Chief Nursing Officer

Heather Schroeder is a senior healthcare executive with nearly three decades of experience in nursing and over 25 years in progressive leadership, including more than a decade serving as a Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer. She is recognized for driving enterprise-level nursing strategy, workforce transformation, and quality outcomes across complex health systems.

For 11 years, Heather served as Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Aurora BayCare Medical Center, a tertiary care hospital in Northeast Wisconsin. In this role, she held executive accountability for nursing practice, clinical quality, workforce strategy, and patient experience. She led multidisciplinary teams in advancing care delivery models, strengthening nurse engagement, and aligning operations with system-wide strategic priorities.

Heather is known for her ability to stabilize and grow the nursing workforce in highly competitive markets. Her leadership emphasizes pipeline development, academic partnerships, and innovative onboarding models to ensure long-term workforce sustainability. She has collaborated with regional academic institutions and community partners to expand access to nursing education and create high-performing clinical environments for new graduates and experienced nurses alike.

A strong advocate for quality and safety, Heather has led initiatives grounded in high reliability principles, reducing practice variation and improving patient outcomes through data-driven performance management. Her leadership style reflects a commitment to accountability, transparency, and a just culture that empowers frontline teams.

Heather is also recognized for her executive presence as a collaborative and strategic leader, partnering closely with stakeholders, including physicians, boards, and senior leadership teams to drive results in a complex healthcare enviornment. She brings a balanced approach to operational excellence, fiscal responsibility, and people-centered leadership.

She is passionate about shaping the future of healthcare through innovative workforce models, attracting and stabilizing the workforce, developing emerging nurse leaders, and advancing the future of nursing through mentorship, innovation, and system-level transformation.