CHRISTUS Health appoints interim Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer

DALLAS – CHRISTUS Health, a Catholic, faith-based, not-for-profit health system headquartered in Dallas, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jim Cato to interim vice president and chief nursing officer.

While accepting this new responsibility, Cato will continue to serve in his current role as chief nurse executive for the CHRISTUS Spohn Health System, where he has been responsible for patient care and professional practice across the six comprising hospitals since 2011.

Cato’s primary focus in his new role will be to assist the CHRISTUS Health regional nursing leaders in achieving productivity goals and redesigning nursing models where needed to improve quality of care. He will work in collaboration with the system’s Executive Council, regional leaders and boards to ensure nursing representation in system-wide initiatives that support the CHRISTUS Health mission, vision, values and strategic plan.

“We are thrilled Dr. Cato has accepted this appointment,” said Dr. John Gillean, executive vice president and chief clinical officer. “He will bring a wealth of knowledge to our team, and I am confident in his ability to lead with dedication and passion in this new position.”

Cato has a combined 33 years of health care experience, including nursing, nursing leadership, academia, hospital operations, and clinical informatics and information systems. Prior to joining CHRISTUS Health, he was chief nursing officer for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Cato earned a Doctor of Education from Nova Southeastern University in Florida and holds two masters, one in nursing from Old Dominion University and another in health science from Texas Wesleyan University. He received his CRNA from Harris Hospital School of Nurse Anesthesia and has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Southern Illinois University.

He is a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow, a Johnson and Johnson Wharton Fellow in Executive Nursing and a Fellow of Scientific Writing for the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. In addition, Cato holds adjunct faculty appointments at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. He serves on the advisory boards of several nursing publications and organizations and is a United States Air Force veteran.