LITTLE ROCK -- CHI St. Vincent has named Nancy Brown as its chief nursing executive and as senior vice president of patient care services for CHI St. Vincent hospitals in Little Rock, Sherwood and Morrilton.

Brown will direct patient care operations for the first hospital in Arkansas named as a Magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. As a Magnet hospital, CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock is considered a leading hospital for nursing excellence and patient care.

A native of Pine Bluff, Brown returns to Arkansas from Norman, Oklahoma, where she served as chief nursing officer at Norman Regional Health System.

While in Oklahoma, Brown provided oversight for quality functions, helping the health care system demonstrate significant improvement in quality, safety and patient experience measures. She also was a key leader during the aftermath of a tornado that destroyed a hospital that was part of the Norman Regional Health System.

Before working in Oklahoma, she was vice president of patient care services at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff from 1995 to 2003 and was chief nursing officer at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith.

Brown has degrees from the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.