Lori Herndon, RN, BSN, MBA, is President and CEO of AtlantiCare. She is responsible for the health system’s strategic growth, operations and development. She leads more than 6,000 AtlantiCare staff, providers, and volunteers who serve the community in five southern New Jersey counties.
AtlantiCare, based in Egg Harbor Township, NJ, comprises AtlantiCare Regional Health Services including AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center (ARMC) with three locations (Atlantic City Campus, Mainland Campus, Pomona, NJ, and Satellite Emergency Department, Hammonton, NJ), other ambulatory care services, and AtlantiCare Physician Group; the AtlantiCare Foundation, and AtlantiCare Health Solutions, an accountable care organization.
Herndon joined AtlantiCare in 1983 as a staff nurse in critical care. She has served in executive roles for the system since 2007. Prior to her current role, she concurrently served as executive vice president, AtlantiCare, and president and CEO, ARMC. Her early leadership roles at ARMC included hospital administrator, Mainland Campus; administrative director, Maternal Child Health Services; director, Total Quality Management; clinical manager, Medicine/Surgery; and director, Nurse Recruitment.
Under her leadership, ARMC became the 105th hospital in the nation to attain status as a Magnet® designated hospital and has been redesignated three times. ARMC Atlantic City Campus earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers in 2017 with redesignation in 2019. Also in 2019, she led ARMC in earning the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for advanced certification for Inpatient Diabetes Care. ARMC became one of only 81 organizations across the country, and four in New Jersey, that had earned this certification.
AtlantiCare earned the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s recognition as a “Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality” for nine years in a row, most recently in 2020, under Herndon’s leadership. She played a key leadership role in AtlantiCare’s being named a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Winner and recognition in Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare.
Herndon’s focus on listening to patients – critical to her role as a bedside nurse – is a hallmark of her leadership. She regularly rounds on patients, families and staff at all AtlantiCare sites. Herndon co-chaired AtlantiCare’s Patient and Family Advisory Council from its inception in 2011 through 2016. This Council, comprised of current and former patients, staff, and other members of the community, is key in integrating the voice of the customer into AltantiCare’s daily operations.
Throughout her career, Herndon has personally been committed to volunteerism and has encouraged AtlantiCare’s staff, providers, and leaders to donate their time and talents to enhance the wellbeing of the community. She is on the Board of Trustees and serves as chair of the New Jersey Hospital Association. She is on the boards of the Stockton University Foundation, Atlantic City Police Foundation, Atlantic County Economic Alliance, and the OceanFirst Bank Advisory Board. She has also served as chairperson for multiple community events supporting local nonprofit organizations.
Herndon is a member of the American College of Health Care Executives. Closer to home, she is a lifetime member of the Ruth Newman Shapiro Cancer and Heart Fund and the ARMC Mainland Campus Auxiliary.
The New Jersey Institute for Nursing recognized Herndon in 2019 among its Don and Diva Award recipients for her extraordinary impact on the nursing profession and the community. The Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce named her Business Leader of the Year in 2018. The Boy Scouts Jersey Shore Council honored her as Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 2014. In 2013, Herndon was inducted into the Atlantic County Women’s Hall of Fame, and Stockton University’s William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy honored her with its “Distinctive Alumni Leadership Award.”
Herndon earned her Master of Business Administration degree at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at the Richard Stockton College of NJ, Pomona, NJ; and her registered nurse degree at Geisinger Medical Center School of Nursing, Danville, PA.
