About
In his role as Regional Chief Nurse Executive &Vice President Regional Patient Care Services, Dr. Spicer provides strategic leadership to drive 鈥淏est Hospital鈥 initiatives across the Southern California and Hawai鈥檌 markets of Kaiser Permanente. Working collaboratively with the 16 medical center Nurse Executives, he and his team ensure consistency of operational systems and processes. In order to maximize the quality and safety of patient care as well as meet the clinical and financial goals of Kaiser Permanente Health Plan/Hospitals, he leverages his experience in professional practice, health care delivery systems, workforce policy, program evaluation, and health services research.
During his tenure with Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Spicer has been instrumental in establishing a Regional Professional Practice Community, bringing together key nursing leaders within the region, including labor, to address practice and professional issues that span the continuum of care. Under his leadership, Kaiser Permanente Southern California secured a multi-million dollar grant to support new graduate nurses鈥 completion of a 13-week transition-to-practice program. Dr. Spicer is committed to increasing the proportion of nurses with baccalaureate degrees and is working with Kaiser Permanente Senior Leadership and Labor Partners to develop a plan to reach 80 percent by 2025. Additionally, Dr. Spicer and his team are developing educational and training programs to prepare Kaiser Permanente nurses to assume leadership positions at all levels.
A graduate of St. John鈥檚 Hospital School of Nursing, Dr. Spicer continued his education receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois and a Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in health care from Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. He completed his Doctor of Nursing Practice in Executive Leadership from American Sentinel University, Aurora, Colorado in 2014. Dr. Spicer鈥檚 doctoral research examined the perceived importance of nurse executive competencies on Chief Nurse turnover.
Dr. Spicer is active in professional organizations and boards at the local, state and national levels. He currently serves on the Board for NurseTRUST, a non-profit organization which brings together outstanding nurse leaders and develop emerging nurse leaders to inspire transformative innovations needed to advance quality care, health equity, and improve the operational efficiency of complex healthcare networks. Additionally, Dr. Spicer is past-president of the Colorado Organization of Nurse Leaders, the past Chair of the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence Board of Directors, a member of both the American Nurses Association and the Association of California Nurse Leaders, a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and is certified as a Professional in Healthcare Quality and Healthcare Insurance Executive. In 2006, Dr. Spicer received the Colorado Organization of Nurse Leaders 鈥淐ircle of Excellence 鈥渁ward and is a 2008 alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellows program.