PHILADELPHIA – Regina Cunningham, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, has been named Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), effective in April.
“Regina’s ability to lead across many areas and her deep understanding of hospital operations, especially the role of nursing, were key factors in this appointment,” said University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) CEO Ralph W. Muller. “As we embark on greater integration of service lines across the hospitals and physician practices, and continuously focus on quality, we are confident that Regina’s thoughtful leadership, collaborative style, and expertise in administrative matters will serve the Health System well.”
Cunningham leaves her current position as Chief Nursing Executive of UPHS to assume the new role.
Cunningham began her tenure at Penn Medicine as associate chief nursing officer of Cancer Services at the Abramson Cancer Center in September 2011, a role followed two years later by time as chief administrative officer of the cancer service line in the ACC, before she assumed her current position later in 2013. She has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing since April 2012.
Prior to Penn, Cunningham held nursing leadership posts at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, where she served as both senior director of oncology and nursing research. Cunningham earned a bachelor of science in nursing from College of Mount Saint Vincent, a master of arts in nursing from New York University, and a doctorate in nursing from University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University.
Following her numerous previous studies published in nursing and multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journals, Cunningham is currently principal investigator of an NIH-funded multi-site study aimed at developing knowledge and skills to support implementation of clinical trials.
Cunningham was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in 2014, and is Board certified as in Advanced Nursing Administration Nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Corporation. Cunningham is a member of the American Nurses Association, New Jersey State Nurses Association, and she was selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow in 2006.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $580 million awarded in the 2023 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts,” Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries that have shaped modern medicine, including CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System cares for patients in facilities and their homes stretching from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. UPHS facilities include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Doylestown Health, Lancaster General Health, Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, chartered in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Penn Medicine at Home, GSPP Rehabilitation, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.9 billion enterprise powered by nearly 49,000 talented faculty and staff.