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HEALTHCARE HEROES | 2025 AWARDS B8 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 6, 2025 Winner Category | Nursing Student Kidesha T. Black Director of Nursing Services – Community Programs Oak Hill CT K idesha Black (MBA, MSN, RN) is is a nursing executive with more than a decade of leadership experience in healthcare systems. She currently serves as director of nursing services at Oak Hill, overseeing nursing operations across 60-plus group homes. Black has dual master's degrees in nursing organizational leadership and business administration in health care. She specializes in process improve- ment, nursing mentorship and evidence- based practices that elevate patient outcomes while fostering collaborative, high-performing teams. What have been your significant contribu- tions to your organization in the past year? I led a transformation of Oak Hill's nursing model, aligning staffing with individual acuity and reducing overtime costs by more than $250,000 annually. I developed evidence-based triage training that lowered rehospitalizations by 20%, and created a comprehensive nurse orientation program that improved retention by over 50%. By standardizing vitals equipment across 60-plus homes, I enhanced accuracy and reduced costs. I also launched real-time key performance indicator dashboards and medication transcription protocols, strengthening compliance, account- ability and staff confidence — improving outcomes and elevating quality of care. How has continuing education helped with your professional development? Continuing education has strength- ened my leadership, clinical and regulatory knowledge, enabling me to stay current with best practices. It has enhanced my ability to lead teams, drive quality improvement, and support staff development, ensuring I continue growing as a nursing leader while improving outcomes for those we serve. Tell us about a challenge in your job that you were able to overcome. When tasked with restructuring the nursing care model, I faced strong resis- tance as staff feared increased workload. I approached this challenge through transparency, collaboration and phased implementation, ensuring nurses' voices were included in the process. By combining re-education with clear evidence of improved safety and effi- ciency, I gained buy-in and built trust, resulting in a stronger, unified team committed to excellence. Tell us about a challenge in your job that you were able to overcome. Nationally, staffing has been a challenge. But collaboration with our talent acquisi- tion partners and our professional devel- opment specialists and educational teams have helped get us to where we need to be. We are not just maintaining volume. We are exceeding our targets and providing superior service and receiving high patient satisfaction scores in a very competitive market. What's your next major goal and/or challenge? My next challenge is to ensure our service lines deliver the highest quality care in a safe, efficient and compassionate environment — always keeping patients at the center. I'm focused on expanding our reach, staying on the cutting edge of technology and continuously enhancing the patient experience to remain compet- itive and deliver exceptional outcomes. Winner Category | Nurse Joan ompson Director of Surgical Services, Endoscopy and Central Sterile Processing St. Mary's Hospital — Trinity Health Of New England J oan ompson (BSN, RN) oversees two operating rooms, one at St. Mary's and an outpatient surgical center, Naugatuck Valley Surgical Center. She ensures coordination, communica- tion and efficiency. Her main areas of focus are patient experience, quality, access and strategic growth. In addition to leading the surgical performance team, she sits on the environment of care, infection prevention and sharps, spine and ortho and emer- gency preparedness committees. What have been your significant contributions to your organization in the past year? I was among the team leaders at St. Mary's to acquire and successfully inte- grate a third surgical robot. I led data- driven planning with the robotics team to support growth, productivity and case distribution. is work contributed to the expansion of surgical capabilities and improved outcomes. Also, I was the regional OR and proce- dural area team leader for our new EPIC upgrade implementation, and along with many teams and committees, success- fully maintained our surgical site infec- tion rate well below the national average. Winner Category | Nurse Tory Murtha Director of Patient Services, Smilow Ambulatory Oncology Yale New Haven Hospital T ory Murtha is the patient services director for Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven Hospital. She has more than 20 years of experience in oncology nursing and oversees clinical operations across multiple ambulatory departments. She leads numerous initiatives aimed at improving patient outcomes, enhancing nursing workflows and fostering professional development through formal and informal mentorship. What have been your significant contribu- tions to your organization in the past year? I assisted in transition to a new electronic medical record system and the re-accreditation of our national accreditation program for breast centers, Commission on Cancer and Triannual Joint Commission survey. I partnered with Trinity leadership for the purchase of a new linear accelerator within radiation oncology and devel- oped and facilitated an oncology nursing symposium to support ongoing learning for nurses at all levels. I also mentored multiple new nurse leaders through a formal mentorship program. Tell us about a challenge in your job that you were able to overcome. ree of my sites are integrated between two large healthcare systems. From a nursing leadership standpoint, this presents unique challenges as rela- tionships of this kind require merging of organizational cultures, differing policies and competing priorities. One significant challenge was aligning clinical stands for nursing practice while transitioning one of two organizations into a new electronic medical record. We created a new workflow that aligns with oncology best practices, upholds two organizational expectations and supports my nursing teams that needed to learn two processes. What's your next major goal? I will work to assist myself and others in writing abstracts for oncology nursing and nursing leadership to showcase the outstanding work of our teams. Also, I will be working on an oncology epic optimization committee to enhance and streamline documentation. Proud to salute our healthcare heroes. Today and every day. Smilow Cancer Hospital is proud to congratulate our very own Tory Murtha for being recognized as a 2025 Healthcare Hero by the Hartford Business Journal and all of the other honorees. Tory Murtha DNP, RN, OCN, CNML Director of Patient Services