Trenda Ray Named Chief Nursing Officer for UAMS Health
| Trenda Ray, Ph.D., RN, has been named chief nursing officer and associate vice chancellor for patient care services for UAMS Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
She is responsible for ensuring quality nursing care and has executive oversight for the hospital’s nursing units, respiratory care, international services and pastoral care. She also is responsible for the care management team, including hospital and outpatient services, the inpatient psychiatric social work team, and community health advocates.
Ray joined UAMS in 2011 as the ambulatory operations officer and director of ambulatory nursing. She served as director of accreditation and compliance from 2014 to January 2017, when she was named to lead the care management program. In 2018, she served as the associate vice chancellor for patients and families.
Before joining UAMS in 2011, Dr. Ray served for more than 10 years in various roles at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, including as director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. She also served as the director of clinical operations for ambulatory services and as an advance practice registered nurse (APRN) in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.
She was awarded the Society of Pediatric Nurses New Researcher Award of Excellence in 2008.
Ray earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia in 1997. She earned a Master of Science in Nursing in 2000 and a Ph.D. in nursing in 2010, both from UAMS.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###