Deb Riley, DNP, has been with UofL Health since November 2019, just before the start of the pandemic. She is the system vice president of the cardiovascular service line at UofL Health — Heart Hospital and oversees growth and strategy initiatives.
With the help of great physicians and providers in her organization, Deb keeps operations moving day in and day out. Whether she is identifying a process error or helping with operations, she keeps the wheels moving.
Although Deb identifies as someone with a type A personality, she sees her empath side more and more each day through her work at the Heart Hospital. She lives out the mission of UofL Health by continuously learning, working closely with research and leveraging that research for effective, efficient and innovative patient care. Deb is aware that showing compassion is a necessary part of her role and it is important to her team as well.
“We have to show compassion in every department,” she said. “So, from EKG, to transplant, from the minute the patient comes in and says, ‘I’m tired and my chest hurts,’ primary care, etc. You have to have compassion. The scariest thing for somebody is when it’s their heart. Under my leadership, I have to convey to my staff that this might be the scariest time in not only the patient’s life, but also their families’ lives. It is also a scary time for my staff because they have an important job to do. Most people don’t get up for gas in the morning for their car and go crack a chest like we do so it’s really scary. The good thing is I have an amazing team and they’re fantastic. To the physician practices to our procedural areas, cath lab and ED, to heart surgery to cardiac rehab, all those areas have very veteran nurses that understand the importance of that mission.”
Deb is from Benton, Ky., and has vast experience in the medical field. She went straight to nursing school close to western Kentucky when she first got out of high school. She attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., for her bachelor’s degree, Vanderbilt University in Tennessee for her master’s degree and nurse practitioner board exams for pediatrics and family, and University of Miami in Florida for her doctorate.
Deb did some work in operations and management at her previous health system as its director of the cardiovascular service line for four years. While there, she was in talks with UofL Health – UofL Hospital. She asked to borrow a surgeon a couple of days a week and then UofL Hospital asked her to join the team. She gladly accepted, especially to be closer to her children.
Deb has two children, a daughter and a son. Her son is a fourth-year medical school student and her daughter is an elementary school teacher in western Kentucky.
As for Deb’s free time, she said, “I don’t have a hobby, I have a ‘jobby!’ My job is my hobby!”
Other than her job, Deb does enjoy watching “Suits” and “Grey’s Anatomy” repeatedly. “When I am watching, I don’t want to think,” she said. “I need distraction, and it is enough of a distraction that I won’t keep working in my brain. Since I know the content well, it is easy to watch.”
If Deb could learn any skill instantly, it would be learning Spanish.
If you see Deb, be sure to ask her about her most-loved vacation spots. She would love to get to know you!
