Bio
Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility is a 2,016-bed, two-campus, long-term acute care hospital and nursing facility located on Roosevelt Island. As part of the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, it serves as a safety net facility providing care to individuals with chronic, debilitating conditions. Over the past 45 years, starting as a Nurse’s Aide in 1967 and rising steadily to become Director of Nursing, Stanlee Richards has devoted her career to a single purpose: ensuring that the patients at Coler-Goldwater receive the highest standards of care and treatment in a nurturing environment in which they can live their lives to their fullest potential. Ms. Richards oversaw the evaluation and overhaul of nursing practices at the hospital and spearheaded efforts to expand services. Her emphasis on training and excellence have led to marked, measured increases in the quality of care delivered to patients in a number of key areas, such as infection control, ulcer rates, and the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Dr. Keerthipotti Vasudevaraju, Chief of Medicine at Coler-Goldwater, notes, “Stanlee is an extraordinary professional. She understands the field and infuses it with compassion.”Ms. Richards is currently in the process of managing the relocation of operations and services to the new Henry J. Carter Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility in Harlem, NY, scheduled to open in October 2013. Says Coler-Goldwater’s Executive Director Robert K. Hughes, “Stanlee is a true embodiment of exemplary service to our health care system and our city.”
