As she prepares to retire as dean of the School of Nursing at Stony Brook University this spring, Dr. Lee Anne Xippolitos reflects on a health care career that spans almost two decades.
“My career’s been an interesting one in the fact that it’s been a blend of service and academia,” Xippolitos says. When Xippolitos first joined the Stony Brook University faculty, she didn’t arrive as a dean. Instead, she came as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner assistant professor who held a joint appointment at Stony Brook University Hospital.
A Stony Brook, New York native, Xippolitos received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stony Brook University and a Ph.D. in nursing science from Adelphi University.
Xippolitos spent 12 years at Stony Brook University Hospital, serving as the chief nursing officer. In this role, she was responsible for the nursing operations of a 603-bed level 3 trauma center and was involved in determining the hospital’s strategic plan and its governing board.
“It was extremely rewarding because you really could use your abilities in the academic setting as well as the clinical setting and it only reinforced the academic world because your stories and your experience were really informing the students and it was all based in reality,” she says.
Xippolitos led and co-led several successful initiatives while at the hospital, such as reducing the nursing vacancy rate from 22 percent to 2 percent and served in a joint leadership role on developing the house-wide Electronic Medical Record.
“I’ve worked at the school. I’ve worked at the hospital. I’ve sort of done a figure eight and I have to say I think that’s the best of both worlds, when you’re able to blend both your clinical practice and your administrative practice in one piece,” Xippolitos says.
