Washington, N.C. – ECU Health Beaufort Hospital, a campus of ECU Health Medical Center President Debra Hernandez, MHA, RN, FACHE, CENP, will assume the fulltime role as senior vice president, System Emergency Services effective Feb. 26.

Hernandez joined ECU Health in 2018 as the president of ECU Health Duplin Hospital. In 2020, she transitioned into a dual role as president of ECU Health Beaufort Hospital as well as system vice president of Emergency Services.

Hernandez’s transition into this role goes hand-in-hand with ECU Health’s investment in transforming its care delivery system with the goal of ensuring patients receive care at the right place and time across the region. Emergency Services are a critical component of health care delivery and impact capacity, access and clinical operations, particularly at a time when patient volumes in emergency departments are high. Hernandez, alongside physician leadership, will be responsible for clinical and operational excellence for system Emergency Services.

“I want to thank Debra for leading a transformational period at ECU Health Beaufort Hospital and for her willingness to tackle this new challenge,” said Brian Floyd, chief operating officer, ECU Health. “Debra’s expertise and experience in overseeing Emergency Services are particularly valuable in today’s health care environment where we are seeing increasingly high demands in emergency departments across the nation, state and here locally. I have full confidence in Debra’s ability to optimize our system-wide Emergency Services and improve clinical efficiencies for patients and team members.”

With Hernandez’s transition into her new role, Dennis Campbell, II DHA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, CPHQ, will serve as interim president at ECU Health Beaufort. Campbell has been with the health system and in his current role as ECU Health Beaufort’s vice president of Patient Care Services for more than two years.