Madelyn Pearson, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer
Madelyn “Maddy” Pearson, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, is chief nursing officer and senior vice president of patient care services at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Pearson, who joined the Brigham in 2017, led a hospital-wide effort to obtain Magnet designation—the highest national honor for nursing excellence—from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
The engagement of clinical nurses was paramount to the success of the hospital’s Magnet journey, and it has been one of Pearson’s top priorities during her tenure at the Brigham. With her leadership, the Department of Nursing has created new avenues for nurses to be heard on many important issues.
Examples include expanding the department’s collaborative governance structure to increase nurse participation and establishing a CNO Cabinet for nurses and other staff to discuss top-of-mind issues, suggestions and concerns.
In addition, Pearson is intensely focused on quality and patient safety. She co-led the implementation of a daily hospital-wide safety huddle, which brings together leaders and staff from various disciplines to uncover and address inconsistencies in processes and care. Last year, in partnership with the chief medical officer and senior vice president of Clinical Services, she launched a hand hygiene improvement initiative that increased the compliance rate of staff throughout the hospital from approximately 70 percent to 90 percent within six months.
Pearson was also instrumental in efforts to improve quality and patient safety and reduce hospital-acquired infections in her previous role. Before joining the Brigham, she served as regional senior vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at Mount Sinai Health System Downtown Campus in New York.
Prior to Mount Sinai, Pearson was the senior vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, a 352-bed community and teaching hospital in New Jersey. With her leadership, the hospital obtained and sustained Magnet status. Pearson has served as a program appraiser for the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program for more than a decade.
Pearson attended Rutgers University, where she received her doctorate in nursing practice—with a focus on leadership development in performance improvement—and her master of science in nursing. She earned her master’s in nursing administration from New York University and her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.
Pearson is also certified as a nursing executive advanced.
Deputy Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President, Department of Nursing Associate Chief Nursing Officer - Oncology
Ms. Fillipon has worked at the Brigham for her entire career, beginning as a student on Tower 5B Oncology. She previously worked as a nursing director and nurse educator for Oncology. She is among a multidisciplinary group leading the development of the inpatient CAR T Cell Therapy Program. Ms. Fillipon received the Mary Fay Enrichment Award for her work to improve the delivery of palliative care and a Nursing Spectrum award for clinical practice.
Associate Chief Nursing Officer – Emergency Medicine and Float Pool
In addition to leading Emergency Department and Float Pool nursing, Ms. Gorman also plays a critical role in the hospital’s response to emergent internal and external events. She has been instrumental in planning for the Emergency Department expansion and hospital-wide patient throughput initiatives. Her knowledge in these areas is steeped in more than 30 years of experience. Prior to joining the Brigham, she was a nursing director at Boston Medical Center, where she oversaw patient flow throughout the hospital
Clinical Executive Director, Care Continuum Management; Interim Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Connors Center for Women and Newborns
Ms. Higgins leads a team of Care Continuum Management nurses in collaborating with interprofessional colleagues to deliver high-quality, coordinated care for some of the hospital’s most high-risk patients across the care continuum. Additionally, she is overseeing the Connors Center for Women and Newborns on an interim basis, including Labor & Delivery, postpartum, antepartum and the NICU. Ms. Higgins has more than 20 years of clinical nursing and leadership experience at the Brigham, including roles as nurse director for two Special Pathogens Intensive Care Units, as well as thoracic intensive and intermediate care units and plastic surgery and urology units.
Executive Director, Center for Nursing Excellence and Medicine
Dr. Linzer leads the Center for Nursing Excellence and Medicine units at the Brigham. Within the Center for Nursing Excellence, she oversees education, scholarship and research, quality, informatics and other areas in support of the center’s goal of advancing clinical nursing practice. As the executive director for Medicine, Dr. Linzer leads three Beacon Award-winning medical intermediate care units. Dr. Linzer joined the Brigham in 2021 from Winchester Hospital, a member of Beth Israel Lahey Health, where she served as associate chief nursing officer for inpatient nursing, nursing budget and resources and informatics. A published author and researcher, Dr. Linzer is an expert in data-based approaches to facilitating improvement in quality and patient safety outcomes.
Associate Chief Nurse – Ambulatory and Procedural Areas
Ms. Medina oversees nursing clinical practice throughout the hospital's ambulatory sites, supporting nurses in providing exceptional patient care and ensuring quality of work-life. In her prior role as director of Ambulatory Nursing: Transplant Administration and the Heart & Vascular Center, she was responsible for clinical operations and programmatic oversight of the hospital’s organ transplant operations, ambulatory care clinics, the mechanical circulatory and advanced heart failure programs and the Lung Center.
Associate Chief Nurse – Critical Care, Cardiovascular and Surgical Services
Dr. Reilly leads nursing practice and patient care in the Cardiovascular, Thoracic and Surgical Acute and Critical Care areas. She previously served as nurse director of cardiovascular units on Shapiro 9/10 and 9 East. Her extensive leadership experience includes participating in the planning and opening of the hospital's Shapiro Cardiovascular Center. In addition, she has led nursing teams that achieved prestigious awards, including the American Association of Critical Care Nurses Silver Beacon Award. Dr. Reilly's research has explored the effect of reflective practice on the nursing practice environment.
For over a century, a leader in patient care, medical education and research, with expertise in virtually every specialty of medicine and surgery.
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