West Orange, New Jersey, June 9, 2025 – Nancy E. Holecek, MAS, MHA, BSN, RN, Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of RWJBarnabas Health, the largest, most comprehensive academic health care system in New Jersey, has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives in the U.S. for 2025. This is the second year that Ms. Holecek has been named to this list.
Modern Healthcare’s 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives program honors clinical executives across the country who use their medical training to shape their leadership. They are selected by the magazine’s senior editors for their exceptional achievements in driving innovation, improving outcomes, serving their communities, and demonstrating exemplary leadership. Executives included on the list have a track record of furthering operational, financial and clinical improvements at their organizations while improving community health or addressing other industrywide issues.
Nancy E. Holecek, MAS, MHA, BSN, RN, is the driving force behind all nursing-related patient care services at RWJBarnabas Health and oversees a nursing staff of more than 11,000 individuals. She leads the system’s nursing initiatives in strategic planning, fiscal decisions, patient satisfaction, care coordination and quality, and builds and sustains an exceptional nursing workforce to benefit the communities served.
Ms. Holecek’s leadership has accelerated RWJBarnabas Health’s ability to deliver exceptional care, and has contributed to a systemwide decrease of central-line-associated blood stream infections by 34% and a decrease in C. diff infections of 60% in 2024; and the successful implementation of an early warning system that has resulted in a 27% relative reduction in mortality in patients transferred to the ICU and a 17% relative reduction in mortality over six months.
In addition, RWJBarnabas Health has achieved an 88% retention rate across the entire nursing workforce. Nursing turnover is at 16.4%, which is well below the national benchmark of 18.4%. The American Nurses Credentialing Center recognized six hospitals within the system with Magnet accreditation; one is designated as Magnet with Distinction.
The Institute for Nursing Excellence, which Ms. Holecek co-leads, is an innovative initiative that improves patient outcomes and enhances access to care by aligning nursing practices across the system, fostering professional development, innovation, and research, enhancing collaboration with academic partners, promoting inter-professional education and collaboration, and standardizing practices to reduce redundancy and promote consistency. The Institute’s Eisenhower Simulation Center, a major investment in technology, received Provisional Accreditation from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, the gold standard for simulation programs, showing a commitment to excellence by providing high-quality simulation experiences that lead to better patient outcomes. Ms. Holecek is also spearheading a major expansion and renaming of one of the nation’s oldest and New Jersey’s longest-operating nursing school. The RWJBarnabas Health School of Nursing will soon have two locations in New Jersey, increasing access to training for nursing careers.
According to Modern Healthcare, the 50 clinicians chosen for this year’s list are having an oversized impact on their organizations. The honorees will be published at ModernHealthcare.com/50Most and in the June 9 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine.
Contact: Carrie Cristello
Carrie.Cristello@rwjbh.org