Kathy C. Bailey

KATHY C. BAILEY was named President and Chief Executive Officer at UNC Health Blue Ridge in January 2013. Prior to becoming the CEO, she held the position of Chief Operating Officer at Blue Ridge HealthCare since 2005. Prior to coming here, she was the Inaugural CEO of The Outer Banks Hospital in Nags Head, NC, for six years. Kathy led the design and building of that hospital, and then ran it until 2005.

From 1990 to 1999 Kathy was the VP of Patient Care at Rowan Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, NC. While there, she implemented the Shared Governance Model for nursing, the first implementation in NC. She presented her Shared Governance Model at numerous national conferences, including presentations at the Mayo Clinic, St. Joseph’s in Atlanta, and Johns Hopkins University. She was featured in several articles about her Shared Governance success, her accomplishments on building a hospital from the ground up in the Outer Banks, and was the featured guest on the TV show “NC People” in 2002 with Dr. William Friday.

In addition to doctoral studies, Kathy obtained her Bachelor’s in Nursing at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and her Master’s in Health Policy and Administration at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kathy also served as the President of the North Carolina Organization of Nurse Executives in 1996. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau and was the 1996 recipient of the NC Great 100 Nurses award. She was named to Becker’s Hospital Review Top Female Healthcare Executives in 2016, and currently serves on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors as the Vice Chair of Strategic Planning, the Burke Development Board, and the Catawba Regional Board for American Red Cross. She has maintained Fellowship status in the American College of Healthcare Executives since 1997.

Under her leadership, UNC Health Blue Ridge serves as the healthcare provider of choice for Burke County and surrounding communities.