Mary Alice Vanhoy, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, NREMT-P, has been named Nurse Manager for the Queen Anne’s Emergency Center in Grasonville. In this role, she will be responsible for the clinical operation of this 15-bed free-standing emergency center scheduled to open in October.
An emergency nurse for more than 30 years, Vanhoy joined Shore Health System in 1994. For the past 14 years she has been Shore Health System’s Emergency Medical Systems (EMS) Coordinator. In 2006, she took on additional responsibility as the educator for the Emergency Department staff at Memorial Hospital and Dorchester General Hospital. She has also served as Shore Health System’s clinical expert for disaster management.
“Mary Alice has played a significant role in the design of the Queen Anne’s County Emergency Center, which will serve Queen Anne’s and surrounding counties,” says Chris Mitchell, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Director of Emergency and Outpatient Services, Shore Health System. “Her involvement in major construction projects for the Memorial Hospital and Dorchester General Hospital Emergency Departments and her extensive relationships in the community will serve her well as we expand our services in Queen Anne’s County.”
After completing an associate’s degree in nursing from Forsyth Technical College, Vanhoy earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and biology from Guilford College, both in North Carolina. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a master’s degree in nursing education and leadership from the University of Phoenix.
Vanhoy is the EMS captain of the United Communities Volunteer Fire Department in Stevensville and EMS Program Coordinator at Chesapeake College. In 2009, she received the Emergency Nurses Association’s Nursing Professionalism Award. Her other honors include EMS Provider of the Year, the Emergency Nurse of the Year and the EMS for Geriatrics Provider of the Year.
Vanhoy currently represents emergency nurses on the Maryland EMS Board, the Maryland Chapter of the American Trauma Society and the Maryland Pediatric EMS Advisory Committee. She is past president and current president-elect of the Maryland State Council of the Emergency Nurses Association and the secretary/treasurer of the Eastern Shore Chapter of ENA. She currently is an item writer for the newest national emergency nursing certification, Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse, and serves on the National ENA committee for the Scope of Practice.