Standing on Broad Shoulders, and Offering Her Own
Suzanne Jackson, CEO of John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell, Virginia, enjoyed her first return visit to her alma mater, she told the audience at the AHS Distinguished Alumni Award celebration in her honor. “It is so refreshing to come back, to speak with students, and to see the excitement in their eyes,” she said. “Just as they will when they complete their studies, I am standing on the shoulders of those who helped me when I was a student here—professors, fellow students, and, of course, my family.”
After completing her undergraduate degree in community health, Ms. Jackson went on to the University of Michigan, where she earned a master’s degree in Health Services Administration. She joined Ernst & Young in Chicago as a healthcare consultant before joining the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) as an associate administrator. In her 14 years with HCA, she has held positions at member hospitals in Plantation, Aventura, and Loxahatchee, Florida, and Falls Church and Hopewell, Virginia. In Falls Church, she was the CEO of Dominion Hospital, a failing facility that she completely turned around, quadrupling revenues and starting the first and only program in Northern Virginia to provide therapeutically and medically appropriate inpatient treatments for people with eating disorders.
“Every decision I make as a healthcare CEO is based on the foundation I received here in community health,” Ms. Jackson said. “I am so grateful to be in a profession that saves and transforms lives. Not everyone can say that about their professions.”
A Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Ms. Jackson received the 2015 Distinguished Female Healthcare Leader Award from the Washington Metropolitan Area chapter of the National Association of Health Services Executives. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Diversity in Health Management.