May 1, 2018
MSU HealthTeam CEO Michael M. Herbert adds a third position to medical leadership with the creation of a chief nursing officer position leading operations. Valerie Williams, RN, BSN, MBA, assumes the role of chief nursing officer.
“As an academic faculty practice with a college of nursing alongside two medical colleges, nursing leadership is imperative within operations to integrate nursing and medical care. MSU HealthTeam will need to become a culture that continually improves, made of people who embrace progress with purpose,” Herbert said of the addition of a chief nursing position.
This continues the work began in February, when Interim President Engler announced a new health care structure including two new appointments. The chief nursing officer will assist the CEO, as well as the leaders serving in those newly created roles: Norman J. Beauchamp Jr., MD, MHS, associate provost and assistant vice president for health affairs and Anthony M. Avellino, MD, MBA, FACS, assistant provost for Student Health, Wellness, and Safety and HealthTeam chief medical officer in the task to redefine health delivery for MSU and the Greater Lansing community.
Williams received her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at the University of South Alabama and her Master of Business Administration degree from the University of South Florida. She brings a considerable amount of nursing operations experience to MSU and HealthTeam in both inpatient and outpatient settings, focusing on improving the patient experience and leveraging technology.
Most recently, Williams held the position of associate executive director, clinical operations for University of South Florida Practice Group, a 350-physician multispecialty academic group practice. In her varied career she held several nurse and nurse manager positions: in emergency departments, as analysts, as a risk manager and as an orthopedic and neurosurgery department staff nurse.
Williams will be able to draw on her experience with clinical training and workflow development in her new role. Areas of importance in her new role include developing a medical assistant training program and improving clinical operations through greater provider and staff collaboration.