AtlantiCare CEO appointed NJHA board chair

Lori Herndon MBA, BSN, RN, was installed as the chair of NJHA in late January.

Lori Herndon, MBA, BSN, RN, president and CEO of AtlantiCare, has been appointed as chair of the New Jersey Hospital Association.

Herndon was officially installed as chair during NJHA's annual meeting, which took place virtually in late January.

Her work with NJHA began in 2014, working on some of the organization's committees.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been a voice of leadership and guidance for the healthcare industry, the state of New Jersey, and the state department of health "making sure that our workforce is safe," Herndon said in a recent interview with HealthLeaders. "And making sure that we are advocating for things that they need to do their important work has been critical."

As chair of NJHA, Herndon hopes to continue working to protect healthcare workers, redesign how they deliver care, and continue efforts to develop the workforce. In her installation speech, she also emphasized the need to treat one another with kindness.

"I think that civility and the need for people to step back and recognize that we're all human and we're not all perfect and this a tough, terribly challenging time," she said. "We need to remind ourselves to be kind to one another."

Throughout the industry, women are continuing to step into more leadership and stakeholder positions. According to Herndon, not only is there room for this to continue, but it's also needed.

"Women in all stages of their healthcare careers can and should advocate for those who need care and those who provide it. Every woman – every individual – has a voice," she said. "Whether we are at the bedside, in the board room, or working in the community, the solutions, strategies, and skills we offer are critical to enhancing and saving lives. Helping each other to grow professionally and personally is important."

While she has served in a number of roles in the healthcare industry with varying responsibilities, she sees herself as a nurse first.

"The clinical skills that I was able to learn over those years gave me the confidence to always advocate for patients [and] be engaged with the plan," she said. "The role of the professional nurse is so intricate and accountable for outcomes, and that I really embraced."

Through her work as a nurse came opportunities to assist and offer her opinion on improvements, which she said was a natural progression to getting in front of leaders early on in her career. At 35 she was hired as a hospital administrator for one of AtlantiCare's hospitals.

"That lead to the confidence and willingness to raise my hand and be involved in things that were at times very high profile, [having a] high degree of risk," Herndon said. " I always encourage people if you want to build a career, chase and volunteer for the work that's complicated, the work that's difficult, and has a high reward but also a high risk. If you're successful, it will lead to another door eventually."