by Matt Batcheldor
Joanie Jeannette, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, has been named interim chief nursing officer of Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital.
“I am honored to be serving in this role and helping the community and staff in Bedford County,” Jeannette said. “I look forward to welcoming them to the Vanderbilt family. The staff and facility are great and will continue to complement the other community hospitals in our network, and I am excited to be part of that.”
Jeannette, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Nursing from Vanderbilt University, has more than 30 years of experience as a nurse and an extensive background of managing community hospitals. Her nursing career began in the 1980s at what was then Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in the current building of Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital (VUAH). She went on to hold nursing roles with increasing responsibility in hospitals throughout Florida, culminating in top leadership roles for Community Health Systems Inc. (CHS), from which VUMC acquired the Bedford County hospital at the beginning of the year.
From 2007 to 2011, she was chief operating officer of Physicians Regional Medical Center, a 201-bed health care system in Collier County, Florida; and Peace River Regional Medical Center, a 219-bed facility in Charlotte County, Florida. And from 2011 to 2015, she was chief executive officer of Lehigh Regional Medical Center, an 88-bed acute care hospital in Lehigh Acres, Florida.
“Joanie has been a transformational leader for many years. Her diverse administrative experience at Vanderbilt coupled with a history of community hospital leadership makes her ideal for this role,” said Executive Chief Nursing Officer Marilyn Dubree, MSN, RN, NE-BC. “We are indebted to her for her leadership during this transition.”
Jeannette rejoined VUMC in 2015 as administrative director of the Medicine Patient Care Center, Inpatient, at VUAH. She has been responsible for the day-to-day clinical practice and operations of all inpatient medicine and hematology/oncology units in VUAH, including oversight of inpatient units with more than 240 beds.
In 2016, Jeannette initiated a Patient Flow Nurse role to help increase the efficiency of the patient discharge process. Since the program was implemented, the average length of stay has decreased as well as 30-day readmission rates. Jeannette was honored with Vanderbilt’s Adrienne Ames Transformational Leadership Award in 2017.
Over the past six years, Jeannette has also successfully opened multiple medicine units at VUAH, along with a stepdown and transitional care unit. She proposed and initiated bringing the DAISY Award for recognition of nurses to Vanderbilt and has worked as the site coordinator for the adult hospital.
“We are very excited about this opportunity for Joanie and her skill and ability to make a difference in our sister hospital,” said Robin Steaban, MSN, RN, NE-BC, chief nursing officer of Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital. “Joanie has been a main VUAH contributor across all five pillars. She is passionate about exceptional patient care, well-versed in expert nursing practice and an inspiring leader. She will be greatly missed here but we know she will be doing good things.”
Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital, located in Shelbyville, Tennessee, is a 60-bed, Joint Commission-accredited facility that employs approximately 275 physicians, nurses and staff and offers a range of inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical services, along with urgent care services.
“We are so pleased to welcome Joanie to Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital,” said Bill Rich, MHSA, president of the hospital.
“She is the right person at the right time for this position as we continue the exciting work of more closely integrating our hospital into the Vanderbilt Health enterprise.”