Kathleen Sanford, DBA, RN, FAAN, FACHE

Kathy joined the ministry in 2006 and is an experienced leader with over 40 years in health care management and strategy. As Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, she leads in a dyad relationship with the chief physician officer. Kathy’s current responsibilities include nursing practice, patient care services, care coordination, nurse education, nursing research, patient experience, internal physician advisory services, behavioral health, nursing informatics and centralized virtual clinical services. Prior to her position with CommonSpirit Health, Kathy served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, where her final roles were as Chief Nurse and Acting State Surgeon/Medical Commander of the Washington Army National Guard. Her previous civilian experience included various positions in nursing, nursing administration, hospital administration and strategy. She has served with several community and charitable organizations and as an adjunct faculty member for the University of Washington and Pacific Lutheran University. She is a past president of the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL) and served on the boards of the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Tri-Council for American Nursing, the Washington State Hospital Association and the Nursing Organizations Alliance (NOA). Kathy is a former newspaper and health care journal columnist and author of two management books: “Leading With Love” and “Dyad Leadership in Healthcare: When One Plus One is Greater Than Two.” She completed her undergraduate education at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing, where she received her BSN from the University of Maryland. Her graduate education includes a master’s degree in human resources management from Pepperdine University, a Master of Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University and a Doctorate in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.