Nicole Thomas receives Regent’s Award from the American College of Healthcare Executives

Nicole Thomas, MHA, FACHE, hospital president of Baptist Medical Center South, received the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Senior-Level Healthcare Executive Regent’s Award.

The Senior-Level Healthcare Executive Regent’s Award recognizes ACHE members who are experienced in the field and have made significant contributions to the advancement of health care management excellence and the achievement of ACHE’s goals.

Members are evaluated on: leadership ability; innovative and creative management; executive capability in developing their own organization and promoting its growth and stature in the community; contributions to the development of others in the health care profession; leadership in local, state or provincial hospital and health association activities; participation in civic/community activities and projects; participation in ACHE activities; and interest in assisting ACHE in achieving its objectives.

Thomas is the first female to serve as a hospital president at Baptist Health, currently overseeing Baptist South, the second-largest hospital in the health system. She has held this position since September of 2016 and has been with Baptist Health for eight years. Prior to this, Thomas spent five years with St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System in Houston. Prior to St. Luke’s, she spent nine years at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville starting as an administrative fellow and rising to practice administrator.

A fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, Thomas has a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Minority Merit Scholar and Institute for Diversity in Healthcare Management Scholarship recipient. She received a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Dillard University in New Orleans.

“It is an honor to be recognized by my peers at ACHE,” said Thomas. “ACHE has been an integral part of my professional development since I was a student. It is a privilege to support the North Florida Chapter of ACHE as health care executives work to improve health for our patients and our communities and prepare the next generation of leaders who will continue to close the gap on health disparities, while increasing quality and safety for the patients we serve.”

Thomas serves as chair of the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Jacksonville branch, and is a member of the OneJax Board, the Senior Advisory Council for the National Association of Health Services Executives, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She has been named a Woman of Distinction by the Northeast Florida Girl Scout Council, a Woman of Influence by the Jacksonville Business Journal, a Woman with Heart by Volunteers in Medicine and received the Women in Business Award from the Jacksonville Women’s Network. She is a 2013 graduate of Leadership Jacksonville and a past chair of Women in Local Leadership for the United Way of Northeast Florida.