Lee Ann Wallace, RN, MBA, NEA-BC, current vice president of Neonatal Services at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, has been selected senior vice president and Chief Nursing Officer effective March 20.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Following a national search, Lee Ann Wallace, RN, MBA, NEA-BC, current vice president of Neonatal Services at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, has been selected senior vice president and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) effective March 20.
Wallace will lead the largest employee group at Nationwide Children’s, with more than 2,500 staff RNs, professional RNs and management RNs, in addition to more than 3,000 additional patient care services staff for a total of more than 5,500 staff members. The team extends beyond Nationwide Children’s main campus to include the hospital’s more than 70 offsite locations throughout Ohio and six Neonatal Intensive Care Units run by Nationwide Children’s staff in Columbus area adult hospitals.
“Lee Ann has a strong vision for the future of nursing and how we can be innovative in the delivery of care while putting quality and patient safety first,” said Tim Robinson, CEO of Nationwide Children’s. “Lee Ann is a passionate advocate for our patient families. It is fitting that the appointee for this key leadership role comes from within our nursing ranks as it speaks highly to the caliber of our nursing practice at Nationwide Children’s.”
Wallace began her career as a staff nurse at the University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital in 1978. Prior to Nationwide Children’s, she gained nearly three decades of experience as a clinical nurse manager, educator, service line leader and director of women’s and children’s services at four different health systems.
In 2012, Wallace joined the team at Nationwide Children’s as the Neonatology service line administrator, and in 2016 was promoted to vice president of Neonatology Services. She earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Kentucky and obtained her MBA in healthcare administration from the University of Findlay. Wallace was instrumental in growing Nationwide Children’s Neonatal Network, now nationally recognized as the largest in the country.
Wallace will work closely with Linda Stoverock, RN, DNP, current senior vice president and CNO at Nationwide Children’s, to transition to her new CNO role. As previously announced, Stoverock will be retiring in March 2020 following a transformational 20-year career at Nationwide Children’s. Under Stoverock’s leadership, Nationwide Children’s become the first children’s hospital in Ohio to receive Magnet Recognition for its nursing care and has since been redesignated as a Magnet hospital three times.