Inspired to become a nurse as a teenager, Averett MBA graduate Margaret Lewis, '96, has reached a pinnacle in her career. In spring 2004, Lewis was named president of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) Inc.'s Central Atlantic Division - an 18-hospital region that includes the facility where she began her career.
"I love what I do, it is very dynamic and constantly changing," Lewis said. "Even though I am a far cry from nursing my job still allows me to focus on what motivates me, and that is hopefully making a difference for the patient and their families and for the nurses and other healthcare workers who take care of the patients."
As president of HCA's Central Atlantic Division, Lewis is responsible for providing the strategic direction for 18 hospitals and six ambulatory surgery centers in Virginia, West Virginia and New Hampshire. In addition she serves as an ambassador for HCA in the states and communities they serve.
Lewis' medical career began as a nursing assistant at CJW Medical Center, Chippenham campus in 1976. She was also studying nursing at John Tyler Community College. After graduation she worked for 10 years as a clinical nurse and gradually began assuming more responsibilities and gravitating towards clinical management positions.
In 1986 she enrolled in an undergraduate bridge program in nursing at the Medical College of Virginia and graduated with a bachelor of science in nursing in 1988.
According to Lewis, she is fortunate to work for a company like HCA - a company that invests in its people. HCA endorsed Lewis' rise up the management ladder and partially funded her education as long as she made the commitment. Once she had completed her BSN she set her sights on senior executive positions that were only open to her if she had a master's degree.
The company appointed her to a chief nursing officer position on the condition that she would pursue her master degree. It was at this point in her career that she began seeking a program that was designed to meet the demands of a working adult.
"Averett was a pioneer of its time when the college started its satellite programs and that alone is a testimony to the quality of the college . an innovative approach to learning," Lewis said. "The college saw a need for people like me and created a flexible environment of creative learning with superior instructors that provided an opportunity for some people that otherwise would not have had the opportunity."
Lewis received her master's of business administration from Averett in 1996.
"The Graduate and Professional Studies Program prepared me for the nuts and bolts of finance," Lewis said. "The true value of the program was that it gave me the tools to understand the business side of healthcare, the basics of business law and marketing/public relations and most importantly, the importance of ethics in the business world.
"When I attended Averett we worked in clusters over a two year period and the benefit of working with a 'team' that you did not necessarily choose was by far the best preparation for any leadership position."
Formed in 1968, HCA is based in Nashville, Tenn. and is composed of locally managed facilities that include approximately 191 hospitals and 82 outpatient surgery centers in 23 states, England and Switzerland. |
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