Practice History

Welcome to Howard County Pediatrics

Howard County Pediatrics has seen many changes over the past 37 years. Our founding partner was Dr. Carole Parnes, who started seeing patients in Columbia in 1981. She opened her own office, behind Howard County General Hospital (HCGH), in 1984 and had a brief association with 2 others before Dr. Michael May joined her in July of 1989.

In February of 1990 the practice became the initial residents of the 1st floor of our current location, where the office space seemed more than sufficient for 2 physicians. The days of running across the back parking lot to the hospital,when called for emergency deliveries, was thankfully coming to an end, with the arrival of the neonatologists to HCGH.

The 1990's were notable for the addition to our staff of Dr. Erica Sibinga. Dr. Jennifer Crawford and Dr. Wendy Hurwitz. All were well-beloved, but Dr. Sibinga left to pursue a more academic career track at Johns Hopkins and Dr. Crawford, and Dr. Hurwitz needed to accompany their husbands as their own medical careers called them further south.

In 1997 we were blessed to have the addition of Dr. Wendell McKay and Dr. Rob Baldwin. Dr. McKay became a full partner but, unfortunately, after achieving full partner-ship, Dr. Baldwin needed to take an early retirement.

As the practice continued to grow, we added Dr. Patty Liszewski and Dr. Peggy Martin. Despite being part time, they both exhibited outstanding care continuity and were able to handle many of our most complex patients.

As our physician staff and patient numbers grew, we incorporated the space next door, which was originally Feldman's Pharmacy. Though we sorely missed our colleagues to our left, we were able to translate the space into 5 more exam rooms and an extended lab area.

In the 1st decade of the 21st century, we added Dr. Susan Lee and Dr. Cathy Mailander, both of whom had gained out-patient experience here has part of their house-staff training. They both have become full partners.

As a bittersweet moment, we celebrated the well deserved retirement of our beloved founder, Dr. Carole Parnes, in 2012. We continue to hear from Dr. Parnes and witness how much she is enjoying her retirement. Her vision and dedication are still integral parts of our practice today.

We were fortunate enough to welcome 2 pediatricians, who had been working in the local emergency rooms, Dr. Sylvia Bank in 2014 and Dr. Jennifer Moynihan 2017. Their experience with handling more acute issues provided nice balance to our physician roster.

2020 brought with it the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this extremely tumultuous time, we adjusted, transitioned, and evolved to do our best to provide appropriate care to the members of our community. Fortunately, we emerged from this dark time with new insights and resources which are helping to optimize our patient care.

In June 2021, we witnessed the retirement of Dr. Michael May after 32 years of outstanding practice. His dedication and diligence provided us with shining example of professionalism and service. During the same period, we also lost Dr. Patty Liszewski to retirement as well. She had been part of our family most of the previous 22 years, but she left us in a happy and fulfilled state of mind.

As every ending provides an opportunity for a new beginning, we were able to add Dr. Erika Lund to our lineup in Sept 2021. This addition proved timely as Dr. Susan Lee retired from our practice to move to North Carolina with her family in May of 2023. She provided us with 20 years of wonderful care and compassion but the move allowed her to spend more valued time with her parents and extended family.

In the early part of 2023, we were pleased, for the first time, to extend our clinical roster and include the position of clinical nurse practitioner. This has been a wonderful experience for us as it has allowed us to expand our appointment availability and to bring some unique care perspectives for our patients.

Eventually, we outgrew our old digs at the Dorsey Hall Medical Center. So, in October 2023, we packed up and moved over to the Columbia Medical Center on Little Patuxent Parkway. We got some much needed extra space so that we could better meet the needs of our patients. 

Coming out of our first winter in our new location, we were very fortunate to add an experienced nurse practitioner, Krista Shanholz, to our group. Krista was a great addition and immediately improved access to care in our practice.

In June of 2024, Dr. Peggy Martin retired from our practice after 20 years of wonderful service. Subsequently, in December 2024, Dr. Lund moved to Colorado when her husband had to change military assignments. We miss them both but have many fond memories to draw upon.

The year 2025 was an extremely impactful year for our practice. We first started the year by bolstering our clinician group with the addition of multiple providers. Dr. Cynthia Gao joined us in January 2025 followed by Doctor Morufat Kosoko in August of 2025. We then added Dr. Limary Garcia-Gonzales in September 2025 and finished the year by welcoming Dr. Priya Katurirangan in December 2025. All of these providers brought a wide array of experience, diversity, and perspective that have allowed our practice to continue to align with the needs of our patient population.

We then closed the year off in October by joining Aspen Pediatrics. This partnership with a pediatric ownership group allowed us to strengthen what we had built over so many years — a trusted, local, community-focused pediatric practice — while gaining the support of a larger organization that shared our values and vision for compassionate, high-quality care. This collaboration gave our practitioners a better opportunity to provide for the clinical care of our patients; both for the present and for years to come. Joining Aspen Pediatrics also enhanced our ability to respond effectively to the increasing complexities of community-based primary care practice.

Our practice has endured a multitude of changes, as Howard County itself has grown and matured. We have been established long enough that we now enjoy the privilege of offering care to many of the next generation, as our original patients raise their own families. Through it all, we will continue to focus on the goal of providing consistent, up to date, and compassionate care to each of our patients and their families.