Maribeth Hetherington, recently retired Chief Change Officer and former Interim Director of Clinic Operations at Door County Medical Center (Sturgeon Bay, WI), has been named the 2016 recipient of the UW-Green Bay Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award. Hetherington was a 1986 graduate of the university’s BSN completion program. She developed and implemented a restructured supervisory leadership model during her tenure at DCMC and was featured early this year in the American Healthcare Leader Magazine article on “Schooling Healthcare” which described her innovative leadership methods designed to empower employees.
Prior to her time at DCMC, Hetherington served as Vice-President and Chief Nursing Officer for ThedaCare, Inc. (Appleton, WI) where her role as the executive leader of a new inpatient care delivery model was recognized in an international publication. The model was featured in the Shingo Award Winning book “On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry” by John Toussiant, M.D. and Roger A. Gerard, PhD with Emily Adams.
Hetherington had a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a student at UW-Green Bay and was a charter member of the Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society. She reflected on her time at UW-Green Bay mentioning the flexibility of the program for a working nurse and mother of small children; the high quality of the professors; and the recognition she received for her prior learning which netted her 6 credits toward her degree.
Hetherington was presented the Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award at a recognition gathering at Door County Medical Center on October 20 by UW-Green Bay Chairperson of Nursing, Dr. Christine Vandenhouten and Manager of Student Outreach and Alumni Relations, Jan Malchow.
Looking back over her career, Hetherington summarized by saying, “I have had the pleasure of working in many diverse and rewarding roles as a nurse in a long and successful career, and have been grateful for the opportunities the nursing profession has offered me in my life. UWGB was integral in my journey and I will forever be thankful for having the opportunity to complete my BSN there.”