Dr. Somerville is an accomplished nurse executive with over 30 years of progressive nursing and healthcare leadership. Previously the Chief Nursing Officer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, she now proudly serves as the system Chief Nurse for Southcoast Health in New Bedford, MA, bringing her passion for the communities’ and patients’ experiences of health and illness. A graduate of Boston College with her BSN in nursing, she received her MSN in Nursing Administration from Boston University and her Ph.D in nursing at Boston College. Her dissertation described and quantified the phenomenon of patients feeling “known” by their nurses. Dr. Somerville is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, the American Organization of Nurse Leaders, a certified Caritas Coach in the Watson Caring Science Institute, a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a certified facilitator for Brene’ Brown’s Dare to Lead curriculum. She is also serving a 3 year term on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Greater New Bedford.