Lauren Cotton

As the Chief Operations Officer of Altus Community Healthcare System OpCo, Lauren Cotton oversees operations and procedures of Neighbors Emergency Centers. In her role, she facilitates the company’s strategic relationships and aligns goals while overseeing quality and compliance, providing leadership and guidance, and bringing the Neighbors Emergency Centers’ mission to fruition. She is focused on delivering high-quality, safe, and compassionate clinical care, ensuring alignment with strategic company goals. Ms. Cotton is a veteran of the healthcare industry as both a practitioner and as an administrator in executive management and clinical operations. She joined Neighbors in 2011 and quickly took on the role of Chief Nursing Officer, where she was instrumental in growing the company into a multi-state, multi-site organization. At Neighbors, she implements both streamlined and customized processes and procedures, creating high-performance cultures. Before serving at Neighbors, Ms. Cotton worked as a Registered Nurse at Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital in Houston. She holds a BS in Nursing from the University of Texas Medical Branch, an MS in Nursing from Texas Woman’s University, and an MBA from the University of Texas at Tyler. Ms. Cotton is an active member of the American Management Association and the Emergency Nursing Association. She is a certified emergency nurse through the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN).