SRMC Welcomes New Chief Nursing Officer Jennifer Holder

Sumner Regional Medical Center is excited to announce that Jennifer Holder, RN, BSN, MBA, CPPS has joined the executive team at Sumner Regional Medical Center (SRMC) as its Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). Holder, a Wilson County native, has extensive experience as a bedside nurse and is a quality and safety champion.

“The CNO sets the tone for much of the direct patient care within the facility, having oversight of processes related to how we care for patients, the quality of the care given, and the culture of the organization,” said Rod Harkleroad, RN, MMHC, Chief Executive Officer of Sumner Regional and Market President of HighPoint Health System. “I worked alongside Jennifer when I was a nurse, so I know how well respected she is by her peers. The CNO impacts nurse hiring and retention. All of this trickles down into how healthy a community is, so this was a critical role for us to fill, and I think we’ve chosen wisely.”

Holder began her career as a bedside nurse at Baptist Hospital and Saint Thomas Health Services. For 11 years, she worked in multiple areas across the Saint Thomas health system including med/surg, ICU, MICU, NICU, SICU, and IV/PICC units showing her ability to adapt and be flexible with various assignments, patient populations and census levels. As stand-out nurses do, she then began to fix the issues she saw bedside by taking on a role in process improvement.

In 2013, she joined HighPoint Health System, starting off as the Director of Quality and Risk Management at Riverview Regional Medical Center (RRMC) and then serving for 2.5 years as the Director of Quality and Case Management at SRMC. While at Sumner Regional, she made significant contributions to adjusted length of stay (ALOS) reduction and focused on readmission work and enhanced regulatory compliance. She served as Chief Nursing Officer at Trousdale Medical Center (TMC) since 2017, taking on CNO duties at RRMC as well in mid-2021.

Holder’s achievements while at TMC and RRMC are numerous:

· She planned and implemented the new service line for Intensive Outpatient Psychotherapy dba Senior Life Solutions at TMC.

· At both facilities, she’s managed to have incredible participation rates in the Culture of Safety and Engagement Survey and high staff satisfaction rates.

· She’s maintained zero contract labor and low RN turn-over rates at both facilities.

· She’s helped drive two consecutive years of overall Harms rates below 1.7 at RRMC and 15 of 21 months with no Harms at TMC.

· She led TMC’s journey to a Lifepoint National Quality Program designation in 2022.

“I have always been devoted to providing safe, high-quality care to the patients I have touched throughout my career. This CNO role allows me to impact a broader base and support the great work our healthcare heroes provide daily,” Holder said. “Rural healthcare and healthcare close to home is extremely important to me. I believe time is critical with things like stroke, cardiac and trauma care and when your community hospital elevates staff through training and retention programs, invests in equipment, and concentrates on the quality of care, the community wins. Just remember that we are neighbors taking care of neighbors – the same people you will see at church, in the grocery store, around town. Maintaining our culture of friendliness and accessibility in the midst of growth in our buildings and all around us is challenging, but a challenge I am up for.”