Howard Gwon to Retire; Robert Maloney Named Senior Director of the Office of Emergency Management

To the Johns Hopkins Medicine community

Dear Colleagues,

It is with enormous appreciation, as well as a sense of loss, that we announce the retirement of Howard Gwon, senior director of the Office of Emergency Management for the Johns Hopkins Health System, effective March 31.

Affectionately known to many of us as the "master of disaster," Howie has been a committed, selfless and stalwart member of the Johns Hopkins team for 37 years. He has served as an administrator for the departments of Emergency Medicine and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences before assuming the position of administrator and later senior director of the Office of Emergency Management.

Throughout his tenure at Johns Hopkins, Howie has ably assured our readiness for countless challenges, including weather emergencies, labor actions and the active shooter tragedy that occurred at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2010. His efforts to continuously improve and ensure our preparedness to respond to emergency situations and more challenging disasters, such as pandemic influenza, Ebola virus disease and hospitalwide evacuations, that may have an impact on our operations and ability to care for our patients has enabled us to survive and even thrive during some very challenging times.

Howie is a recognized and well-respected leader in emergency management. His collaboration and partnership with local, state, regional and national agencies and organizations have helped make Johns Hopkins a leader in emergency preparedness. We greatly appreciate that he has agreed to remain with Johns Hopkins Medicine in a part-time capacity to help manage the transition and assist with other projects. We are planning a reception in his honor and will provide details once plans are finalized.

As Howie prepares to leave his current role, we are very pleased to announce that Robert Maloney will assume the position of senior director of the Office of Emergency Management for the health system on March 6. Bob will oversee emergency preparedness operations for The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the school of medicine, and will work closely with the Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response.

Bob recently retired from his position as director of the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management in Baltimore, where he coordinated the city's public safety, emergency management and related operational agencies. Prior to this position, he served as the chief of staff, emergency medical services lieutenant and a firefighter/paramedic with the Baltimore City Fire Department. He also served in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a petty officer second class, functioning as a corpsman for the U.S. Marines. Bob has previously served on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Advisory Council, Maryland's Emergency Management Advisory Council, the U.S. State, Tribal and Policy Advisory Council, and as the vice chair of the Baltimore City Veterans Commission. He earned his bachelor's degree from Towson University and his master's degree in management science from The Johns Hopkins University.

We would also like to express our appreciation to the search committee, led by Jim Scheulen, chief administrative officer of emergency medicine and capacity management, and Chip Barbara, senior director of operations integration, for their work in helping us recruit Bob to Johns Hopkins and for ensuring a smooth transition for such an important area of our operations.

Please join us in saluting Howie for his tireless service to Johns Hopkins Medicine and warmly welcoming Bob to the team.

Sincerely,

Charles Reuland, Sc.D.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Landon S. King, M.D.
Executive Vice Dean
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Gabor D. Kelen, M.D.
Director, Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response
Director, Department of Emergency Medicine