Prescription for success: Getting to know Navicent Health's Ninfa Saunders
She's in charge of the largest hospital in Central Georgia, the Medical Center, Navicent Health. Dr. Ninfa Saunders holds a few degrees and has racked up impressive awards and recognition.
'My job is to inspire'
Dr. Ninfa Saunders is brilliant. The president and CEO of the Medical Center, Navicent Health holds a few degrees, including a Doctorate in Healthcare Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina and a Master of Business Administration from Emory University in Atlanta. Dr. Saunders earned awards and accolades too numerous to count, but behind the prestigious title is a woman grounded in family, faith and a never-ending commitment to community.
Saunders was born and raised on a small island in the Philippines. She is the second oldest of eight children. From an early age, Saunders says her parents stressed family, faith, and community.
PHOTOS: Dr. Ninfa Saunders, president and CEO of the Medical Center, Navicent Health
“My parents always said to us, 'We have nothing to give you in terms of inheritance, but we can give you education and knowledge, and that no one can ever take that away from you.'”
After attending a private girls school, Saunders went to college in Manila to study nursing. Health leaders saw something special in her early on, so they began to promote her, but it was a move Saunders wasn’t necessarily excited about. “I never wanted to be in administration. I trained myself to be a clinical nurse, I was an exceptionally-good nurse,” she said.
Saunders soon learned that she could impact even more lives by making the move, and her career took off from there. She eventually landed a job at Virtua, the largest healthcare system in south New Jersey.
Now a wife and mother of two, Dr. Saunders worked to blend both worlds until a bad car accident almost killed her son Jamie in 2011. “I got down on my knees and said, 'Lord, don’t take my son, Lord take me, just give me a chance,” Saunders prayed.
Saunders walked away from her job as president and COO of Virtua Health to nurse her son back to health. After Jamie recovered, Dr. Saunders started looking for a job and landed the position of president and CEO the Medical Center, Navicent Health. She joined the hospital in the fall of 2012. During her time at Navicent, she’s most proud of Stratus, a collaboration among more than 20 Central Georgia hospitals, the Autism Center at Navicent Health, and the newly-opened Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital.
Saunders says, “At this level, the reason I get accolades is because of the work that the employees do, so my job is to inspire them to bring the best out of them."