UM Shore Regional Palliative Care Program Announces Christina Ball as Director

EASTON, Md. (August 29, 2025) – University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s (UM SRH) Palliative Care Program has named Christina Ball, MS, AGACNP-BC, as the practice’s director. Ball has been a nurse practitioner with the practice since 2020. UM SRH is a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System.

“Christina has been an integral part of our team, demonstrating exceptional clinical expertise, deep compassion for patients and families and an unwavering commitment to improving quality of life for those facing serious illness,” said Timothy Shanahan, DO, Medical Director, UM Shore Medical Group. “In this new leadership role, Christina will guide our palliative care program’s growth, ensuring that our patients continue to receive comprehensive, patient-centered care that reflects our mission and values. We are confident that Christina’s vision, leadership and dedication will strengthen our services and make a meaningful difference in the lives of the individuals and communities we serve."

Ball has been a nurse practitioner with the UM Shore Regional Palliative Care Program, working collaboratively with patients’ primary care and specialists’ teams to relieve the stress and symptoms of serious or chronic illness, for the past six years. She previously worked as a nurse practitioner at Bayleigh Chase in Easton, and with Peninsula Regional Medical Center’s Neurology Department, was the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Comprehensive Stroke Center Coordinator in Baltimore and positions as staff nurse, clinical coordinator and neuroscience specialist with UM SRH. In 2012, she was recognized as the recipient of the UM SRH Outstanding Achievement in Professional Nursing Award.   

For more information or to request a palliative care consult, please contact the UM Shore Regional Palliative Care Program at 410-820-4434 or visit umshoreregional.org/palliativecare.

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health 
A member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of five counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore: Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot. UM SRH consists of approximately 2,000 team members, including more than 600 health care providers on the Medical Staff, who work with community partners to advance the values that are foundational to our mission: Compassion, Discovery, Excellence, Diversity and Integrity. For more information, visit https://www.umms.org/shore.

About the University of Maryland Medical System
The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.