Professor & Chair; Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer
Univ. of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
Dr. Summers, who holds a Ph.D. in Health Care Administration, has held leadership positions in a variety of healthcare settings including academic health centers and quaternary care institutions. She has broad administrative experience leading, managing and directing clinical operations and business programs including service as an administrator of inpatient services at the Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia. Prior to coming to M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1997, Dr. Summers was affiliated with the National Institutes of Health, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, where she developed a program of cancer nursing research in collaboration with the staff of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Summers has extensive background in cancer care and was recruited to M. D. Anderson Cancer Center as the Administrative Director for the Hematology Programs Center. She subsequently served as Associate Vice President for Clinical Programs where she was responsible for providing leadership in the planning and oversight of clinical programs including projects in business operations, clinical program activities and clinical faculty resources allocation. She has also served as the interim Vice President for outpatient services providing administrative oversight for all ambulatory programs in an institution with over 600,000 visits per year. Dr. Summers is currently the Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer and Head of the Division of Nursing. In this position she holds responsibility for a 575-inpatient bed clinical operation and the strategic planning and oversight of nursing practice with over 2,500 registered nurses. An active participant in professional organizations, she has developed a focused expertise in the areas of leadership development, patient safety, cultural transformation and in the design and construction of healthcare facilities. Professional honors and awards include National Institutes of Health "NIH Director's Award" and the NIH Clinical Center Service Chief's Award for Excellence. Dr. Summers is also a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow.