Adelisa Perez, a Registered Nurse, is the Quality Institute’s new Director of Quality.

Can you outline the focus of your role?

I will oversee all of our quality initiatives, such as our work with the Leapfrog Group, and I will work with Linda Schwimmer on the National Quality Forum. I’ll also oversee the Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC) and Conversation of Your Life (COYL).

Your background is clinical and not in the policy world. Can you tell us about your experience and why you joined the Quality Institute?

I am a Registered Nurse with about ten years of clinical experience and I hold a Cardio-Vascular Certification. Right now, I’m enrolled in the Master of Science program with specialization in Nursing Leadership at Rutgers University and I’ll finish up in the fall. As part of the program, I interned with the Quality Institute, and that experience, along with my studies, showed me how nurses can have real impact outside hospital walls. Through my internship, I participated in the COYL initiative and continued to volunteer on the Monmouth County COYL task force.

How will your nursing background strengthen your policy work at the Quality Institute?

I think my hospital experience gives me a unique perspective. I have advocated on behalf of my patients and saw firsthand how quality initiatives work inside hospitals. I’ve worked on Leapfrog quality measures internally and on audits regarding infection control as well as other quality improvement data. Having been on the other side of Leapfrog, I can help our hospitals with questions they may have about how to improve.

Will your clinical background support the Quality Institute’s community-based programs?

Yes, absolutely. There is widespread understanding that health outcomes are greatly influenced by the communities in which people live. My clinical expertise and insight gives me the ability to make connections between our members, such as hospitals and insurers, and our programs, such as MWC. I can encourage our members to leverage our community programs to advance their population health initiatives. We support many community programs, for example, walking school buses, nutrition and exercise programs, and Mental Health First Aid Training, which aim to improve the health and well-being of New Jersey communities.

Can you share some of your passions outside your professional work? 

I am definitely an outdoors person. I love hiking, kayaking, and paddling. I also love to read, as well as travel outside the country several times each year … Spain, Amsterdam, Paris, Ireland, Scotland … lots of places.