Dr. Watkins serves as chief nursing executive and senior vice president at UCI Health, overseeing nursing practice and patient care delivery across six hospitals and multiple ambulatory sites. She also holds an academic appointment as assistant dean of nursing education, strengthening academic–practice integration and workforce development. During 2024–25, she led the integration of four newly acquired community hospitals and consolidated operations under a single hospital license to streamline regulatory compliance. Under her leadership, RN turnover at the Orange campus declined from 15.4% to 9.1%, and multiple high-potential leaders were promoted into director roles. She sponsors major system initiatives including “Epic Reimagined,” the UCI Capacity Command Center, and centralized monitoring to improve patient flow and clinician workload. Dr. Watkins has also advanced patient experience, driving gains in documentation compliance and physician–nurse communication scores.
