Valley Health System Leaders Receive Honors at Nevada Action Coalition Gala

Thursday, August 24, 2023
Karla Perez, Dr. Kimberly Foxworth and Jeanne Reeves

(L to R) Karla Perez, Dr. Kimberly Foxworth and Jeanne Reeves received their awards

Four Valley Health System leaders were honored by the Nevada Action Coalition during their 2023 Future of Nurses in Nevada gala on August 19, 2023. They include:

  • Karla Perez, Regional Vice President, was honored with the Nurses Choice 2023 Nurse Advocate of the Year Award
  • Kimberly Foxworth, DNP, MSN, BSN, RN, CCRN, RCIS, CPHQ, NEA-BC, Chief Nursing Officer for Valley Hospital, received the Diversity Award
  • Marlene Lee, Recruiter for Henderson Hospital, received the NVHOPE Champion Award
  • Jeanne Reeves, MS, BSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer for Summerlin Hospital, received the Nurse Advocate of the Year Award

About the Honorees

Karla Perez

Karla Perez has devoted her entire 40-year professional career to improving healthcare access and patient outcomes for Nevadans. As the Regional Vice President for Universal Health Services, Inc., (UHS), a Fortune 500 company, Perez has oversight for the northern and southern Nevada markets, creating an integrated system of care comprised of acute care and specialty hospitals, outpatient services, freestanding emergency and urgent care centers and physician practices to better serve residents and tourists who require medical care.

Dr. Kimberly Foxworth

Dr. Foxworth is the Chief Nursing Officer for Valley Hospital, which also includes Elite Medical Center and the ER at Desert Springs. She is responsible for developing and implementing strategic goals for nursing operations and provides the vision for all aspects of patient and quality of care. She has been devoted to improving health disparities in our community and has been recognized locally and nationally for her contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Marlene LeeMarlene Lee

Marlene Lee, a recruiter for Henderson Hospital, has worked with the NVHOPE program since its inception in 2019, sharing the opportunities The Valley Health System offers to the new Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) graduates and the opportunity to grow within the system itself. Marlene’s dedication to the NVHOPE program has been vital to the program’s success and building the nursing pipeline.

Jeanne Reeves

Jeanne Reeves is the Chief Nursing Officer for Summerlin Hospital. She works with the Nevada Hospital Association on various committees, including the CNO Council, Legislative Subcommittee and the Patient Safety Committee. Within The Valley Health System she works closely with senior leadership to identify needs, research best practices and develop policies to support those endeavors. She launched Shared Governance at Summerlin Hospital, resulting in active staff participation to achieve improvements for patients. Jeanne also works within the VHS parent company to participate in various councils and committees, and through collaboration, improvements are made that positively impact nursing services across the United States.

Also playing instrumental roles in the Nevada Action Coalition are board member Rosemary Thuet, VHS Education Director, and Lindsay-Mae Ugale, VHS Nurse Educator.

About the Nevada Action Coalition

The Nevada Action Coalition’s mission is to champion, through strategic collaboration, access to high quality healthcare for all Nevadans where nurses contribute as essential partners. Their top four goals are to introduce and prepare Nevada youth to choose healthcare as a career, to increase the ethnic and cultural diversity of Nevada’s healthcare workforce, to encourage registered nurses to advance their education and to provide an internship for every new nurse graduate. Their special projects include NV HOPE, Future of Nurses in Nevada, the GAP program, implementation of nurse residency programs, RN Bound and the CNA program.