes in dance—he had the opportunity to live and serve for two years in a black township in South Africa, part of the second Peace Corps group in the country following the end of Apartheid. It was here, working with farm schools children who would sometimes walk seven miles one way to read outdated textbooks still written in the state language of Apartheid, that he decided to go into family medicine, with an eye towards improving the health of the world.

Upon returning to the States and working briefly for the Sierra Club and the CDC in Atlanta, Ned was fortunate to be accepted into the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. After graduating with his M.D. he finally returned to the Pacific Northwest. In residency at Swedish Cherry Hill / Seattle Indian Health Board, he met the love of his life, Lissa, a fellow family medicine resident. When Lissa graduated from Sea Mar, the two of them moved to Omak (north-central Washington) for the next five years. Here they were blessed with two beautiful children. In 2015 Ned and his family accepted an offer to move to Port Angeles to help start the nascent Rural Training Program residency program. As their boys grow up, he and Lissa continue to try to be the best partners, parents, and physicians they can be all while working to improve the health of the individual, family, community, and world.

Linsey Monaghan, MD
Rural Training Program

Linsey Monaghan (she/her) was born and raised in Columbia, Missouri. Dr. Monaghan earned her medical degree at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and completed her residency at Swedish Cherry Hill Family Medicine Residency in Seattle. Following residency, Linsey worked at Pacific Medical Centers Beacon Hill clinic in Seattle and continued doing continuity deliveries and teaching medical students and family medicine residents at Swedish First Hill.

In 2017, Linsey moved to the Olympic Peninsula and joined North Olympic Healthcare Network (NOHN) practicing full spectrum family medicine in addition to serving as the clinical lead of NOHN’s office based addiction treatment (OBAT) program. In 2023 she achieved board certification in addiction medicine. She is also the medical director of the Clallam County jail and juvenile detention facility. Linsey joined the faculty of the Swedish Cherry Hill Rural Program in 2019. Her medical interests include obstetrics, pediatrics, breastfeeding, addiction medicine, and correctional medicine. At the heart of her philosophy of care is forming relationships with her patients and making personalized decisions within the context of a patient’s life, family, and community. She lives in Port Angeles with her husband and two children and enjoys hiking, camping, cooking, baking, reading, and backyard birding.

Brianne Rowan, MD
Rural Training Program

Brianne H. Rowan (she/her) is an Olympic Peninsula native who grew up in Port Townsend, WA, and always wanted to someday return home to the peninsula. She completed her undergraduate training at Juniata College, majoring in Global Health. She then returned to the University of Washington for her medical training, where she also obtained a Master’s of Public Health in Global Health, with a focus on maternal-child health. She completed her residency at Tacoma Family Medicine and stayed on an additional year as a Rural Family Medicine with High-Risk Obstetrics fellow.

In search of a job that would allow her to give back to the community that raised her, provide excellent care for traditionally underserved patients, practice full spectrum inpatient & outpatient medicine with surgical obstetrics, and be involved in medical student and resident education, Brianne cold-called North Olympic Health Network in 2020—and was thrilled to join the practice after her fellowship. Brianne loves the full spectrum of family medicine, and the long-lasting relationships with patients it provides. She also believes it is part of her responsibility as a physician to engage in issues affecting the health of her patients through volunteer work and social justice advocacy and remains active in organizations such as the Washington Academy of Family Physicians and other local and national groups.

Outside of work, Dr. Rowan enjoys spending time with her family, including her husband and soon-to-be-two children, traveling abroad and learning new languages, being outside (especially hiking, sailing or skiing), and on a rainy day cuddling up with a cup of coffee and her two kitties.

Michael A. Wauters, MD
Rural Training Program, Assistant Program Director

Born and raised on Bainbridge Island, Wash., Dr. Wauters spent much of his youth climbing trees, building forts and having adventures with his two younger brothers. After college at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, he spent a year in Ecuador on a Fulbright Fellowship studying Chagas Disease before venturing to the Midwest for medical school at the University of Wisconsin. This was followed by a return west for residency at the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho in Boise after which he joined NOHN in 2017.

Professionally Dr. Wauters enjoys all aspects of family medicine from the care of newborns all the way to older adults, delivering babies, and especially takes joy in caring for entire families. Whenever possible he seeks to employ nutritional and lifestyle medicine options for maximizing health. He firmly believes that each person is inherently valuable and tries to carry this philosophy into each patient encounter. He has been thrilled to teach medical students, residents and APCs both in the outpatient and inpatient setting since 2018 and formally joined the Swedish Rural Training Program as Assistant Program Director in July 2024.

Dr. Wauters lives in Port Angeles with his wife, three daughters, and their pug Chloe. He is an avid bike commuter and regularly rides his bike to the clinic and hospital. In his free time, he enjoys being with his wife and daughters, camping, biking, trail running, parkour, yoga, cooking, reading and generally exploring the beautiful Olympic Peninsula he calls home.

Program Staff

Renee C. Conroy
Program Coordinator

Renee C. Conroy (she/her) has been a native of Seattle for most of her life. She’d say her biggest accomplishment was being a single mom and raising two exceptionally successful kids. She has lived and observed all the challenges, changes, growth, and opportunities firsthand of the beauty and intrinsic transformation of the community she grew up within the Emerald City of Seattle. She is excited about the opportunities that await the ever changing landscape of equity and diversity manifesting in real time and her active involvement with various committees and taskforces, via partnerships and volunteering, within the Swedish organization.

Renee joined Swedish in 2011, working her way up from customer service representative in the ER to main registration and working as a PSR at Swedish Colon & Rectal. She brings a variety of coordination, leadership, and teambuilding skills. Her organization, team work, and positive energy is highly recognizable and welcoming when you arrive to our main office. She enjoys working with the faculty, residents, and staff. Her greatest accomplishment is willfully assisting new residents that join the family medicine program flourish as adults, while assisting them in every way possible in achieving their goal of becoming medical doctors and leaders in activism and service to those underrepresented in our world. You’ll see Renee's smiling face at the front desk to greet you when you come to visit.

Tiffany Bautista
Program Manager

Caitlin Wort
Program Coordinator

Jaima Hardman
Rural Training Track Program Coordinator

Jaima (she/her) is a born and bred Washingtonian, growing up in Puyallup and moving to Port Angeles to start a new career in healthcare. After 15 years of working for the public health office, she moved on to private practice where the residency program was to establish and became residency coordinator. Outside of working you can find her spending time with her close-knit family, enjoying her three cats (Barnes, Noble, and Kindle Fire), reading, or taking in the beautiful sites around the amazing Olympic Peninsula.