Julie Kennedy Oehlert

Julie Kennedy Oehlert, DNP RN, has over four decades of expertise and wisdom gathered from a life working in health care. She started her career as a nurse aide at the age of 14 and has served in a variety of clinical, operational, consultative, and strategic roles across the health care continuum. Her clinical practice is Emergency Trauma nursing, and she achieved her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in Health Innovation and Leadership from University of Minnesota. She is a perpetual student of design thinking and culture disruption and serves as the Chief Experience & Brand Officer for ECU Health. In her role, Dr. Oehlert, strategically drives the experience and culture at ECU Health. This includes all things patient experience and team member experience including oversight of orientation and onboarding of new team members, recognition and workforce well-being. In her role, she leads both internal and external communications, marketing, digital, social and public relations for the health system. Dr. Oehlert has operational responsibility for Environmental Services, Food Services, Language Access Services, Hospitality, and Patient and Family Advisors. Dr. Oehlert is adjunct faculty for East Carolina University College of Nursing. Dr. Oehlert was recognized in 2021 as Healthcare Innovator of the Year by the Beryl Institute and in 2024 will publish her first book titled ‘System Innovations: How to Disrupt with Love and Human Caring. ECU Health is a mission-driven, 1,708 bed academic health care system serving more than 1.4 million people in 29 eastern North Carolina counties. The not-for-profit system is comprised of more than 13,000 team members, nine hospitals, and a multi-specialty group practice with more than 1,100 providers in more than 180 locations. The flagship ECU Health Medical Center, a Level I Trauma Center, and ECU Health’s Maynard Children’s Hospital serve as the primary teaching hospitals for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and is the 14th largest medical center in the United States. ECU Health and the Brody School of Medicine share a combined academic mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina through patient care, education and research.