Lorisa Richards is the Vice President of Nursing Operations at The Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH). In this role, Ms. Richards will continue to collaborate with the interdisciplinary team to drive excellence in clinical quality while improving operational practices across Medicine, Surgery, and Critical Care. She will also make a hospital-wide impact with the nursing administrators, Throughput, and the Staffing Office.
Ms. Richards joined The Mount Sinai Hospital in 2001 as a clinical nurse on an organ transplant unit, and has consistently championed initiatives to improve patient outcomes across the hospital while advancing the professional development of clinical nurses in her areas of responsibility. Her passion for evidence-based nursing practice coupled with her collaborative leadership style led to her promotion through several leadership roles during the past two decades.
Ms. Richards became an assistant nursing administrator in 2004, and a nurse manager for a medical surgical unit in 2008. Her leadership abilities and her proven track record in nursing operations led to her appointment as Associate Director of Nursing in 2016 when she assumed responsibility for the Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Program, as well as the GI medical and surgical specialties.
In 2018, she was promoted to Director of Nursing, and her role expanded to include the float pool, surgical advanced practice nurses, and nurse administrators, and in 2020 she became Senior Director with responsibility for Medicine. Most recently, working collaboratively with key stakeholders she co-developed the Nursing Department Staffing Office. Ms. Richards is considered an expert in labor relations and made a significant impact during the 2019 NYSNA negotiations.
Ms. Richards began her career in 1998 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Connecticut as a surgical RN. In 1999 she transitioned to home care as a clinical nurse at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York.
Ms. Richards received a Master of Science from Pace University in 2005 and received her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey in May 2022. She completed a Fellowship in the NYU Leadership Development Program for Black Nurses in 2010. She received the Ellen Fuller Award for Excellence in Nursing in 2012, and is currently enrolled in the Black Executive Acceleration Program.