Trenda Ray named chief nursing officer for UAMS Health

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock has promoted Dr. Trenda Ray to chief nursing officer and associate vice chancellor for patient care services for UAMS Health.

UAMS Health is a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise including its hospital, regional clinics and clinics it operates or staffs in cooperation with other providers.

Ray is responsible for ensuring quality nursing care and has executive oversight for the hospital’s nursing units, respiratory care, international services and pastoral care. She also is responsible for the care management team, including hospital and outpatient services, the inpatient psychiatric social work team, and community health advocates.

Ray joined UAMS in 2011 as the ambulatory operations officer and director of ambulatory nursing. She served as director of accreditation and compliance from 2014 to January 2017, when she was named to lead the care management program. In 2018, she served as the associate vice chancellor for patients and families.

Before joining UAMS in 2011, Ray served for more than 10 years in various roles at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, including as director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. She also served as the director of clinical operations for ambulatory services and as an advance practice registered nurse (APRN) in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

She was awarded the Society of Pediatric Nurses New Researcher Award of Excellence in 2008.

Ray earned a nursing degree from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia in 1997. She earned a Master of Science in Nursing in 2000 and a Ph.D. in nursing in 2010, both from UAMS.