Cynthia Barginere, DNP, RN, FACHE
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Rush University Hospital
Biography
Cynthia Barginere, RN, is currently serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Rush University Hospital, in Chicago, IL. Ms Barginere came to Rush in 2011 as the Chief Nursing Officer and Associate Dean for Nursing Practice and served in that role until being promoted in June of 2015. Rush University Medical Center is a 664-bed academic medical center ranked No. 2 among the 102 leading academic medical centers in the country. Rush University Medical Center is consistently ranked among the nation’s top hospitals by U.S. News & World Report and, in 2015, earned Magnet status for excellence in nursing for the fourth consecutive time.
Ms. Barginere also spent nearly 13 years of her career at the University of Alabama, Birmingham Hospital, a 908-bed, major academic and level-one trauma center. At UAB, she assumed progressively more leadership responsibility serving as Associate Vice President and then Chief Nursing Officer with responsibility for Quality/Performance Improvement and TJC accreditation. During her tenure as Chief Nursing Officer at UAB, they received the ANCC Magnet re-designation for nursing excellence.
She also served as chief operating officer and chief nursing officer at Baptist Medical Center South. This 454-bed acute care, level-2 trauma center, regional tertiary referral center and teaching hospital located in central Alabama is the flagship facility of the Baptist Health System, Montgomery, and an affiliate of University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Hospital and Health System.
Some of her key accomplishments at Baptist included the following: leading the organization in the development and implementation of a new strategic plan; playing a key role in information technology transformation; leading a facilities renovation plan; and implementing coordinated hospitalist and intensivist programs.
Ms. Barginere received her undergraduate degree from The University of Alabama, her graduate degree from UAB and her doctorate degree at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. She has completed multiple national leadership fellowships and currently serves as a member of the ANCC Magnet Commission and the IOM Committee Evaluating the Future of Nursing Report.
Ms. Barginere was selected to be one of Chicago United’s Business Leaders of Color for 2015.