Connie Pullen receives Capella Healthcare’s CNO Leadership Award – Second consecutive year Pullen has received award
September 2, 2014Franklin, TN. August 29, 2014 — Connie Pullen, Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for Willamette Valley Medical Center, McMinnville, OR, is the recipient of Capella Healthcare’s annual CNO Leadership Award. The award was presented on August 20 at Capella’s annual Leadership Conference.
“Connie is a leader who sets the example for all of us, raising the bar for everyone,” said Mark Medley, SVP, President of Hospital Operations for Capella Healthcare. “The effectiveness of her work can be seen in her hospital’s continued very impressive quality and satisfaction metrics. Additionally, she has mentored many new CNOs, and has always reached out to others to offer assistance when needed. She has taken a lead role in working with IT in the implementation of electronic medical records, and continues that leadership with the rollout of the newest technologies and processes. Florence Nightingale would personally be proud, because Connie leads with the light of passion in her every action.”
Pullen’s desire to become a nurse started in her teens. “My mom was diagnosed with cancer when I was 12 and died when I was 17. I spent a lot of time hanging out in a hospital as a teenager,” she said. “I became a nurse partly due to the wonderful care the nurse took of my mother and our family.”
“My job is to make sure our managers, clinical staff and nurses have what they need to take amazing care of our patients. Because we have such fabulous staff they know what they need, and when they ask for something, I know they’re asking because they need it to take the best care of our patients. So my job is to figure out how to make that happen.
“The nurses and staff have a much more important job than I do, because they are the ones caring for our patients and the patient’s families at a critical time in their life. Just like the nurses who took care of my mother and my family many years ago. As I like to say, what happens in the hospital today might be just another day of work for the nurse, but it can become lifelong memories for a patient and their family. So it needs to be amazing!”
A native of Tigard, Oregon, Pullen has worked at WVMC since 1996. She earned a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing and a master’s degree in healthcare administration.
In conjunction with the CNO Leadership Award, Capella Healthcare will be presenting a check in honor of Pullen to the McMinnville Education Foundation. This charity, which is one of Pullen’s favorites, provides enrichment opportunities to classrooms within McMinnville School District.
About Willamette Valley Medical Center
Part of the Capella Healthcare family of hospitals since 2008, Willamette Valley Medical Center (WVMC) is an 88-bed acute-care, full-service facility, fully accredited by The Joint Commission. The hospital employs more than 400 people at its current modern facility, which was built in 1996. Nationally recognized for its quality of care, WVMC is one of only 182 hospitals in the nation to be named a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures for three consecutive years by The Joint Commission. WVMC features a 24-hour Emergency Department with round-the-clock imaging and laboratory services, a Critical Care Unit and a Senior Behavioral Health Services unit. WVMC also provides a host of other services including a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient Surgical Services, a Family Birthing Center, Endoscopy, Cardiac Catheterization Lab, Cardio Pulmonary Services, Breast Center, Sleep Lab and Therapy Services. In addition, the hospital offers specialty services in the H. R. Hoover, MD, Cancer Center and the Wound Care Center. For more information, visit www.WVMCweb.com
About Capella Healthcare
Capella Healthcare partners with communities to build strong local healthcare systems that are known for quality patient care. Based in Franklin, Tenn., Capella owns and/or operates 13 acute care and specialty hospital facilities in six states. With the philosophy that all healthcare is local, Capella collaborates with each hospital’s medical staff, board and community leadership to take care to the next level. The company has access to significant leadership and financial resources, investing in its family of hospitals to strengthen and expand services and facilities. The company was recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the nation’s fastest growing health care companies in both 2012 and 2013.
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