Dr. Karen Grimley leads professional nursing practice and care delivery across UCLA Health’s five hospitals and more than 260 ambulatory clinics, overseeing more than 5,000 bedside nurses. Under her leadership, UCLA Health has earned multiple prestigious accolades for nursing excellence, including Magnet designations from the American Nurses Credentialing Center– the highest recognition for nursing excellence in the U.S. – numerous Beacon Awards from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and Lantern Awards from the Emergency Nurses Association for exceptional achievements in leadership, practice, education, advocacy, and research.
She spearheaded development of a comprehensive workforce strategy that has driven nursing engagement and excellence scores beyond national benchmarks in six of seven categories across the system, transformed the relationship-based care initiative Reigniting the Spirit of Caring into an intentional self-care retreat that provides essential support for nurses and healthcare workers, and was instrumental in establishing the Safer U program, significantly enhancing the safety and well-being of staff, patients, and families.
Dr. Grimley is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, representing the highest level of nursing leadership and commitment to improving health locally and globally. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts, and a Doctorate in Nursing from Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University.