Mel Russell

Prior to assuming his current role as Chief Nurse Executive, Mel Russell served as the Director of Clinical Operations, the Director of Critical Care Services and the Chief Nursing Officer of Palomar Medical Center Escondido. He is a nursing leader with more than a decade of leadership experience in hospital settings.

Russell is committed to quality and safety, patient experience, and employee engagement. He has a proven record of accomplishment in process improvement, finance, and survey readiness.

His nursing career began in 1996 and he has been involved in a multitude of clinical, operational, and leadership roles. Russell has provided direction in concurrent roles as the Director for Critical Care, Trauma Program, Joint Dialysis Operations and the Float Pool.

Russell holds a Master’s of Science in Nursing with a reputation for aligning and building high-performing and outcome-driven teams.