Lebanon
Outgoing Dartmouth-Hitchcock CEO and President Dr. James Weinstein welcomed Reeves warmly in the release.
“We are delighted to have Susan take on this critical role in which she will articulate and implement a broad vision and strategy for nursing across our system and region,” he said.
The move is a homecoming of sorts for Reeves, who already holds a key officer role in the D-H system and began her training at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, graduating with the school’s final class in 1980.
Over 34 years, she worked in various capacities at Mary Hitchcock and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center before taking her current post at Colby-Sawyer.
“This is actually the job that I had always hoped to do,” Reeves said in a phone interview on Wednesday. She said she was “ ‘born and raised’ as a nurse at Mary Hitchcock.”
Reeves career at D-H began as a staff nurse at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, which was followed by moves to administrative positions.
She was named vice president of operations in 1998, where she was responsible for inpatient hospital and emergency services, and the cancer center. She became associate dean for D-H partnership programs at Colby-Sawyer College in 2007. Then, after retiring from D-H in 2014, she took on her current role at Colby-Sawyer.
During interviews for the new position, Reeves said, she described herself as an “inside outsider or an outside insider.”
The 57-year-old New London resident has been away from D-H’s internal operations for 10 years, she said. But it’s not as though she hasn’t kept up, she said.
Reeves is chairwoman of the board of trustees of New London Hospital, which is a D-H affiliate. She also serves on the search committee for Weinstein’s replacement.
Reeves arrival, which will occur just before Weinstein departs on June 30, comes at a time of leadership transition at D-H. Four of nine executive vice presidents who reported to Weinstein have departed recently.
“I think we’re all eagerly anticipating what will happen next,” Reeves said. “(I’m) very excited about the candidates that are coming forth in the next month.”
Reeves will take over for Karen Clements, who has been filling in as chief nursing executive of the entire system since Gay Landstrom left.
Clements will return her focus to her work as chief nursing officer for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the health system’s clinical practices.
Landstrom served dual management roles as chief nurse and interim chief executive at Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center until early this year when Mt. Ascutney, a D-H affiliate, hired a permanent chief.
In an interview late last year, Landstrom told the Valley News that she had planned to return to D-H as nursing executive after completing the interim role at Mt. Ascutney, but for family reasons, she decided to return to Michigan.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock spokesman Rick Adams said in an email on Wednesday he did not have information about what Reeves’ salary will be.
Reeves’ leadership will be important for the hospital system’s future, said Weinstein, in Wednesday’s statement. D-H’s nurses are critical to the hospital system’s commitment to creating a “sustainable health system,” he said.
In her new role, Reeves, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Colby-Sawyer, said she aims to continue to strengthen the connection between D-H and nursing programs throughout the region, including those at Colby-Sawyer, Norwich University, the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University, Keene State College, Rivier University and St. Anselm College.
As she interviewed with leaders across the D-H system, Reeves learned that they all struggle to fill nursing positions, she said. The needs include nurses working in outpatient, surgical and critical care settings, she said.
“I wish I could say it was located in one place,” she said, noting that would make the challenge easier to address.
Reeves served on a health care workforce commission created last spring by then-New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan to study needs in the industry.
The commission found that the nursing shortage is a statewide issue, Reeves said.
There also are shortages in primary care physicians and home health care workers, she said.
“New Hampshire is a real shortage area now,” Reeves said. “(It’s) not a unique Dartmouth-Hitchcock phenomenon.”
As an alumna of both Mary Hitchcock and Colby-Sawyer, Reeves said the relationship between the two has been important throughout her career.
Colby-Sawyer President Susan Stuebner noted the importance of the relationship.
“Colby-Sawyer highly values its partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock, and Susan’s leadership role there will be pivotal in advancing our programs,” Stuebner said.
After moving back to D-H, Reeves will retain her title at Colby-Sawyer, according to the school. She will continue to oversee the implementation of a graduate nursing program until a program director is named.
During her tenure, 100 percent of Colby-Sawyer’s 2016 undergraduate nursing class passed the national licensing test. Of the 33 graduates, 27 were employed as registered nurses in New Hampshire; 25 of them at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, according to Colby-Sawyer.
Reeves also holds a master’s degree in nursing administration from the University of New Hampshire and a doctorate from the University of Vermont.
While strengthening links to educational institutions may be important to grow the workforce the hospital system needs, Reeves’ own story also points to the importance of experiences outside of the classroom.
Her initial interest in nursing as a profession was inspired not by a teacher, but by an older cousin, a nurse who helped care for Reeves and her five younger sisters when they were children.
“She was my role model,” Reeves said. “I wanted to grow up to be like her.”
Reeves served as a candy striper at a Nashua hospital before applying and being accepted to Mary Hitchcock.
Though shadowing programs in hospitals have gone by the wayside in the face of concerns for patient privacy and safety, Reeves said she hopes to bring some of these opportunities back in order to inspire the next generation of nurses.
“I’m just so honored to have this opportunity to return to an organization that I’ve loved,” she said.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
