Horizon Health announced the appointment of Brenda Kinney as the Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer on Tuesday.
The newly minted role will lead the strategy for nursing services and nursing engagement throughout the network.
“I’m delighted to take on this new role,” said Kinney. “I look forward to tackling the challenges we have before us, including attracting nurses to hard to recruit areas and helping to foster an environment where nurses are thriving”.
Other responsibilities include overseeing nursing practice, nursing engagement and retention programs, nursing budgets, and planning new patient services.
Kinney, who served as the Executive Director for Horizon’s Saint John area, has her work cut out for her given the province’s long-standing nurse shortage.
In an interview with Acadia Broadcasting in November, the New Brunswick Nurses Union said there are over 1,000 vacant nursing positions in the province.
“Brenda is an exceptional health care leader and we are fortunate she will be Horizon’s Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer”, said Dr. John Dornan, Horizon’s interim President and CEO.
“With her leadership skills and nursing experience, she will be key to maintaining and building strong relationships with our key partners, including the Department of Health, Vitalité Health Network, academic institutions and communities.”
According to Horizon, Kinney brings over 40 years of nursing experience to the role, which includes stints as President of the Nurses Association of New Brunswick and member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Nurses Association.
