Nursing Leadership
Gwen Moreland, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Acting Dean, College of Nursing, and Chief Nurse Executive, UK HealthCare
Moreland is a board-certified Nursing Executive and has more than 25 years of progressive nursing experience, including key management positions throughout UK HealthCare. She was appointed as chief nurse executive in the fall of 2019.
Prior to serving as chief nurse executive, Moreland served as assistant chief nurse executive at Kentucky Children’s Hospital (2014 – 2019), nursing director of Kentucky Children’s Hospital and birthing center (2011 – 2014), patient care manager (1995 – 2011) and was a member of the perinatal outreach education team (1994 – 1995). She began her career as a child psychiatrist and mother/baby staff nurse before moving into supervisory and managerial roles.
Moreland holds a doctorate of nursing practice and is a board-certified nurse executive. She is also an adjunct faculty member of the University of Kentucky College of Nursing. She is a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA), American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL), Kentucky Organization of Nurse Leaders (KONL), and Sigma Theta Tau International.
Patty Hughes, DNP, RN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Patty Hughes is the chief nurse officer for ambulatory care and infusion services. She has more than 35 years of progressive nursing experience, including key management positions throughout UK HealthCare.
Prior to serving as chief nursing officer, Hughes served as assistant chief nurse executive ambulatory, oncology, infusion services, acute pain services (2016-2022), nursing director of the oncology nursing service line (2009 – 2016), patient care manager for the Markey Cancer Center 2nd floor (2003 – 2009) and the clinical coordinator for the University of Kentucky Blood Brain Barrier Disruption Program (2000 – 2003). She began her career as a medical/surgical staff nurse before moving into supervisory and managerial roles.
Hughes holds a doctorate of nursing practice degree and is a board-certified nurse executive. She is a member of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing, American Organization of Nurse Leaders, American Nurses Association, Kentucky Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau International. Her areas of interest include patient-centered care, staff engagement, standardization of care across the continuum and implementation of care models in ambulatory care settings.
Brandy Mathews, DNP, MHA, RN, NE-BC, CENP, FACHE
Chief Nursing Officer
Brandy Mathews is the chief nurse officer at UK HealthCare for Good Samaritan Hospital and emergency services. Prior to this role, she was the assistant chief nurse executive for the emergency services, medicine and trauma service lines. She also previously served as the administrator for capacity management, responsible for managing throughput activities and resources for the health care system. She has over 25 years of nursing experience, including more than 15 years of progressive leadership experience.
Mathews received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in nursing practice from the University of Kentucky College of Nursing. She also received a master of health administration from the UK Gatton School. Her research interests are primarily focused on the care of patients with mental health and behavioral issues in the hospital setting – specifically nurses’ perceived competency and clinicians’ self-efficacy and attitudes toward this patient population.
Mathews maintains national certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership as a certified nurse executive. She was named a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. She is a member of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, where she currently serves as a member of the board of directors. She is also an engaged member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Kentucky Organization of Nurse Leaders and a lifetime member of the UK Alumni Association.
Kim Blanton, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Kim Blanton is the chief nursing officer for Chandler Medical Center. Blanton is a board-certified nurse executive with 25+ years of progressive nursing experience, including key management positions throughout UK HealthCare.
Blanton completed her master’s in health care administration at the University of Phoenix in Arizona in 2009, a masters in nursing practice and doctorate in nursing practice at the University of Kentucky in 2020. She began her career in 1998, serving as a critical care nurse in the UK HealthCare neurology intensive care unit.
She took on multiple nursing leadership roles during her initial 11 years before leaving in 2008 to serve as director of critical care nursing for Pikeville Medical Center. In January 2011, she rejoined UK HealthCare as a hospital operations administrator. Prior to accepting the chief nursing officer role, Blanton was the enterprise nursing operations director for the cardiovascular service line, interventional services and infection prevention and control.
Kathy B. Isaacs, PhD, RN, NEA-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Kathy Isaacs transitioned to interim assistant chief nurse executive in February 2019 and assumed the role officially in January 2020. Her previous experience was in the neonatal intensive care unit at UK HealthCare, serving as a staff registered nurse, assistant patient care manager, clinical nurse specialist, patient care manager and enterprise director of nursing professional practice and development.
Isaacs holds a doctorate in nursing with a focus on qualitative research and is nationally certified as a nurse executive. She received training with the Center for Creative Leadership in Coaching to provide support to those in a leadership role. Isaacs continues working to provide opportunities for the professional growth and development of nurses at all levels of practice. Her interests include promoting a culture of quality and safety for our patients and staff in an environment of clinical inquiry.
Marc Woods, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Marc Woods is a nurse executive with more than 27 years of progressive nursing experience, including key management positions throughout UK HealthCare and Eastern State Hospital.
He completed his master’s of nursing with a concentration in nursing administration in 2017 and is currently working on his doctorate of nursing, with a focus in executive leadership, at the University of Kentucky. Prior to working as assistant chief nurse executive in behavioral health, he served in numerous leadership roles at Eastern State Hospital, a facility managed by UK HealthCare.
In 2013, Woods played an integral role in transitioning Eastern State Hospital from its old location to the current facility on Bull Lea Road in Lexington, launching the collaboration with UK HealthCare. He has used that opportunity to move toward providing more integrated behavioral health care for the hospital’s patients in partnership with UK HealthCare.
Woods has driven several quality-based initiatives throughout UK HealthCare, including suicide prevention strategies, special observations, and seclusion and restraint reduction efforts. In 2014, he led an initiative at Eastern State Hospital that addressed seclusion and restraint rates, challenging a decades-long culture of overutilization. The effort yielded a sustained 80% reduction in the use of seclusion and restraint from previous years.
Woods is a member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau International, the American Organization of Nurse Leaders and the Kentucky Organization of Nurse Leaders.
Jessica Collins, DNP, RN, NI-BC
Chief Nursing Information Officer
Jessica Collins has been UK HealthCare’s Chief Nursing Informatics Officer (CNIO) since 2023. She provides her guidance and expertise as the IT advisor to the Chief Nurse Executive. Jessica also oversees the Clinical Informatics and IT Education departments. She leads the continued evaluation of existing and developing technology against proven standards in functionality, design, continuity of care, and implications of workflow efficiency in the provision of patient care. Jessica plans, develops, and implements strategies for generating enhanced service delivery and assures efficiency and safety in all nursing practice and operations across UK HealthCare and its affiliates.
Prior to becoming the CNIO, Jessica had 12 years of pediatric critical care nursing experience (PICU). She was also the Inpatient Nursing Workflow Lead for Epic implementation and a Nursing Informaticist in IT for four years. Jessica earned her BS in Biology and her BSN from the University of Illinois. She earned her MSN in Nurse Education from NKU in 2015 and her DNP in Executive Leadership from UK in 2024.