CHIME Welcomes Nicole Kerkenbush as the New Vice President of Education
Ann Arbor, MI, May 24, 2023 – Today, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) celebrates Nicole Kerkenbush, MN, MHA, BSN, RN, CHCIO, CDH-E, joining the organization as the new Vice President of Education.
Nicole most recently served as the Chief Nursing and Performance Officer for Monument Health (formerly Regional Health) in Rapid City, South Dakota. During her time in this position, she was responsible for Nursing, Operational Performance Management, Patient Centered Design, and Enterprise Intelligence. She initially joined Regional Health as their first Vice President of Data Analytics.
“With her vast experience at the forefront of digital health education, patient care and innovation, Nicole will be an excellent addition to the CHIME team to help lead the next phase of our efforts to transform health and care through the utilization of knowledge, technology, and lifelong learning,” said Keith Fraidenburg, CHIME Chief Operating and Innovation Officer.
With over 30+ years of experience, Nicole’s nursing background enables her to seamlessly navigate the languages of both healthcare and technology. She has consistently bridged these disciplines, successfully marrying them together throughout her career. Prior to joining Monument Health, Nicole served 24 years in the United States Army Nurse Corps where she focused on supporting quality healthcare with information and technology, serving as Chief Information Officer, Chief Medical Information Officer, and Military Functional Deputy Program Executive Officer. She also served as the Nursing Informatics Consultant to the Army Surgeon General for four years before retiring at the rank of Colonel.
“CHIME is a part of my family. This next chapter will be all about helping to support our next generation of digital health leaders—while also creating new ways to support long-time CHIME members,” said Nicole. “The healthcare landscape is incredibly complex and challenging today and we need knowledgeable, innovative, and empathetic digital health leaders across the United States as well as internationally. The post-COVID pandemic era in healthcare has exacerbated many challenges we have faced for decades and brought on new challenges we would have never predicted. I truly believe the solutions can be found by coupling the right technology with the right workflows to create an environment where patient care can move to the next level.”
Nicole’s unique blend of clinical and military experience has allowed her to effectively serve in multiple capacities within the dynamic healthcare landscape. She has been a keynote speaker at major industry events, including ViVE 2023, and often shares about how taking career risks helped shape the leader she is today. “I want to lead CHIME Education to continue to provide the same high-quality training I received almost 15 years ago when I attended CHIME CIO Boot Camp,” said Kerkenbush. “Throughout my career I have been fascinated to witness the connection between technology and clinical delivery grow stronger. I look forward to working with the entire CHIME digital ecosystem of health leaders to continue to transform health and care.”
Some of the most endearing qualities exhibited by this trailblazer are her compassion, empathy, drive for excellence, and consistent focus on cultivating lasting relationships. “We are beyond thrilled to welcome Nicole to CHIME,” said CHIME President and CEO, Russ Branzell. “Nicole stands out for her passion of and belief in the power of continued learning to drive innovation and transform lives. Through her deep expertise in analytics, data governance, and patient experience, Nicole will be instrumental in advancing quality learning and professional development for healthcare digital health professionals to drive improvements in patient care across our industry.”
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs), chief innovation officers (CIOs), chief digital officers (CDOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 5,000 members in 56 countries plus two U.S. territories and over 150 healthcare IT business partners and professional services firms, CHIME and its three associations provide a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate, exchange best practices, address professional development needs and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and care in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.
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Contact
Calli Dretke
Vice President & Chief Digital and Marketing Officer
CHIME
734.412.6255
[email protected]