L+M Healthcare names Kerin Da Cruz as Chief Nursing Officer

New London, CT (June 2, 2020) - L+M Healthcare has tapped Kerin Da Cruz, MSN, RN, to serve as vice president patient care services and chief nursing officer for L+M Healthcare, a member of Yale New Haven Health, that includes Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, Westerly Hospital and other ambulatory services throughout the region. Her appointment is effective June 1.

In this role Da Cruz will lead the nursing teams at both L+M Hospital and Westerly Hospital. She will also maintain responsibilities for Laboratory Services as well the delivery networks Digestive Health and Behavioral Health service lines. She has served as the vice president of operations at Westerly Hospital since 2017.

“Kerin has a unique skill set that is ideal of our organization at this time as we prepare for further transformation of how we deliver high quality care,” said Patrick Green, president and CEO, L+M Healthcare.

“Aligning our leadership team in a way that focuses our attention on improving the care we provide to our patients and families brings tremendous value to our organization.”

Da Cruz succeeds Caren Lewis who resigned as CNO effective June 1. Kevin Torres, MD, associate chief medical officer, will serve as interim administrator for Westerly Hospital. Da Cruz, who has more than 28 years of experience in health care, started her career at L+M as assistant chief nursing officer in 2009. A graduate of Rhode Island College where she received her bachelor’s in nursing, Da Cruz received her master’s degree in nursing administration from the University of Rhode Island.

She is on the faculty at her alma mater, teaching leadership at the University of Rhode Island in the College of Nursing. She serves on the boards for the Rhode Island Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce. She is an active member of the American Organization for Nursing Leaders, the Organization of Nurse Leaders for southern New England, is board certified in Nursing Administration and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, a member of Yale New Haven Health, is a non-profit, 308-bed general and acute care hospital providing patient care to medical, surgical, pediatric, psychiatric and obstetrical patients in southeastern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island since 1912. Lawrence + Memorial offers cardiac acute, step-down and rehabilitation programs and is the only eastern Connecticut hospital that performs emergency and elective angioplasty. www.lmhospital.org

Westerly Hospital, a member of Yale New Haven Health, is a 125-bed hospital that has been providing residents of southern Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut with a full range of inpatient and outpatient services in a community hospital setting for more than 90 years. Westerly Hospital patients receive the finest quality treatment in the following areas of care: emergency, medical, surgical, radiology, laboratory and rehabilitative services. The hospital also offers heart and vascular care, interventional pain management, wound care, pulmonary rehabilitation services, inpatient geriatric psychiatric care and comprehensive cancer care provided through the Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center. All inpatient rooms are private. westerlyhospital.org