Catherine Hughes

Catherine Hughes, MSN, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, is senior vice president and chief nursing officer of Virtua Health. She is responsible for leading all aspects of professional nursing practice and patient care across the organization to execute the established system, hospital, and nursing priorities in safety, quality, access, financial stewardship, and people.  She actively participates as a member of the health system’s leadership team in strategic planning, policy formulation, programmatic development, facility planning, quality and cost improvement as well as customer experience strategy. With the nursing leadership team, she creates and implements a nursing strategic plan to guide the nursing workforce across the continuum of care while meeting the priorities of the organization. 

Catherine has held a variety of nursing and senior leadership roles in health care.   Most recently, she served as system vice president for nursing integration and outcomes, and administrator of behavioral health services.  She first joined Virtua in 2002 as vice president for patient care services for Virtua Berlin and Virtua Camden. Previously, she held various leadership roles in the Kennedy Health System in Cherry Hill, NJ, Hampton Behavioral Health Hospital in Westampton, NJ, and St. Agnes Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

Catherine is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Leaders, the New Jersey Organization of Nurse Leaders, an elected member of the board of directors of the NJ Organization of Nurse Leaders, and chair of the ONL Mentorship Committee.  She belongs to the American Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau nursing honor society; is a graduate of the Johnson and Johnson Wharton Fellows Program on Management for Nurse Executives in 2005; and is board certified as an advanced Nurse Executive by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.  In the community, Catherine is a member of the advisory board for the Allied Health Program at Gloucester County Institute of Technology.

Catherine earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Widener University in Chester, Pa.; her Master of Health Administration from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pa.; and her Master of Science in Nursing from Thomas Edison University in New Jersey.