Hallmark Adds Senior Executives to Enhance Customer Success and Strategic Partnerships

CHARLESTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 23, 2024--

Hallmark, a leading healthcare workforce management technology company, announced the strengthening of its senior team with two strategic roles focused on customer success and vendor partnerships. The move underscores Hallmark’s commitment to helping health systems adopt more flexible workforce strategies that empower their internal teams while optimizing the use of external staffing agencies.

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“By enhancing our team and dedicating specialized leadership to both customer success and partnerships, we’re doubling down on our commitment to deliver workforce solutions that truly work for health systems,” said Bruce Cerullo, CEO of Hallmark. “Our vendor-neutral approach empowers organizations to create internal float pools, offer staff the flexibility they want, and leverage external staffing only when necessary—leading to significant cost savings, improved clinician engagement, and enhanced patient safety.”

Michelle Lichte has been appointed Chief Client Success Officer. She brings over three decades of experience in healthcare workforce management and operational transformation with a career spanning Epic, Nordic Consulting, and various healthcare organizations where she partnered with clients across the U.S. for EHR implementations and process improvements.

Brandon Chamberland has been promoted to Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer, tasked with overseeing relationships with staffing agency vendors and managed service provider (MSP) resellers. He will leverage his expertise in staffing and strategic sourcing to develop innovative collaborations that complement health systems’ internal workforce strategies while maintaining operational transparency and cost efficiency.

Hallmark’s Einstein II solution is a comprehensive platform that empowers health systems to build and manage their own internal float pools and incorporates a vendor management module to seamlessly integrate external staffing agencies when necessary. This innovative approach reduces health system reliance on costly external staffing and creates healthy competition, resulting in a more sustainable and economical workforce model.

“By maximizing the utilization of permanent staff and internal float pools, Hallmark helps health systems maintain a consistent, engaged workforce while fostering a flexible environment where nurses are empowered to decide how, when, and where they work,” added Cerullo. “The result is a more cohesive team culture, improved clinician satisfaction, and significant cost savings—all while maintaining high-quality patient care.”

To learn more about Hallmark’s solutions, visit www.hallmarkhcs.com.

About Hallmark
Hallmark offers a fully integrated SaaS platform for healthcare workforce management. Our Einstein II product streamlines sourcing and deployment of contingent clinical labor while our Heisenberg II product automates the provider lifecycle from contracting to compensation, all with exceptional effectiveness, transparency, and cost savings. Partnered with our advanced strategies and deep expertise, Hallmark’s leading-edge technology solutions empower healthcare organizations to thrive. To learn more, visit: www.hallmarkhcs.com.

Brandon Chamberland steps into his new role as Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer at Hallmark, leveraging his expertise in staffing and strategic sourcing. (Photo: Business Wire)

Michelle Lichte joins Hallmark as Chief Client Success Officer, bringing over 30 years of expertise in healthcare workforce management and operational transformation. (Photo: Business Wire)

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police have a person in custody who is suspected to have set a woman on fire in the subway early Sunday and then watched from a bench as she became engulfed in flames and died.

Surveillance video showed the man calmly approach the woman, who was sitting motionless and may have been sleeping, while aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station and then set her on fire.

Her clothing “became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, describing the case as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”

The man then sat on a nearby bench outside the train car and watched as officers and a transit worker extinguished the flames. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man was arrested hours later while riding on the same subway line.

The suspect and victim did not appear to know each other and did not interact before the incident, police said.

Police have the man in custody but have not yet released his identity. The woman's name has not yet been released.

Authorities had circulated images of the man from surveillance cameras and police body camera videos taken at the crime scene. A group of high school students tipped off police to the man's presence on a train later Sunday, and he was taken into custody.

He was wearing the same clothes and had a lighter in his pocket when he apprehended, police said.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez released a statement that said “we will do everything in our power to ensure accountability in this case.”

Police patrol the New York City subways, and there are a vast network of cameras in stations and in all subway cars.

But the sheer size of the subway system — 472 stations with multiple entry points and millions of riders each day — make policing the transit system a logistical nightmare.

In Sunday's incident, officers were at the station but were patrolling a different subway platform. They responded after seeing and smelling smoke coming from the fire.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this year directed members of the state's National Guard to assist with random bag checks at certain stations.

Violent incidents in the subway often put people on edge, in part because many New Yorkers take the train multiple times a day and often have their own experiences with uncomfortable interactions in the system.

Broadly, crime is down in the city transit system this year compared to the same time period in 2023. Data compiled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority show a 6% decline in what the agency calls major felonies between January and November of this year and 2023.

At the same time, murders in the transit system are up, with nine killings this year through November compared to five in the same time period last year.

High-profile incidents on the train, such as the case of Daniel Penny, a military veteran who choked an agitated New York subway rider and was acquitted of homicide this month, often attract national attention and further unnerve passengers.

FILE - New York Police officers clear a train at the Coney Island Stillwell Avenue Terminal, May 5, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, file)