Megan McNamara Williams.
DOVER — Megan McNamara Williams, the vice president of the Delaware Healthcare Association, has been named interim CEO as the top hospital trade group continues its search for a new leader.
Williams has served in a leadership role at the DHA for five years, and has served as an advanced practice nurse with more than 20 years of experience in population health, and hospital quality and safety.
“DHA has been a leading and respected voice in health care in Delaware for many years and I am honored to serve our hospitals and health care systems in this transition role,” she said.
Williams holds a doctorate in nursing from Thomas Jefferson University, a master’s in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a bachelor’s in nursing from University of Delaware. She has worked in family medicine with Beebe Healthcare at one point in time, and much of her career has been spent as a hospitalist and as a primary care provider.
Williams has also designed and led several multidisciplinary initiatives, focused on improving health care outcomes and reducing health care costs.
“Megan has been an integral part of the great work being done at the Delaware Healthcare Association,” said Penny Short, the president of TidalHealth Nanticoke Hospital and the chair of the Delaware Healthcare Association board. “She is passionate about health care and will do a tremendous job leading the association through the search for a permanent replacement.”
Wayne Smith, the previous president and CEO, stepped down at the end of December and will continue to serve in an advisory role until February 2023.
The CEO and president of the DHA has served as a chief lobbyist for Delaware’s health care systems when it comes to policy on a state and federal level since 2007. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the job has also included rallying health care systems in the pandemic response as well as coordinating needs, such as volunteer nurses during the RSV and flu surge this fall.
The DHA Board of directors is conducting a “thorough and thoughtful search” for a permanent CEO, according to officials. The hope is to fill the position as soon as possible, but with a nationwide search, that could still take some time.
