Meet Our Team
At Inspired Psychiatric Care, we are committed to working with dedicated professionals who come from a broad range of experience and education. Our providers often participate in or hold leadership roles in professional organizations. They also contribute to articles in leading journals, host webinars and make presentations at conferences.
Subbu J. Sarma, MD
Psychiatrist, Board Certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine
Dr. Subbu J Sarma, a native of Chicago, brings a patient-centered approach to his work. He attended Rockhurst University in Kansas City, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1995. Despite his love for science, two of his favorite subjects included philosophy and theology. He then attended St. Louis University Medical School where he earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1999. Following that, he completed a four-year psychiatry residency at The Chicago Medical School.
While in medical school, Dr. Sarma developed an interest in the mechanisms by which medications, including psychotropics, provide benefit. He also grew to appreciate that every individual has a unique background and a variety of medical and social elements which can be important when considering their treatment regimen. He strives to understand the overall background of his patients’ history, not just limited to psychiatric conditions. This is sometimes referred to as a “bio-psycho-social” model.
Dr. Sarma is board certified in addiction medicine. His interest in substance use disorders was sparked in 2005 when he attended a conference introducing a novel medication used in the treatment of opioid use disorders. He has worked in many facets of psychiatry, including hospital settings, geriatric outpatient settings, nursing homes and eating disorder programs. He limits his practice to serving only adults because that is where his greatest experience has been.
Psychiatric services provided through CARECONNEXT LLC, a Kansas professional limited liability company, doing business as Inspired Psychiatric Care.
Elizabeth Blanchard Hills, PMHNP-BC
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Elizabeth Blanchard Hills brings a broad range of experience and maturity to her role as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). After earning a master’s degree in journalism (MSJ) from Northwestern University in 1988, she was an award-winning television medical reporter for ten years. This was followed by five years as a corporate trainer and several entrepreneurial pursuits related to health care.
In 2008, she returned to college to become an RN/BSN and worked at the bedside on a variety of units (ICU, PCU, Telemetry, Ortho Neuro and Psych) for seven years. In 2018, she completed the PMHNP program with honors at Vanderbilt University. She was immediately hired by Heartland Behavioral Health, a children’s hospital in Nevada, MO, where she had done part of her clinical training during her Vanderbilt education.
Ms. Blanchard Hills also served on the staff of the Behavioral Health department at Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center in Kansas City, MO, where she treated patients across the lifespan (children, adolescents, adults and older adults) for a variety of mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, PTSD, OCD, bi-polar and schizophrenia.
Ms. Blanchard Hills is on the legislative committee of the Kansas State Nurses Association and serves as a member at large for the Kansas Chapter of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.
When treating her patients, Ms. Blanchard Hills uses a combination of talk therapy and medication management. She is a specialist in trauma therapy using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and a proponent of other non-medication options such as lifestyle changes and nutritional supplements.
Glenda Hernandez
LSCSW (KS), LCSW (MO)
Glenda Hernandez provides a unique perspective to her role as a social worker. She came to the United States from Mexico at the age of 10, and she is bilingual in Spanish and English. She has also served in the United States Army Reserve (USAR) since 2004, including a 10-month deployment to Iraq in 2017.
Since obtaining a Master of Social Welfare (MSW) degree at the University of Kansas in 2014, Glenda has continuously enhanced her therapeutic skills with more than a dozen different certifications and specialized workshops on trauma, suicide, substance abuse, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
Much of Glenda’s professional experience has revolved around teenagers, suicidal ideation, sexual abuse and other forms of trauma such as robberies, shootings and combat violence. Before becoming a licensed clinical social worker, Glenda was a Family Support Specialist in Lenexa, KS for the Kansas Children’s Services League.
Her first role after earning an MSW in 2014 was as a bilingual practitioner for the The Family Conservancy in Kansas City, KS. After returning from her deployment in Iraq, she joined Vibrant Health in Kansas City, KS as a behavioral health specialist. Vibrant Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FHQC) which provides high-quality health care for the community, regardless of socio-economic obstacles.
Glenda prefers to work with teenagers and adults of any age. She is excellent at addressing anxiety, depression, PTSD, suicidal thoughts and other trauma such as sexual abuse and domestic violence.
Given her military background, she also identifies well with veterans.
Shane A. Hills
Practice Manager/Owner
In 2020, Shane A. Hills launched Inspired Psychiatric Care, Inc., (IPC) in Overland Park, Kan., with the simple credo of “Compassion, Excellence and Convenience.”
The office is serene and welcoming with beautiful works of original art, a trickling water fountain, and subtle spa music in the background.
