Michele Szkolnicki, M.Ed, BSN, RN, FACHE, FACMPE

As senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Michele Szkolnicki provides leadership on key nursing initiatives, aligns nursing strategy to support hospital goals and is responsible for overall patient care. Szkolnicki has more than 25 years of executive experience in a variety of adult and pediatric hospital and medical practice environments. Presently, she serves as the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer. While in that role, she directed a restoration of nursing staffing and culture transformation which led to a nurse turnover rate reduction from 23% to under 9% - maintaining that for 13 consecutive months and recently achieved a nurse vacancy rate low of 2.65%. In addition, she was co-Executive Sponsor in a hospital-wide initiative to reduce length of stay which resulted in institutional performance in the top decile for 6 consecutive months in FY 2025. She is currently steering the team in pursuit of its 5th Magnet designation with the site visit scheduled for October 2026. Prior to joining Hershey Medical Center, Szkolnicki was the chief operating officer of Crozer Keystone Health Access Network, Springfield, Pa. She also held numerous health care and nursing leadership roles in the Philadelphia region, including COO and CEO roles at Tenet Healthcare in Philadelphia, Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services for Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Chief Operating Officer for Drexel University Physicians and several management and nursing leadership roles with the University of Pennsylvania Health System. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Senior Level Healthcare Executive Regent Award from the ACHE of Central Pennsylvania in October 2025, the ACHE Service Award, the 2017 Neumann University Nursing and Health Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award, the 2012 Neumann University Alumni Association John Neumann Award, and the Nurse Administrator of the Year Award presented by the Philadelphia Business Journal during its 2011 inaugural Healthcare Innovation Awards. Szkolnicki was named to the Becker’s Hospital Review’s 274 Hospital and Health System CNOs to know in 2025.