CMH names McWhirt as VP of Nursing
Calvert Memorial Hospital has named Robert McWhirt as Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Executive. McWhirt, who has over 15 years experience in nursing management in emergency services, most recently served as administrative director of nursing operations at CMH.

McWhirt is also disaster coordinator at CMH and a member of the county’s Emergency Operations Center. He developed the hospital’s emergency management and bioterrorism response plans.

In 1998, McWhirt joined CMH as manager of the Emergency Department. In 2002, he was promoted to administrative director of nursing operations where he focused on staffing and scheduling as well as financial review.

In his new role, McWhirt will oversee all clinical operations related to direct patient care. His areas of responsibility include medical-surgical, behavioral health, critical care, surgical nursing as well as security. He supervises 500+ staff and manages a budget of $18.5 million.

“Bob is very intelligent and has a very good grasp of the issues affecting nursing care delivery in community hospitals,” said Jim Xinis, CMH President and CEO. “He relates very well to the staff. We look forward to a very long and successful career at Calvert.”

Before coming to Calvert, McWhirt was the Director of Emergency Services for Virtua Health Systems in New Jersey. “I was attracted to CMH because of its focus on preventive care, overall quality and excellent patient care.”

Like other community hospitals, CMH faces a rising nursing shortage especially in areas like critical care, the operating room and emergency medicine. “My job is to look for ways to retain the highly qualified staff who are here,” he said, “and to work with the College of Southern Maryland to develop the next generation of practitioners.”

“The nursing staff at CMH is excellent,” he said, “some of the best I’ve worked with in my career.” He said that CMH has put in place Patient Care Teams. “Each nurse and technician are assigned a group of patients. This provides continuity and consistency in patient care.”