Mercy Health – Toledo is pleased to announce Wendy Swickard has been promoted to Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of Mercy Health – St. Charles Hospital, effective August 22.

In her new role, Wendy will focus on reducing observation admissions, improving patient flow and nursing retention as well as improving staff and patient satisfaction while reporting to Craig Albers, President, Mercy Health – St. Charles Hospital.

Wendy began her career as a nurse at Jameson Memorial Hospital in New Castle, Pennsylvania. She progressively advanced her career working at Forum Health in Youngstown and Akron General Health System prior to joining Mercy Health – St. Charles Hospital in 2014 as the nurse manager for Emergency and Trauma Services.

In her most recent role, as the Director of Nursing, Wendy led all in-patient nursing departments at St. Charles including the emergency, trauma services and stroke departments. Under Wendy’s leadership, she oversaw the St. Charles Level III re-designation, implemented daily multidisciplinary huddles on the nursing units and led the implementation on projects such as CareTime and CarePATH at St. Charles.

One of Wendy’s many successes included developing and executing a successful process change for annual nursing competencies resulting in improved efficiencies for nursing education. Wendy also increased patient satisfaction at the St. Charles ED and improved productivity overall.

Wendy received her Doctor of Nursing Practice at Waynesburg University in Pittsburgh. Wendy’s vast professional experiences ranges from membership in the Emergency Nurses Association, the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the American Nurses Association and various journal publications. Wendy has participated in numerous fundraising events in the area as well as mentored underprivileged high school seniors.

“Wendy’s expertise in creating a patient-centered environment combined with her leadership of quality and process improvement initiatives will be an asset in her new role as CNO, specifically as we work throughout the system to enhance the patient experience and partner further with physicians and other clinical professionals,” Craig said.