Profile

Denise Williams, CENP

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Bio Overview

A mission-oriented system-level leader, Denise Williams serves as Executive Director – Professional Practice for Chesterfield, Missouri based Mercy Health System.  Previously she was the system Director of Patient Safety and has had several leadership positions over her nearly 20 years with Mercy.  Denise holds a Master of Healthcare Operational Excellence degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Southeast Missouri State University as well as executive nurse practice (CENP), patient safety (CPPS), and healthcare quality (CPHQ) certifications.   She started her career in direct patient care in 1991 as a registered nurse (RN) in a cardiovascular intensive care unit, later becoming an Emergency Department RN before assuming her first leadership role.  In her current position, she serves Mercy nurses by providing guidance and structure to enhance efficient care delivery. Enabling nurses increased time to directly interact with patients, is a focus for Denise’s work. Her passion for evidence-based practice enhances quality-of-care delivery while Denise’s light-hearted style of relationship building fosters connection and collaboration throughout the Health System. Her experience using clinical judgement, business acumen, data analysis, change management and team facilitation techniques to achieve results is evident as well as her enjoyment of building teams and focusing on individual leader strengths to contribute to overall success and high value healthcare.