Donna McKee has been named the new chief nursing officer (CNO) for Harris Health System’s Ambulatory Care Services, the primary and outpatient care arm the safety-net healthcare system. Today, the system’s network of outpatient care in health centers, school-based clinics, homeless shelters, specialty facilities and hospitals, accounts for nearly 1.9 million patient visits annually.
McKee, MHA, BSN, RN, NE-BC, had been interim CNO since July. She has more than 27 years of experience, first beginning her career at Harris Health as a licensed vocational nurse in the obstetric observation unit at Jefferson Davis Hospital. She helped in the transition of opening Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, the new Harris Health facility that opened in 1989 to replace Jeff Davis Hospital.
McKee’s goal is to help Ambulatory Care Services become more efficient and find innovative ways to use its staff and facilities to see patients, while maintaining high quality marks.
“We recognize that caring for patients in our outpatient clinics will prevent much more expensive and complex care needs for patients on the back end in our hospitals,” she says. “We also understand that a patient’s quality of life improves if we can take care of their needs early and keep them from being hospitalized.”
She and her administrative team want to create more collaborations and partnerships between nurses and physicians to improve compassionate and respectful patient care.
“Using evidence-based practice with a focus on both quality improvement and patient safety is the way we’ll operate,” she says. “By involving multidisciplinary staff like case management, nurses, ancillary support and physicians, we can develop the best plan of care for our patients to help them with their healthcare needs outside of a hospital setting”
Her professional experience includes the critical care unit at LBJ Hospital and the medicine clinic for the outpatient care. She’s held leadership positions as the nurse manager of the Medicine Clinic and Infusion Center at LBJ Hospital and as director of nursing for specialty clinics for Ambulatory Care Services.
McKee received her associate’s degree in nursing in 1992 from San Jacinto Junior College and bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1999 from Prairie View A&M University. In 2006, she received her master’s degree in healthcare administration from Texas Woman’s University. She is board-certified in nursing administration.
McKee lives in Crosby, Texas, with her husband and two children. She loves the outdoors and the water. She has crossed paths with many memorable patients during her years at Harris Health and has learned from them about acceptance, appreciation, gratitude and patience.