NORWICH – Drake M. Lamen, MD, President/CEO of Chenango Memorial Hospital, has announced that the hospital has a new vice president for Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer. “Our new Vice President is Dru Cavanagh, RN, an outstanding professional with a passion for quality, a dedication to caring for people and a real love for the field of nursing. She has an extensive background in emergency, medical/surgical and transitional care, as well as in hospital administration.” Cavanagh comes to Chenango Memorial from United Health Services Hospitals in Binghamton, where she was a member of the nursing and management teams for the past five years.
Cavanagh received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Niagara University in Niagara Falls, and worked for 20 years in both hospital and home care nursing settings for the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center and nine other health care organizations in the Los Angeles area. For several years she held the post of chief operating officer of Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol in northern California. Her experience at United Health Services includes nurse manager of a medical/surgical unit and co-leader of a successful effort to establish a transitional care unit for patients no longer needing acute care but not ready for discharge or home care. She then became clinical director of both the medical/surgical unit and the transitional care unit.
Dr. Lamen commented, “Her appointment is an important part of our ongoing efforts to ensure quality leadership and effective management of all of our patient care services, to provide an exceptional patient experience and to maintain nursing practices that meet the highest clinical standards. I am confident she will be a great addition to our hospital leadership team.”