Yale New Haven Health executive awarded gender equity fellowship

New Haven, CT (Nov. 15, 2021) – Katie O’Leary, RN, MPH vice president, Care Continuum Services Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS), has been selected for the 2022 Carol Emmott Fellowship class by the Carol Emmott Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing gender equity in healthcare leadership.

The foundation selects fellows for a 14-month program and supports them in implementing an impact project in her health community. O’Leary, whose career has been defined by patient safety and population healthcare improvement, will be advocating for an impact project addressing alternate models of care in light of the national nursing shortage particularly in home-based services.

“We are so pleased that Katie was selected to be a fellow this year. Yale New Haven Health is committed to building and nurturing a workforce that reflects equity at all levels,” said Marna Borgstrom, CEO, YNHHS. “Katie exemplifies how these values run through our organization and we are proud that she is focusing her fellowship on enhancing employee engagement and patient care.”

O’Leary has been with YNHHS since 2012 and is known for championing the High Reliability Organization’s work to increase patient safety. O’Leary began work on the YNHHS Post-Acute Care Services strategy in October 2019 where she developed home based services including infusion nursing, home health, hospice, integrated home-based telehealth, and other post-acute services. During this time she cultivated a successful team-nursing model in home health and plans to leverage this experience for broader use as well as pilot a form of “wrap around nursing,” where a nurse stays with a patient through various care settings for continuity of care.

“I am humbled to be considered a peer of these established impressive women healthcare leaders,” said O’Leary. “I am deeply grateful for YNHHS’ support as well as my predecessors who represented our system so well in this program.”

The fellows were nominated by 12 prestigious founding sponsors – organizations committed to working with the fellowship to shape a growing network of remarkable women in the top ranks of leadership. Each fellow will mentor the subsequent class of fellows, creating a pipeline of collaborators.

Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS), the largest and most comprehensive healthcare system in Connecticut, is recognized for advanced clinical care, quality, service, cost effectiveness and commitment to improving the health status of the communities it serves. YNHHS includes five hospitals – Bridgeport, Greenwich, Lawrence + Memorial, Westerly and Yale New Haven hospitals, several specialty networks and Northeast Medical Group, a non-profit medical foundation with several hundred community-based and hospital-employed physicians. YNHHS is affiliated with Yale University and Yale Medicine, the clinical practice of the Yale School of Medicine and the largest academic multi-specialty practice in New England. Yale New Haven Hospital is the primary teaching hospital of Yale School of Medicine. www.ynhhs.org