Ms. Ficara is president of Hartford Hospital, an 867-bed academic medical center and regional referral center that is Hartford HealthCare’s flagship acute-care facility. She’s also senior vice president of the broader Hartford HealthCare system, Connecticut’s most comprehensive healthcare network. She provides strategic leadership and culture-building for the health system’s Hartford Region, with a focus on safety, innovation, patient experience, access, affordability and health equity. Ms. Ficara is executive sponsor of “HHC 2035,” Hartford HealthCare’s $1 billion generational investment to transform care delivery at Hartford Hospital over the next 10 years, anchored by a new 14-story tower of more than 500,000 square feet that will include three floors of procedure space and 216 private inpatient beds. Earlier in her career she served as clinical care redesign executive leader, provided instrumental leadership navigating the Covid-19 pandemic and developed a nursing strategic plan shared systemwide before being promoted to president. She rose through the organization over decades, serving as senior vice president of operations for the Hartford region from 2020 to 2024 and as vice president of patient care services and CNO from 2011 to 2020. Under recognition during her tenure, Hartford Hospital earned the American Hospital Association’s 2025 “Quest for Quality Prize” and an “A” safety grade from Leapfrog nine consecutive times. The hospital was also named New England’s first and only comprehensive cardiac center by the Joint Commission and received a perfect score in cardiac surgery from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons three years in a row.
