Journey takes her from nurse
to CEO of Nazareth Hospital

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Back in 1970, young Christina Connor came to Nazareth Hospital as a student nurse.
Now, in 2008, Christina "Tina" Fitz-Patrick is the president and CEO of the hospital.
"It’s hard to believe," she said of her long tenure. "I made the decision to stay. Something keeps me grounded here. It’s the mission of the Sisters (of the Holy Family of Nazareth) and the people. Nazareth is unique. It’s a very family atmosphere."
Fitz-Patrick first came to the hospital as a student at Bucks County Community College. She officially began her career as a nurse in 1972 and later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from La Salle University.
By 1996, she was vice president of nursing and became chief operating officer in 2002.
When Pat DeAngelis retired in January 2007, Fitz-Patrick was named interim president and CEO.
After a yearlong nationwide search, Mercy Health System and the hospital Board of Trustees selected her for the permanent position.
When the decision was announced at a meeting on Jan. 4, hospital administrators gave her a standing ovation.
Fitz-Patrick is humbled as a layperson to be leading an institution founded 68 years ago by the Sisters, who wanted to convert the farmland near the intersection of Holme Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard into a community hospital.
"It’s an awesome responsibility," she said. "I’m just a steward of the position. I hope Nazareth is here another sixty-eight years serving the community."
Fitz-Patrick lived in Mayfair as a child before moving to Croydon, Bucks County. Today, she is married with four children and lives in Burlington City, N.J.
Her grandfather, Peter Shelinsky, is a former Nazareth security guard. Her late father, Francis Connor, moonlighted as a television serviceman at the hospital. She’s the oldest of seven children, five of whom were born at the hospital. And all four of her children were born there.
"There’s a lot of Nazareth connections," she said.
Fitz-Patrick is proud of what Nazareth was yesterday and is today.
"The mission is always about the patient," she said.
In fact, Fitz-Patrick and other senior administrators each visit five patients per week to ask them how their stay is going.
"We’re getting a lot of positive feedback," she said. "It’s a way to connect to the patients."
Fitz-Patrick oversees a hospital with 1,200 employees. There are also some longtime volunteers, and Nazareth is trying to bring in some younger help by holding shadowing days for students at Cardinal Dougherty and Archbishop Ryan high schools.
Besides the main campus, there’s a medical office building and an outpatient therapy center across the street on Holme Avenue and a health and wellness facility on Rhawn Street.
The hospital administrator can point to numerous signs of a thriving institution. In satisfaction surveys, patients are giving Nazareth improving grades. The hospital has state-of-the-art technology, including a 64-slice CT image scanner.
HealthGrades Inc., a national healthcare ratings organization, places Nazareth among the top 10 percent of hospitals for stroke care and joint replacement surgery. Its wound care center provides a quick healing rate.
The hospital sends nurses to parish health fairs and also offers heart screenings, stroke assessments and blood-sugar tests in the community.
"We’ve identified a lot of people who didn’t know they had diabetes," Fitz-Patrick said.
The hospital’s emergency department is growing from 21 to 34 beds. Patients will have private rooms with a warm, modern color scheme.
There will be new exterior signage, including an LED messaging board. And the main entrance will feature a new canopy.
"It will give the campus a whole new look," Fitz-Patrick said. "There are a lot of exciting things happening at Nazareth." ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com