Meet Our TEAM
Samantha Hanna, md, faap
UAB Professor and ACHIA Director
Dr. Hanna is an Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hospital Medicine at UAB. She completed her residency at Vanderbilt and a fellowship at UAB. Her experience as a pediatric hospitalist has shown her how strategic changes in healthcare systems can improve patient outcomes and family experiences.
Dr. Hanna is dedicated to patient safety and quality improvement, holding a UAB Graduate Certificate in this field and participating in the Cincinnati Children’s Intermediate Improvement Science Series. She has led initiatives to enhance inpatient care and improve the screening of social determinants of health, and has contributed to national multi-center quality improvement collaboratives.
Zack Garmon is currently the Financial Officer for ACHIA as well as The UAB Department of Pediatrics. He is responsible for financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, invoicing, and money management for ACHIA and the department. He started his career in UAB Accounts Payable after graduating college in 2007 and in 2010 accepted his current position in Pediatrics.
Alabama Chapter-AAP Project Coordinator
Beth johns
Beth Albright Johns has over 30 years of professional experience in a variety of health care settings and nonprofit organizations primarily working with children and youth. Most recently, Ms. Johns worked for 15 years at UAB School of Public Health in Health Policy and Organization conducting needs assessment, program evaluation, continuous quality improvement, technical assistance, education and outreach, community engagement and strategic partnerships. Throughout her career she has worked with partners like AAP to improve access to care for children and youth. She is a retired pediatric occupational therapist who specialized in behavioral health and Autism Spectrum. She also served as the Assistant Vice President, Early Childhood Initiatives and Education at United Way of Central Alabama’s Success By 6 an early childhood initiative of UWCA joining in 2008. Ms. Johns received her Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health in 2003 in Maternal and Child Health.
Ms. Johns is an alumnus of the Birmingham cohort of 21 Robert Wood Johnson Ladder to Leadership Community Health Scholars striving to improve the health of vulnerable populations. Ms. Johns has a long history of providing leadership to community-based organizations working to improve the lives of Alabamians cradle to grave.
Financial Officer