Dennise Whitley

My career in healthcare began in an unconventional way as a switchboard operator at our local hospital, back when switchboards still used cables. From that position, where I also admitted patients to the ER, I began to see opportunities to help patients, especially children who were terrified of hospitalization. I created an award-winning program called 'Smiley Goes to the Hospital' that we took to all second graders in our district during hospital week. Using a smiley puppet my mother made and a felt board, we taught children what to expect and invited families for hospital tours. I won national awards for this program. I went on to become vice president of two hospitals in Maine before I even had a bachelor's degree, something you couldn't do today. At 47 years old, I decided to go to college and eventually earned a master's in health administration. I was hired by the Osteopathic Hospital of Maine to make it a desirable merger partner. The first thing I did was change the name to Brighton Medical Center, since the hospital had been on Brighton Avenue since 1929. We succeeded, and Maine Medical Center decided to merge with us. My boss gave me a year's salary when the merger happened because I had accomplished what they hired me to do. After that, my husband and I moved to Arizona where I ran the Red Cross for Southern Arizona. I also worked as the legislative person for the American Heart Association in Maine, working with the legislature on healthcare bills, particularly around smoking and similar issues. My career was not typical for getting to be vice president of a hospital, but it was driven by my passion for healthcare and helping people.