ROCHESTER, NY, October 14, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Rachelle Stevens has been recognized for her achievements in healthcare.

Ms. Rachelle Stevens is a healthcare executive with nearly two decades of experience spanning clinical care, nursing leadership and health system operations. She currently serves as Senior Vice President of Operations at Rochester Regional Health, where she provides system-level leadership across a broad portfolio of clinical and operational services throughout the health system.

In her current role, Ms. Stevens supports operations across multiple areas of the organization, including perioperative services, acute rehabilitation, imaging, pharmacy, food and nutrition services, respiratory therapy, the system float pool, agency workforce management and additional specialty operations. Her portfolio spans hospital-based, ambulatory and system-level services, with responsibility for advancing operational performance, improving access and throughput, strengthening financial stewardship and supporting high-quality care delivery.

Ms. Stevens works closely with hospital executives, physicians and operational leaders to identify opportunities for improvement, address barriers to care and strengthen performance across the system. Her responsibilities include supporting perioperative services operations, managing significant operating budgets, overseeing contracted non-physician labor, reducing unnecessary expense and developing strategies to improve efficiency while maintaining clinical quality. She also plays a key role in advancing standardization, operational transformation and growth across complex clinical service lines.

Prior to assuming her current position, Ms. Stevens held several senior leadership roles within Rochester Regional Health, including Associate Chief Nurse Executive for Nursing Operations. In these positions, she provided strategic oversight of nursing operations across the health system and led initiatives focused on workforce strategy, staffing efficiency, capacity management and operational performance.

Her leadership responsibilities expanded significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she helped coordinate large-scale capacity and workforce responses to rapidly changing patient care needs. Her work included supporting the opening of additional beds, establishing a third-shift dialysis operation for patients with COVID-19, coordinating staffing and training, and developing a dedicated care model for patients who no longer required acute hospitalization but could not immediately return to nursing home settings.

Ms. Stevens also led major workforce and expense-management initiatives within nursing operations, with a focus on labor optimization, staffing strategy and operational efficiency during a period of significant workforce pressure.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Stevens held progressive leadership positions at Rochester General Hospital, including Nurse Director, Nurse Manager of the Medical Intensive Care Unit, and Nurse Manager of the Observation Unit, Clinical Decision Unit and Patient-Centered Admission Team.

Before moving into senior leadership, she developed extensive experience in critical care and trauma services. At Strong Memorial Hospital within the University of Rochester Medical Center, she served as Interim Nurse Manager, Burn Program Manager and Burn Trauma Intensive Care Unit Clinical Coordinator. She also practiced as a trauma intensive care nurse at Strong Memorial Hospital and as a surgical intensive care nurse at Rochester General Hospital.

Ms. Stevens earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Rochester Simon Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from St. John Fisher College, now St. John Fisher University. She also completed undergraduate study in biology before entering nursing. Her combination of clinical and business education has informed an approach to leadership that integrates patient care, operational discipline and financial performance.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Stevens has developed a reputation for taking on complex operational challenges, building accountable teams and translating strategy into execution. Her leadership approach emphasizes disciplined performance management, collaboration across clinical and administrative teams, and the development of sustainable, scalable solutions.

Her professional and community involvement has included volunteer service and leadership on nursing best-practice initiatives. She has also received recognition for her contributions to healthcare leadership, including a Healthcare Hero Award and other professional nominations and honors.

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Ms. Stevens enjoys hiking, traveling, reading and spending time with her family.

# # #