Arkansas Children’s Hospital Hosts Investiture Ceremony for Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing

(Statewide) January 23 - Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) celebrated the investiture of Lee Anne Eddy, MSN, RN, NEA-BC as the recipient and steward of the John Boyd Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing Tuesday, January 22.

Establishing endowed chairs provides Arkansas Children’s the ability to recruit top leaders in the medical field who can provide the best care for patients in Arkansas. An endowed chair or professorship remains one of the highest honors a bestowed on its most distinguished leaders. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, practitioners and professors in their fields.

“Arkansas Children’s Hospital is grateful for the leadership of our chief nursing officer, Lee Anne Eddy,” said Marcy Doderer, president and CEO of Arkansas Children’s Hospital.  “In the last five years, under her incredible leadership, Lee Anne and her compassionate team of nurses have elevated our level of care to a new standard. In 2017, Arkansas Children’s Hospital received Magnet certification, the highest honor a hospital can receive and is only bestowed on 6% of hospitals worldwide.”

Eddy has served as the senior vice president and chief nursing officer for Arkansas Children’s Hospital since 2013. She began her career at ACH in September 2011 as the Vice President of Ambulatory Services and helped lead ACH to Magnet certification in March 2017. Prior to joining Arkansas Children’s Hospital, she worked at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin where her roles ranged from taking care of patients at the bedside to Vice President. Eddy is a board-certified Nursing Executive Advanced and holds an MSN from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI.

The John Boyd family, John, his wife Monitte and their two daughters Mary Ann and Caroline generously established this endowed chair. John Boyd, a veteran of World War II, was a business owner and a land owner who began his career as a general store clerk. John and Monitte purchased the general store, operating it together for more than 30 years. Before John passed away in 1986, he requested that his family’s estate be divided among three Arkansas charities after his wife and daughters’ lifetimes. Nearly two decades later, Mary Ann carried on her father’s legacy. The Boyd’s bequest to Arkansas Children’s established the John Boyd Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Dentistry at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in 2007.