Erin Carnes, MD, HMDC

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

Dr. Erin Carnes joined Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County in October of 2019. She is a 2004 graduate of Wofford College and attended medical school at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Wake Forest Baptist Health and is board certified in Emergency Medicine.  She received her Hospice Medical Director Certification (HMDC) in 2020.  

Dr. Carnes joins Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County with several years of hospice and palliative care experience in both the home and inpatient settings. She is committed to providing the highest quality end of life care to her patients and their families.   

Dr. Carnes currently resides in Davidson, NC with her husband and 3 daughters.  

Susan Sturgess, MD

Associate Medical Director

Dr. Sturgess joined Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County in August of 2022.  She is a 1996 graduate of the combined BA/MD 6-year medical program from the University of Missouri in Kansas City Missouri.  She completed her residency at University of Louisville in 1999 and is board certified in Emergency Medicine. 

She worked for Piedmont Emergency Medicine Associates from 2000-2009 at Iredell Memorial, Atrium Lincoln and Atrium University then joined EMP and continued to work at those same hospitals as well as Atrium Huntersville, Mercy and Pineville until 2013. From 2013 until 2022 she worked for Mountain Emergency Physician at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center serving as the Assistant Medical Director of the Emergency Department. 

She has worked in Iredell County serving the community for 22 years and is excited to continue doing so as a Hospice and Palliative Care Physician. Dr Sturgess resides in Mooresville with her husband and her daughter who is a sophomore in Iredell Statesville Schools and her son is a freshman at NC State University.
 

Charlene Knight, MD

Associate Medical Director

Dr. Knight attended the Chapel Hill School of Medicine and completed the Internal Medicine Internship and Residency at Wake Forest Baptist University Medical Center.   

Prior to working with HPCIC, Dr. Knight started her career in Medicine as a Registered Nurse in Pediatric Critical Care at Atrium Health.  She has worked as a Hospitalist for the past 25 years with 12 of those years leading the Critical Care Unit at Atrium Helath.  

She has a passion for Hospice work and lives locally in Statesville with her husband and three children.  

Susan Gilbert, ANP-C, ACHPN

Nurse Practitioner

Susan joined our provider team in 2017.  She received her associates in nursing from Mitchell Community College in 2006 and her bachelor’s degree in 2014 at Gardner Webb University.  Susan’s background in nursing includes telemetry and employee health.  She went on to receive her master’s degree in nursing also from Gardner Webb with a certification in family nurse practitioner in 2017.  

Susan is certified as a Hospice & Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner.  She is a native of Iredell County and currently resides in Statesville with her husband and 5 children.

December Daugherty, FNP-C, ACPHN

Nurse Practitioner

December Daugherty is originally from Oregon. She attended nursing school at Carolinas College of Health Sciences. She graduated in 2003 with her associates degree in nursing. She then attended Winston-Salem State for her bachelors of science in nursing in 2006, and masters of science in nursing with her family nurse practitioner in 2009.

Her background is emergency medicine for the first 8 years as an FNP, 2 years of long-term care and she has been in Palliative and hospice for the last 3 years. She has is a certification as advanced certified hospice and palliative care (ACHPN). 

She currently resides in Huntersville with her husband, 2 children and 2 dogs.
 

Moriah Specht, FNP, ACHPN

Nurse Practitioner

Moriah has worked in healthcare since 2004.   She received her bachelor's degree in Nursing from Gardner-Webb University. She worked as a Registered Nurse in the acute care setting until 2017 when she obtained her master's degree in Family Nurse Practitioner from Gardner-Webb University. 

Prior to joining Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County in December 2021, Moriah spent four years working in the primary care setting as an FNP. 
Moriah is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and is passionate about helping patients to obtain their optimal level of health. 

She is a native of the Taylorsville area and has 2 children. 

Jessica Hughes, FNP

Nurse Practitioner

Jessica began her healthcare career in 2010, working in a memory care unit at an Assisted Living Facility as a Certified Nursing Aide.  She attending nursing school at Cabarrus College of Health Science graduating in 2015.  Jessica's nursing career has been spent working as a labor and delivery nurse, telephone triage and inpatient hospice care.  She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in nursing from South University.  

Jessica first joined our team as an registered nurse at the Gordon Hospice House before transitioning to a nurse practitioner role.  She is dedicated to creating meaningful connections with patients and their families during a sacred time in their life.  

Jessica is originally from Maryland and moved to North Carolina in 2013.  She currently resides in Denver with her husband, daughter and cats.  

Emmanuel Sowah, FNP

NURSE PRACTITIONER

Emmanuel graduated from Winston–Salem State University in 2021 with a Master of Science in Family Nurse Practice. He worked as a primary care provider for a year and six months before joining Hospice and Palliative Care of Iredell County. 

He has been in nursing since 2005 as an LPN before attending Mercy School of Nursing, where he attained his Diploma in nursing and started working as a registered nurse. He gained his bachelor’s degree at Winston-Salem State University in 2014. 

“Manny,” as he prefers to be called, worked briefly with Atrium and Novant Health as a Med–Surg nurse. He spent most of his nursing career caring for elderly and dementia patients in various nursing homes around the Charlotte area.  
Manny currently lives in Kannapolis with his wife and two children.

Wendy Lewis, ANP-C

Nurse Practitioner

Wendy joined Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County in April 2024. She received her bachelor's degree in nursing from UNC Charlotte in 1995. She worked at Iredell Memorial Hospital on the telemetry floor and in cardiac rehab. Wendy then received her master's degree in nursing from UNC Charlotte in 2002. She then worked for over 10 years at a local cardiology practice. 
Wendy began working in palliative care in 2013 and is excited to continue working in palliative care here at Hospice & Palliative Care of Iredell County.
Wendy is a native of Alexander County. She resides in Mooresville with her husband and two sons.

Whitney Moose, FNP

Nurse Practitioner

Whitney began her healthcare career in 2004 while in high school working as a CNA. She graduated from Lenoir Rhyne in 2009 with her Bachelors in nursing and from Gardner Webb in 2016 with her masters in nursing. She has worked in Oncology as a nurse and then began her nurse practitioner career in Pulmonary medicine before transitioning to Hospice in 2024. She works weekends on the inpatient units in both Statesville and Mooresville. She is a native of Alexander County and resides in Statesville. While she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children.