Author E. Hughes Career Achievement Award

Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science

Susan Stone PhD, RN, NEA-BC ’94 (MSN), ’07 (PhD)

Senior Vice President and CEO, Sharp Coronado Hospital

Susan Stone, PhD, is the senior vice president and chief executive officer of Sharp Coronado Hospital, a 181-bed, full-service community hospital specializing in total joint replacements and advanced liver care. Dr. Stone joined Sharp HealthCare in 1986, holding numerous leadership positions including chief nursing officer for two of Sharp’s seven hospitals, where she successfully led the 2007 and 2012 Planetree Designation efforts at Sharp Coronado Hospital and Sharp Memorial Hospital respectively, in addition to the 2013 Magnet Re-designation efforts at Sharp Memorial Hospital. Active in the Association for California Nurse Leaders, she is currently a Southern California regional representative to the state Board of Directors and serves as a regional Nursing California Action Coalition Champion. Known for innovative, patient-centered care program development and research and as a national Patient Centered Care Fellow, Dr. Stone contributed to the development of the Designated Patient Centered Care Hospital Program.

She has been a contributing author in the Patient Centered Care Improvement Guide (2008) and the Putting Patient’s First Field Guide (2013). Her work has been featured in several publications including Boom: Blowing the Doors Off Business as Usual (2007); the second edition of Putting Patients First (2009); and the Health Environments Research and Design Journal (2008). She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at San Diego State University, followed by her Master of Science in Nursing and Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing Science at the University of San Diego.