OSF HealthCare names chief nurse executive
Melinda Cooling, DNP, MBA, FAANP, has been named chief nurse and advanced practice provider executive (CNE) for OSF HealthCare effective March 30. This position will replace the chief nursing officer position held by Lori Wiegand, DNP, who has announced her retirement.
As CNE, Cooling will provide strategic direction aligned to the future development of nursing and advanced practice within health care transformation, overseeing nursing and advanced practice providers (APP) across all clinical areas. Additionally, Cooling will be accountable for the executive leadership and strategy for the College of Health Sciences and the Nursing Innovation Hub.
Cooling has served OSF HealthCare since 1997, most recently as senior vice president of Advanced Practice, chief clinician executive of OSF OnCall and interim president, College of Health Sciences.
Cooling earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Illinois College of Nursing in Peoria. Additionally, she earned a Master of Business Administration from Baker College in Flint, Michigan, and a Doctor of Nursing from the University of Illinois College of Nursing in Chicago.
Lori Wiegand, DNP, chief nursing officer, will retire in May after 32 years with OSF HealthCare. She began her career with OSF in 1993 as a student nurse extern at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center, later becoming one of the first 6 Sigma Black Belts in the Ministry and the first Nursing Master Black Belt at OSF Saint Francis. Wiegand was named vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer for OSF Saint Francis in 2008 and then was named chief nursing officer for the Ministry in 2013.
As chief nursing officer, Wiegand worked with facility chief nursing officers on innovative solutions such as implementation of robust nursing recruitment and retention strategies inclusive of the first nursing career ladder program; Precision Staffing technology; clinical resource team for nursing resources across the Ministry; and patient flow strategies including the design of the OSF CareHub. In addition, Wiegand championed the development of educational frameworks for the OSF Corporate University and the College of Health Sciences
which will continue the commitment and investment in current and future Mission Partners.
OSF HealthCare is an integrated health system founded by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. Headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, OSF HealthCare has 17 hospitals – 11 acute care, five critical access, one continuing care – with 2,305 licensed beds throughout Illinois and Michigan. OSF employs more than 26,000 Mission Partners across 160+ locations and includes OSF OnCall, the digital health operating entity which offers a hospital-at-home. Advances in health care transformation take place through OSF Innovation and OSF Children’s Hospital of Illinois, the third largest pediatric hospital in Illinois, cares for our smallest patients. In addition, OSF has two colleges of nursing; operates OSF Home Care Services, an extensive network of home health and hospice services; owns Pointcore, Inc., comprised of health care-related businesses; OSF HealthCare Foundation, the philanthropic arm for the organization; and OSF Ventures, which provides investment capital for promising health care innovation startups. OSF HealthCare has been recognized by Fortune as one of the most innovative companies in the country. More at osfhealthcare.org.