Mary Robinson, Ph.D., R.N., NEA-BC, logs more than 10,000 steps every day, a self-described exercise addict whose uber high-energy outlook has continued unabated through three children, three degrees and a 38-year career at Texas Health Resources.
Her newest venture: Reliable Health chief nursing officer, a newly created position where she’ll be responsible for patient outcomes across the entire system.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to be the voice for nursing in strategic decisions as we broaden our scope and achieve Texas Health’s Vision of partnering with consumers to live their best possible lives,” Mary said. “I’ll be leading change across all the channels in the new design of the organization.”
She is responsible for working with the Reliable Health chief medical officer to improve health outcomes by leading efforts to drive clinical differentiation, from decision-making to product fulfillment. She will also continue to oversee the System Clinical Excellence team, which collaborates with hospitals on the Magnet® and Pathways to Excellence® designations.
“We are absolutely delighted that Mary will serve as the CNO of Reliable Health,” said Jeffrey Canose, M.D., chief operating officer. “Mary has had a very distinguished career as a nursing leader at Texas Health. I am looking forward to working very closely with her; she will be a strong voice for nursing excellence at Texas Health.”
Room to improve
The new position, Mary said, is a natural progression from her previous job as vice president of Professional Practice, Research and Magnet, which she’s held since March 2018.
“I think the whole idea of standardization — taking best practices and implementing that and making sure we’re doing things consistently for strong outcomes is something we’ve already been trying to do,” she said. “The new organizational structure will help make that happen in a more efficient and consistent manner.”
And there’s room for the kind of improvement the new structure is designed to facilitate, she said.
“We have pockets of excellence in the organization, but sometimes we miss on having that happen everywhere,” she said. “A lot of variables impact that — we don’t adopt best practices for a variety of reasons. I think we all stack hands and say, ‘You know this is what we agree is best practices and this is how we provide reliable care and get the best outcomes.’ “
Up for the challenge
Mary, 58, thrives on what others might see as trying circumstances. For example, she timed the birth of her third child to occur during a break while she was getting one of her degrees.
“I always like a challenge,” she said.
She comes by her determination naturally. Her mother was one of the first nurse practitioners in North Texas, and went to school for her degrees while working and raising eight children.
Likewise, Mary holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas at Arlington, a Master of Science from Texas Woman’s University and a doctoral degree with a nursing focus from Texas Woman’s University.
As a leader, she said, “I’m really driven by trying to create strategy and look at opportunities and pull together teams.”
She also brings a long list of accomplishments to her new role during her career at Texas Health. Among them was helping both Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth achieve Magnet® designation. Texas Health Southwest also was named 100 Top Hospital four years in a row while she was chief nursing officer.
Mary’s leadership style is by example with “a great sense of humor,” said Sally Carmen, DNP, R.N., NEA-BC, system director of clinical excellence.
“Mary listens closely to innovative suggestions and ideas, asks clarifying questions, challenges us for evidence, and often agrees,” Carmen said. “She daily brings a smile and positive energy.”
Getting to Know Mary Robinson
Away from work, family is most important to Mary. She and her husband, Paul, have been together for almost 41 years — they were high school sweethearts.
Her oldest son, 30, works in finance with Paul. Her middle child Hannah Kopriva, 28, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CCRN is a nurse practitioner at Texas Health Fort Worth and the youngest, 25, is an event planner.
“At home she fully encompassed the role of a nurturing supportive mother — she was coach, volunteering to coach multiple of our sports team, she was a tutor, promoting our academic success, our chef, cooking amazing meals five days a week, and our nurse, making all of us feel better when we were sick or injured,” Hannah said.
What did you want to be as a kid?
At one point I wanted to be a police officer, I thought that would be a cool job. I gravitated towards service types of roles. I thought about being a fireman. I started college thinking I was going to be a teacher.
Pet peeve?
People who don’t clean up after themselves.
Biggest weakness?
Chips and hot sauce. I could eat five pounds.
What do you like to do outside work?
Be with family, exercise, garden, be with friends, socialize and bake. I’m a big pie maker – a cookie maker and a pie maker. I have a family recipe for pie crust. The kids want pies for their birthdays instead of cake.
What’s something no one knows about you?
I had to provide emergency medical care to a pilot on a commercial airline flight that my husband and I were on headed to New York City. I ended up staying in the cockpit sitting on the floor caring for the pilot as we landed at LaGuardia Airport. I was able to watch as we landed and the pilot survived and all of us landed safely.
By Judy WIley • Posted June 18, 2019
