Coffee Regional Medical Center is pleased to announce strategic leadership changes within its senior leadership team, effective Oct. 1, 2020.
Sherry Thomas has been elevated to Executive Vice President and Chief Quality Officer (CQO) responsible for corporate quality and risk management. In this new and expanded role, Sherry will be responsible for administering all quality initiatives, including our high-reliability achievements and our patient safety initiatives around zero harm. Sherry holds a master’s degree in nursing and is a certified risk manager. Sherry’s success and experience as the chief nursing officer, along with her exceptional leadership characteristics, make her uniquely qualified for this important new leadership role.
“Sherry is an integral part of our senior leadership team and continues to be a true asset to our organization,” said Vicki Lewis, CEO. “Sherry has a strong background in patient care, quality, and risk management and has helped lead many successful initiatives at CRMC. I am confident that she will continue to build on the strong legacy she has already achieved by taking our quality and safety initiatives to the next level. Sherry’s leadership will continue to support our balanced scorecard initiatives and help to assure our continued ability to provide quality healthcare for our community.”
Current Vice President of Nursing Sue Lane Hughes will be promoted to Chief Nursing Officer for Coffee Regional Medical Center. In this role, Sue Lane will be the accountable executive for all aspects of hospital nursing care, including inpatient, outpatient, emergency department, EMS, cardiopulmonary, surgery, mother-baby, and pediatrics. Sue Lane plans to enhance shared governance; our Rise Up Clinical Ladder and begin our journey on the American Nurses Credentialing Center Pathway to Excellence, among other initiatives. Sue Lane holds both a bachelor’s degree in nursing and an MBA and has more than 20 years of healthcare leadership experience.
“Sue Lane’s leadership and her success as a vice president of nursing are recognized by every member of the CRMC team. Sue Lane’s good ideas, calm demeanor and outstanding leadership will benefit CRMC far into the future. We are very fortunate that Sue Lane will continue to guide and lead all aspects of nursing.” stated Lewis.
CRMC is also pleased to announce that Vice President of Operations Ben Floyd will take on additional operational leadership responsibilities including physical and occupational therapy, medical imaging, medical laboratory, and hospital-based physician contract management. Ben will also continue to lead other operations team components, including engineering, environmental services, and nutritional services. Ben holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration and has 15 years of experience in healthcare leadership. Ben has provided strong leadership during his 10 years at CRMC and brings much leadership talent to this expanded role.
“Ben has been an important part of the CRMC team for the past 10 years,” says CEO Vicki Lewis. “Ben’s solid background in both physician practice management and hospital leadership will serve as an important part of this expanded leadership role. Ben’s healthcare knowledge and acumen have been built over several years in various positions, and we look forward to his continued leadership and many contributions to our organization.”
Finally, the current Vice President of Organizational Improvement and Director of Pharmacy Peggy Kirkland will have her role as the accountable executive for organizational improvement expanded to enhance our focus on data collection, analytics, lean six sigma principles and training, and strategic decisions. In her expanded role, Peggy will take on responsibility for both information technology and the supply chain. Peggy will continue to be responsible for pharmacy. Peggy is a registered pharmacist and holds both an MBA and a Lean Six Sigma black belt. Peggy’s new title will be Vice President of Organizational Improvement and Clinical Analytics.
“Peggy is often referred to as ‘the analytic among us’ because of her ability to interpret, trend, and make complicated data sets user friendly. Peggy’s tireless energy and commitment to cost management, doing things right the first time, and operational improvement make her an invaluable leader and colleague. I am confident that in this expanded role, Peggy will help to strengthen our decision making processes while continuing to be an essential part of our operational decisions,” stated Lewis.
All four of these executives are part of the Senior Leadership team at Coffee Regional. Other members of Senior Leadership include Marty Hutson, EVP and CFO, Lavonda Cravey, VP of Corporate Revenue Cycle, Robert Finch, VP of Human Resources, and Dawn Garrett, VP of CRH Physician Practices and Orthopedic Surgeons of South Georgia. This talented team of dedicated leaders has provided steady and confident leadership through the pandemic, working together with our entire team of outstanding caregivers to secure the future for healthcare in Douglas and Coffee County.