PHILADELPHIA (May 11, 2020) – The Health Care Improvement Foundation, a nonprofit focused on improving quality and access of patient care through large-scale collaboration, has named Wendy Nickel as their new president.
Nickel, a health care professional with more than 20 years of experience, succeeds Kate Flynn, who held the position for 12 years. Flynn has overseen exponential growth at HCIF. Founded with a focus on improving patient safety, HCIF today leads clinical and population health initiatives under Flynn’s guidance. During her tenure, she has grown the size of the team, the scope of projects and, correspondingly, the number and diversity of funding sources for HCIF.
“Looking to the future, HCIF will be able to move Southeastern Pennsylvania forward as a healthier and safer region to live in, as well as collaborate with other organizations in statewide improvement,” says Flynn. “We’re excited for what’s to come under Wendy’s leadership. With greater awareness of the importance of population health, we’re hoping to be able to lend a hand in connecting and shepherding health care organizations to forge a path ahead.”
With experience in senior leadership roles in hospitals, health professional associations and policy, Nickel aims to focus on bringing more attention to the issue of quality public health access in our community.
“My vision is to expand on everything that Kate has put into HCIF,” says Nickel. “We’re doing the important work: Bringing people together when no one else can or will. We have an opportunity to expand our work beyond Pennsylvania and across the country. And considering the ongoing coronavirus crisis, we have the ability to address the myriad quality, safety and population health challenges that will impact care both now and in the future.”
In her most recent role as Vice President of Prevention for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, Nickel led efforts to improve colorectal cancer screening and awareness in the Greater Philadelphia area to be replicated across the nation.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, HCIF is well-positioned to make a difference in the regional community and beyond. The organization has been working on community health and safety initiatives for over a decade and has the knowledge, experience and connections to take a more significant leadership role in health care improvement.
“We know how to bring the experts together. We can tap the best minds in Pennsylvania to work together and find solutions to our biggest public health challenges,” says Steve Wray, the chair of the HCIF Board of Directors.
Nickel earned her undergraduate and Master of Public Health degrees at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She has previously held roles at the American College of Physicians, the Society of Hospital Medicine, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Albert Einstein Medical Center, among others.
About the Health Care Improvement Foundation
The Health Care Improvement Foundation is an independent, 501(c)(3) organization that specializes in project management, group facilitation, strategy development, training and coaching, measurement and analytics, and program evaluation for health care initiatives. HCIF brings together multiple stakeholders to implement solutions that could not have been reached individually. Since its inception, HCIF has been recognized as an outstanding example of how advances in quality care can be achieved through large-scale collaboration. HCIF is supported in its mission by contributions and grants from health care providers, health insurance plans, government agencies and various foundations.