Mountainside Medical Center announces new chief nursing officer

Valarie McPherson

GLEN RIDGE / MONTCLAIR, NJ — Valarie McPherson has been named the chief nursing officer for Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center, located in Glen Ridge. A nursing and operations executive with more than 20 years of experience, McPherson has successfully developed leaders, departments and programs to deliver quality-driven, evidence-based patient care, according to a recent press release.

McPherson joins Mountainside Medical Center from Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills in Los Angeles, Calif., where she served as chief nursing executive, responsible for the strategic leadership of all nursing and patient-care functions. A number of quality and nursing operational improvements are credited to her time at Kaiser. These include reduction in patient length of stay, improved throughput metrics for admission from the Emergency Department and discharge times, a decrease in hospital-acquired infections, and developing a nursing strategic plan, as well as a shared governance and professional practice model.

Her extensive experience in the hospital setting includes leadership positions in several California hospitals and in the Tenet Health system.

“We are looking forward to having Val join our executive leadership team,” said Tim O’Brien, CEO of Mountainside Medical Center. “Her knowledge and expertise, paired with her data-driven leadership, will support Mountainside’s vision to be the highest quality hospital of choice for our community.”

“I am excited to join Mountainside Medical Center,” McPherson said. “Nurses serve in some of the most important roles in health care and make a difference every day in the lives of our patients. Mountainside is an outstanding community hospital, and it is my honor to collaborate with nurses and physicians to advance the hospital’s care.”