Cedars-Sinai Nursing Officer Named One of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare
Modern Healthcare Magazine has named Linda Burnes Bolton, DrPH, RN, FAAN, vice president and chief nursing officer of Cedars-Sinai Health System, among its Top 25 Women in Healthcare.
The biennial honor recognizes woman who are making positive differences in the industry by providing leadership and mentorship. Burnes Bolton, selected from a pool of more than 300 health care professionals from across the nation, is renowned nationally for her innovative programs to improve both quality of care as well as the health of the community. In her four-decade career, she has dedicated herself to improving access to healthcare and advancing the nursing practice in the United States.
“Linda Burnes Bolton’s leadership has had an extraordinary impact on healthcare, not just at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center but throughout the nation,” said Thomas M. Priselac, president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai. “Her innovative approaches to patient-centered care, nursing education and community health education have influenced an entire generation of healthcare professionals, and have significantly improved the lives of literally millions of patients.”
Burnes Bolton most recently demonstrated her ability to effect change on a national level through her role as vice chair of the Initiative on the Future of Nursing, a joint effort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Institute of Medicine. The initiative, chaired by Donna Shalala, president of the University of Miami, was a two-year effort to: identify solutions to the challenges faced by the nursing profession; and to improve the quality of and to transform how healthcare is delivered in the U.S. Burnes Bolton also recently chaired the National Advisory Committee for the Transforming Care at the Bedside Initiative, led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Medicine.
She began her career at Cedars-Sinai as a staff nurse in 1971 and has served in numerous roles at the medical center, including as chief nursing officer since 1994. Her research, teaching and clinical expertise includes nursing and patient care outcomes; improving the health of childbearing women; boosting nursing and organizational function and effectiveness; heightening health literacy and access across racial and ethnically diverse communities; and cultivating cultural diversity in the health professions.
She is a past president of the American Academy of Nursing and the National Black Nurses Association. She is a member of the American Nurses Association, American Organization for Nurse Executives, Association of California Nurse Leaders, American Public Health Association, Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science, and the National League for Nursing. She also serves as a Case Western Reserve University Trustee.
“Linda Burnes Bolton is an excellent choice for this honor,” said Dorel Harms, senior vice president of clinical services for the California Hospital Association, who nominated Burnes Bolton for the recognition. “Her dedication to her profession and the tireless energy with which she pursues all aspects of her professional life are beyond outstanding.”
Burnes Bolton is a founding member of the Collaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes, a now-international program that has improved nursing care in the areas of fall- and pressure-sore prevention. She also served on the board of the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care, a statewide organization that was established to address nursing issues and that serves as the state’s nursing workforce center.
Her outstanding leadership, scholarship and community service has been recognized with numerous awards, including the American Organization of Nurse Executives Lifetime Achievement Award and the Distinguished Alumnae Award from Arizona State University. She has written 73 peer-reviewed articles among other publications. She earned her nursing degree from Arizona State University and her master’s in nursing and public health and doctorate in public health from the University of California, Los Angeles.
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