City of Hope recently selected two new leaders for nursing and patient-care services.
Shirley Johnson, M.B.A., R.N., a 30-year nursing professional from Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, became City of Hope’s new chief nursing and patient services officer on April 14, and Sharon Steingass, R.N., M.S.N., a nursing leader with more than 30 years experience in Southern California-area cancer centers, was named vice president of ambulatory services.
Johnson will guide the strategic direction of nursing and patient-care services and lead the organization’s efforts to continually enhance care provided to patients. Steingass will oversee the Geri & Richard Brawerman Center for Ambulatory Care, the Evaluation and Treatment Center and the Rita Cooper Finkel and J. William Finkel Women’s Health Center.
“We welcome the leadership of Shirley Johnson and Sharon Steingass, and their dedication to quality patient care,” said Alexandra M. Levine, M.D., chief medical officer. “These two remarkable nursing professionals will oversee our longstanding vision of excellence in clinical care and attention to the humanistic aspects of medicine. In addition, both bring a wealth of experience to their respective positions.”
Johnson joined City of Hope on April 14 from Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where she was executive director of Siteman Cancer Center. She was responsible for the strategic direction of the cancer center’s clinical programming initiatives. During her tenure with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Johnson accomplished a variety of improvements, including the planning of a 24-hour outpatient oncology clinic and an offsite facility for medical oncology and radiation oncology. Johnson also expanded the inpatient cancer program from a 16-bed bone marrow transplant unit to a 166-bed entity with 420 full-time employees and an operating budget of $32 million.
She is president of the Association of Cancer Executives and chair of the BMT Program Administrator’s Steering Committee for the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Johnson recently completed a six-year term on the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons and was a member of its Program on Approvals Committee.
Johnson received her Master of Business Administration degree, Master of Science degree in management and bachelor’s degree in nursing from Maryville University in St. Louis. Steingass most recently served as interim chief nursing officer at City of Hope. Previously she served as director of clinical practice and professional education and professional practice leader in the Division of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. Since joining City of Hope in 2001, Steingass has held several key leadership positions and developed clinical orientation programs for nursing personnel, including an oncology internship for new graduate nurses. Before joining City of Hope, Steingass held leadership positions at the USC/Norris Cancer Hospital and the UCLA Bowyer Oncology Clinic. She has been a nursing professional since 1976.
Steingass received her master’s degree in nursing from the Case Western Reserve University‘s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing in Cleveland and her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.
