by John Howser
Traci Nordberg, JD, Chief Human Resources Officer for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is leaving the organization effective Oct. 31 to assume another role outside of VUMC. Hired by Vanderbilt University in 2010 as Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Human Resources Officer, Nordberg served as the organizational human resources leader for both Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center until the entities legally and financially separated on May 1, 2016. Nordberg transitioned to VUMC as Chief Human Resources Officer as the separation finalized.
“Traci has played an integral role during the incredibly complex process of separating the work functions and personnel of long-existing departments that served both VU and VUMC, and in creating new administrative services the Medical Center would need to stand alone in the rapidly-changing health care environment,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer for VUMC and Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “She has also been an integral force in advancing diversity and inclusion in our organization. I want to express my gratitude to Traci for her nine years of service to the Medical Center.”
With more than 24,000 employees, VUMC is Middle Tennessee’s largest private employer.
Nordberg has been responsible for all aspects of Human Resources, including talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, employee and labor relations, and learning and development. She was instrumental in introducing Vanderbilt’s first paid parental leave, implemented several HR technology systems, and began intern programs to attract underrepresented minority students to our workforce.
“VUMC employees will leave a lasting impression on me. I am so impressed with their attention to our missions of patient care, teaching and research. They make amazing things happen every day and I am so proud of the ways the Human Resources team partners with managers and other employees to face challenges in a large health care system,” Nordberg said.
Nordberg is a graduate of Ball State University and Suffolk University School of Law. Before joining VU and then VUMC, she was Vice President and Chief Human Resources officer for Dartmouth College and the Geisel School of Medicine, and for almost a decade before, the director of Human Resources for 20,000 employees at Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners Healthcare System in Boston. She is president of the Medical Center Employee Relations Association, a peer group of U.S. health systems, and was also recently recognized by Nashville Lifestyles magazine as one of Nashville’s leading Women in Business.
A national search to identify Nordberg’s successor will begin immediately.