In the course of Shane’s 30-year career in corporate America, he has been a marketing consultant for physicians, and he has held senior positions in most aspects of business including sales and marketing, operations and information technology. In addition to being a Project Management Professional (PMP(r)), he holds multiple IT-related certifications related to security and cloud architecture.
Shane is a Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP). This designation is held by fewer than 1,000 consultants, mostly in top-tier consulting firms. The CTP focuses on accounting and finance, management and law for companies in crisis.
Shane’s wife, Elizabeth Blanchard Hills, is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner who works part-time at IPC. Through Elizabeth, Shane grew to appreciate the tremendous demand for behavioral health care, and the positive contribution that a well-run practice can provide to a community.
He intends to make IPC the best-marketed practice in Kansas City. IPC will be connecting with other behavioral health firms, primary care practices, hospitals, nursing homes, criminal justice systems and school districts. IPC has an outstanding website optimized for powerful search results on Google.
The practice is in a growth phase right now, seeking psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists and licensed clinical social workers who emulate our credo. If you or someone you know meet that criteria, please reach out to Shane at shane.hills@inspired-psychiatric-care.com.
Kathy Steen, PMHNP-BC
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Kathy grew up in Alabama, South Korea, and Tennessee. She completed her BSN at Middle Tennessee State University. While working on a cardiac-stepdown unit, she observed that patients who understood their disease process required fewer hospitalizations over time because they made choices that supported better health. This started a gradual career shift into roles that emphasized health-related education.
Over the next decade, Kathy taught nutrition classes to uninsured working clients, designed and led an employee wellness program, and managed a wellness-focused primary care clinic. A transition into national-level consulting in 2008 relocated her to Kansas City, which quickly became home. After a decade helping doctors reduce wait times, delegate to their teams effectively, and improve patient care by using data to find missed opportunities, Kathy returned to school and obtained her Master of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University.
On achieving certification as a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner she joined the Inspired Psychiatric team. Kathy sees clients from ages 5 to 105 and loves collaborating with each to discover the unique combination of knowledge, skills, evidence-based supplements, and medicine that helps them feel their best.
When not at work, she enjoys converting her lawn into an oasis of herbs and flowers, rescuing and retraining fear-aggressive Great Danes, and making small upgrades to her nearly 100-year-old home.
Julie Owens, PMHNP-BC
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
The first thing one is likely to notice about Julie Owens is her friendly disposition and sincere desire to help her patients improve upon their mental health. She brings a diverse perspective to her role, having been a software engineer and registered nurse before becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner.
“I love seeing people improve,” she says. “And my most gratifying cases are the more complicated ones – such as when someone has been on a variety of medications but still has not found the optimal combination. I believe that success starts with digging for the most accurate diagnosis first.”
Julie Owens was born in Nebraska but grew up in the northland area of Kansas City, MO. She began her career with a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, MO. She worked two years as a software engineer before deciding to pursue her interest in nursing (her mother, aunt and cousins had all been nurses).
She graduated from Baker University in 2005 with a B.S. in Nursing and invested 13 years as a nurse in a variety of settings, including plastic surgery, cancer treatment and school nursing. With her diverse background, she then attended Walden University (Minneapolis, MN) to become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.
Julie generally specializes in adults, but occasionally sees adolescents.
Christina Layton, PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Family Nurse Practitioner
Christina Layton radiates energy, commitment, and curiosity. She is not only a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, but also a family nurse practitioner. She has traveled extensively, even as a nurse educator in the east African country of Uganda. She dedicated her entire year in 2020 as a bedside nurse for COVID-19 patients in New York and Texas.
Christina’s diverse experiences and educational background lend her a valuable perspective in her capacity as a psychiatric nurse practitioner.
“I pride myself on the compassion that I provide to my patients,” she says. “They often tell me that they feel heard and validated after talking with me, which is my ultimate goal. I want my patients to feel supported.”
Practicing the same self-care that she recommends to her patients, Christina leads a rich and rewarding personal life. She competes in triathlons, camps, hikes, and travels.
She gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in 2021. She and her family like to travel and take their two dogs (a Goldendoodle and a Bernedoodle) to the dog park.
Graduate Students may be Participating
Elizabeth Blanchard Hills, PMHNP is a former corporate trainer herself and believes strongly in giving back to the community through mentorship of graduate students who are working to complete their graduate work to become psychiatric nurse practitioners. These students are thoroughly vetted and come from highly reputable institutions such as Vanderbilt (her alma mater), KU, UMKC, Wilkes University and others. We reserve the right to have a graduate student(s) participate in your care while supervised directly by Elizabeth.
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