Hospital Appoints New Nursing Director
July 5, 2005Patricia Hooper, RN has been appointed Director of Nursing at Helen Hayes Hospital, according to Magdalena Ramirez, Chief Executive Officer. With fourteen years of service at HHH, she brings a wealth of experience to her new position.
Originally an elementary school teacher, Ms. Hooper enrolled in the nursing program at Rockland Community College and went on to receive her Bachelors in Nursing, with honors, from Mercy College. She began her nursing career at Nyack Hospital and in a short period of time, decided to move into rehabilitation nursing. The decision was based on her positive impression and experiences during an educational nursing rotation at Helen Hayes Hospital.
She joined the physical rehabilitation hospital’s nursing staff in 1991 and went on to serve as nurse manager of the pulmonary and orthopedic rehabilitation units before taking on the challenge of starting up the hospital’s subacute rehabilitation program in 2001. Ms. Hooper served as an integral member of a clinical committee that established this new service, which has been an overwhelming success. Ms. Hooper earned the Helen Hayes Hospital Nurse of Distinction Award in 2001 and is also a previous recipient of the Rockland County Nursing Excellence in Practice Award.
For the past two years, Ms. Hooper has served as Director of Patient Relations and Customer Satisfaction and has been integrally involved in quality management, patient outcomes and patient satisfaction initiatives. In this capacity, she has been a strong advocate for the hospital’s patients. She has created outstanding staff educational programs, reinforcing the hospital’s commitment to providing exemplary patient care. In addition, Ms. Hooper has been responsible for overseeing the hospital’s Volunteer Department. She has been instrumental in incorporating the efforts of over 150 volunteers into hospital programs and services, ensuring mutually beneficial relationships between volunteers, staff and patients. In her new position, Ms. Hooper will direct the rehabilitation hospital’s nursing department, which provides outstanding rehabilitation nursing care to inpatients and outpatients.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues in the nursing department, and throughout the hospital, in continuing Helen Hayes Hospital’s long legacy of providing the highest quality of patient care,” states Ms. Hooper. “I am committed to the hospital’s mission of treating the whole person and of our team approach to care, which results in the best patient outcomes.”
“Her wealth of expertise in both nursing and healthcare administration will be an asset to our hospital,” says Ms. Ramirez. “Along with being an excellent clinician, she is well respected by her peers and is dedicated to excellence in physical rehabilitation medicine.”
Ms. Hooper is a resident of Pomona, New York where she resides with her husband Robert. She is the proud mother of two daughters and three grandchildren.
Helen Hayes Hospital is the largest and most comprehensive physical rehabilitation hospital in New York State. It is accredited by JCAHO and is CARF accredited for its traumatic brain and spinal cord injury and comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation programs.
