Summerville Native to Lead Hospital's Nurses

Summerville, SC — Summerville Medical Center has announced Karrie Powell, RN, MSN as the hospital's new Chief Nursing Officer. The Summerville native and Charleston Southern University graduate returns home after 12 years of working in a variety of nursing leadership positions. Most recently, she worked with Kaiser Permanente health system in Napa, CA.

"I'm excited to return home to join the wonderful team at Summerville Medical Center (SMC) and to be close to my parents and friends," said Powell. "They have kept me updated on the progress at the hospital, especially the expansion and what it will mean to families in the area."

Powell joins the hospital as it recently embarked on a $53 million expansion of its Women's and Children's program including the addition of a high risk obstetrics service. When construction is completed on the project in mid-2018, maternity services at Trident and Summerville Medical Centers will be consolidated at Summerville. The move will create more access to critical care services at Trident. Last year, more than 2,600 babies were born at both hospitals.

Summerville Medical Center CEO Lisa Valentine explained, "Our patients tell us our hospital feels like a family to them. It was important to us that our new Chief Nursing Officer continue to build on that strong culture as well as bring excellent leadership and nursing skills to our team. She also has a track record of building programs, which is very important to us." Summerville Medical Center has nearly 600 employees; of them nearly 300 are nurses.

Powell began her nursing career in the Charleston area and served as a traveling critical care nurse for Trident Health, which includes Trident, Summerville and Moncks Corner Medical Center and Centre Pointe Emergency. She excelled in leadership roles with Kaiser Permanente near Napa, California.

Most recently, she worked in a number of nursing leadership roles at California-based Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento and Valley Healthcare in Gold River as well with the Kaiser Permanente health system. Powell has experience with increasing access to care having served as part of the leadership team that opened the newest Kaiser Permanente facility and expanded services to include a Level II Trauma program. She brings a strong service excellence and quality background to Summerville Medical Center.

"I feel fortunate to be part of the expansion and consolidation of women's and children's services with the opening of the new Women's Pavilion," stated Powell. She is relocating to the Summerville area with her husband and four children.