OU Health Announces Stefanie Beavers as Inaugural Chief Nurse Executive

OU Health, the state’s comprehensive academic healthcare center, has named Stefanie Beavers, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, as its inaugural Chief Nurse Executive.

The position is part of OU Health’s operational restructure that is creating an integrated, modern clinical platform. In her role, Beavers will oversee nursing operations for OU Health’s ambulatory services, as well as the system’s three hospitals: OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health, and OU Health Edmond Medical Center.

Since last summer, Beavers has been serving as Chief Nursing Officer for Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. She has nearly 20 years of experience in nursing practice and administration.

“Dr. Beavers brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her role as OU Health’s first Chief Nurse Executive,” said OU Health Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Curtright, MBA, MHA. “She will provide valuable leadership as we strengthen and grow our nursing workforce and advance our purpose of improving lives through healing and discovery.”

Beavers also will collaborate with OU Health’s academic partner, the OU Health Sciences Center, to develop future nurses and nurse leaders. Julie Hoff, Ph.D., MPH, RN, dean of the Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing, has served as the interim Chief Nursing Executive since 2021.

Beavers came to OU Health from Texas, where she most recently served as Associate Chief Nursing Officer at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford (Texas Health HEB). She also was a clinical assistant professor in the College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation at the University of Texas at Arlington. In that role, she supported the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program and advised students.

Beavers earned a bachelor of science in nursing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock and completed an intensive care internship at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. She earned a master of science in nursing administration and a doctor of nursing practice at the University of Texas at Arlington. She holds Nurse Executive Advanced board certification, and she is a member of the American Nurses Association and the American Nursing Informatics Association.

Beavers said she looks forward to impacting nursing strategy and culture and collaborating with the nursing team to provide the best care possible for patients and their families.

“It is an honor to be named to this role at OU Health,” she said. “As an integrated academic healthcare system, we have a unique opportunity not only to make positive changes for our nurses, but to create solutions for the nursing workforce beyond our system. Nurses are a crucial part of each patient’s care, and I am excited to support them as their leader in the important work that we do.”