Walker Baptist Medical Center Names Lori Sumner, MSN, RN, as its Chief Nursing Officer

JASPER, ALA. – November 10, 2020 – Walker Baptist Medical Center today announced Lori Sumner, MSN, RN, has been named chief nursing officer. Prior to joining the Brookwood Baptist Health System, Sumner served as associate chief nursing officer of Capital Regional Medical Center, located in Tallahassee, Fla., with 266 licensed beds and 1,400 employees.

Among her achievements during her tenure at Capital Regional include increasing employee recruitment and retention, as well as patient experience scores; significantly improving quality metrics; leading a successful survey by The Joint Commission with zero conditional level findings and decreased findings overall from prior survey; and coordinating care through Hurricane Michael, bedding more than 60 evacuees from an area hospital in a two-hour period and treating over 700 in-migration patients during the storm.

During her career, Sumner has held positions of increasing responsibility in hospitals across Central and North Florida, including nursing education, quality management and oversight of critical care. A seasoned healthcare leader with nearly 20 years’ nursing experience, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Fla., and master’s degree from Walden University in Minneapolis, Minn.

“Lori’s numerous achievements during her career, in particular in her most recent role, are indicative of the style of leadership that will help Walker Baptist continue to excel in quality measures and deliver the superior care our patients have come to expect from our hospital,” stated Walker Baptist Medical Center CEO, Mike Neuendorf. “Her breadth of experience and expansive leadership will enable Lori to be an immediate contributor, and I look forward to working with her as part of our Walker Baptist team.”