Emanuel Medical Center has appointed Sharon Perry as its new Chief Nursing Officer.

Effective June 24, Perry will assume responsibility for all nursing and designated patient care functions within Emanuel. She will oversee and coordinate the nursing units and their daily operations. Perry joins Emanuel Medical Center from sister hospital, Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, where she serves as Director of Women and Children’s Services.

“Sharon will be a wonderful addition to our executive team,” said Lani Dickinson, CEO of Emanuel Medical Center. “She has proven her ability to develop strong teams that provide high-quality patient care and service excellence. Her leadership will help us further strengthen our community built on care.”

Prior to her role in Modesto, Perry served as the Director of Maternity Services at Seton Healthcare Family in Austin, Texas, and Director of Women and Children’s Services at HCA Orange Park Medical Center in Orange Park, Florida.

Perry also served in leadership roles at Advocate Health Care – Trinity Hospital and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, both in Chicago, Illinois.

Perry earned her B.S. in Biology from Augustana College, RN Diploma from South Chicago Community Hospital, Master’s in Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management and Master’s of Science in Nursing from Walden University. She is a member of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

Perry’s appointment comes at the same time that nurses at Emanuel are joining with other Tenent Hospital medical professionals in protesting staff shortages.

Registered nurses picketed Emanuel Medical Center on Tuesday, urging management to invest in nursing staff.

A press release from the California Nurses Association stated that Tenet is increasingly utilizing “on call” nurses for regularly scheduled procedures and non-emergent situations, rather than using “on call,” the way it is supposed to be used, for unexpected, emergent conditions. When a nurse is “on call,” they are required to return to the hospital within 30 minutes, and this includes nurses being called in after they’ve already worked an entire shift, before they’ve had an adequate rest period.

“To give the best care to our patients it is very important for nurses to get rest and meal breaks,” said Erika Peterson, an RN who works in the ICU at Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock. “When the hospital has adequate staffing, it is more likely that nurses can take their meal and rest breaks so they can return to work nourished and alert.”