Dr. Cotton leads systemwide quality and patient safety initiatives for RWJBarnabas Health, overseeing strategy, regulatory compliance and high-reliability programming across New Jersey’s largest academic health system. She is a driving force behind the “Safety Together” initiative, which promotes a culture of zero harm and operational excellence across acute and outpatient settings. Her strategic vision has led to the standardization of best practices and improvements in infection prevention, accreditation readiness and clinical outcomes. A member of the American Academy of Nursing’s acute care quality expert panel, Dr. Cotton also brings decades of experience from leadership roles at Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network and Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare. Her career achievements include year-over-year performance gains in patient experience and quality metrics across diverse care settings.
