Susan M. Distefano

Susan M. Distefano, MSN, RN, NEA-BC​

Recipient of 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award

Susan (Susie) Distefano serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, a 340-bed care quaternary children’s hospital with obstetrical services and executive lead for the Memorial Hermann Health System Women & Children’s service line.

Under Distefano’s leadership, the hospital expanded The Fetal Center with specialists in high-risk pregnancies and expanded women’s services to better serve the Greater Houston community. The internationally recognized affiliated team is the most experienced in the region in advanced fetal imaging and fetal intervention.

Susie has spent much of her career working in a range of leadership roles in healthcare. Prior to being named CEO of Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, she served as the senior vice president of patient care services and Chief Nursing Officer at Texas Children’s Hospital.

She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and continued her studies at UTHealth School of Nursing, where she earned a master’s degree. She also completed the Wharton Fellows Program in Management for Nursing Executives at the University of Pennsylvania and the Intermountain Health Advanced Training Program in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Currently, Distefano is a board member and chair of DePelchin Children’s Services, board member of the Children’s Hospital Association, board member of the March of Dimes Houston, and advisory council member for the UT Austin School of Nursing.