Cathy Barr, MBA, RN, is the senior vice president of community services of St. Paul, Minn.-based HealthEast Care System and president of the system's Bethesda Hospital, also in St. Paul. Ms. Barr was previously the CEO of Bethesda Hospital. In July 2012, she took on the new positions.
Her background in nursing led Ms. Barr to focus on a culture of compassion and quality of patient care as an executive. One area she is particularly passionate about is transitions in care for patients. She is the executive lead for a system-wide initiative to find the best practices for patient transitions.
"We're doing system-level work to ensure that patients have the very best transition from one part of the continuum of care to the next," says Ms. Barr. "We really hope to take the best practices that we develop and share them with local and national health systems and with the local community," she says.
Ms. Barr is also passionate about healthcare reform and policy.
"I feel we have a responsibility and obligation to get involved in issues that affect patients and the community," she says. "Our overarching goal is a healthy future for our community."
In addition to her responsibilities at Bethesda and HealthEast, Ms. Barr is a member of the Community Health Charities Board and the American Hospital Association Governing Council. She is also a past president of the Women's Health Leadership Trust.
If you have additional information or updates for this profile, or would like to recommend a leader to be profiled in the future, please contact Lindsey Dunn, editor in chief, Becker's Hospital Review at ldunn@beckershealthcare.com
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