Veteran Executive Cynthia Latney Joins OhioHealth as Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive
Attracting and supporting highly skilled nurses in changing and challenging times is among the top priorities for OhioHealth’s new Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive Cynthia Latney, MSN, RN, NE-BC.
Latney, who joined OhioHealth in June, plans to address workforce issues that have arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in-hospital training for new nurses and the decision many experienced nurses made to choose early retirement or move away from acute-care settings due to stress. “What some of these nurses have been through is almost war-like. The well-being of our associates and nurses is very important to me,” she says.
In her new role at OhioHealth, Latney is responsible for implementing and overseeing patient care programming that ensures care provided across all settings is patient-centered, timely, efficient, equitable, effective and safe. In addition, Latney will work to advance nursing at OhioHealth by creating a nationally recognized culture of nursing excellence and continue to showcase examples of transformational leadership, structural empowerment, exemplary professional practice and innovation.
Latney says demands have skyrocketed in all sectors of nursing, particularly as complexity of care, both physical and psychosocial, has increased among hospitalized patients. She intends to expand active recruitment of nurses from within the state and across the country, saying, “We need to expand our focus outside Ohio to attract younger nurses and those with talents that reflect our mission.”
The New York native says she was attracted to OhioHealth because of its faith-based mission, emphasis on outcomes and reputation as a “best place to work” as reported in several surveys.
Prior to joining OhioHealth, Latney served as senior vice president of nursing business operations for Jefferson Health, an academic health system with ambulatory sites serving southern New Jersey and the greater Philadelphia area. She previously held multiple leadership roles at Centura Health in Denver, including regional chief nursing officer, chief nursing executive and chief transformation officer, as well as various leadership positions at Hospital Corporation of America in Aurora, CO.
While in Colorado, she worked at receiving sites for victims of two mass shootings, the 2012 Aurora Colorado movie theater massacre and a 2018 shooting spree at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. That experience underscored for her the importance of emergency preparedness and the ongoing tragedy of gun violence in this country.
Latney was born in Buffalo, NY, and volunteered as a candy striper with her mother, who was a nurse for 52 years and who also held leadership roles. She spent much of her early career in cardiac critical care nursing, where she worked with many surgical pioneers in Houston.
She received her B.S. in nursing from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a Master of Science in nursing healthcare administration from University of the Phoenix, where she currently is a candidate for a Doctorate of Health Administration.
She has been recognized in 2017 by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the Top 60 CNOs to Know and serves on the advisory board for Capella University. Previously, she has been a board member of the Colorado Center of Nursing Excellence, the Community College of Aurora Foundation, the Community College of Aurora Council and the Southern Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce.
Her varied experiences as a healthcare executive provide her with unique perspective in leading change, expanding programming, improving clinical outcomes and building diverse and highly functioning teams.
About OhioHealth
Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare outreach of the United Methodist Church.
Serving its communities since 1891, it is a family of 35,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 12 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home-health, medical equipment and other health services spanning a 47-county area. It has been recognized by FORTUNE as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” 14 times since 2007.
OhioHealth hospitals include OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, OhioHealth Shelby Hospital, OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital and OhioHealth Berger Hospital. For more information, please visit our website at www.ohiohealth.com.
