Nurse praised for her advocacy

Linda Coale, RN

Agoura Hills resident Linda Coale, RN, recently won an award as a nursing advocate from the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. Coale is the chief nursing officer at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

Working with a local college and charitable foundation, Coale spearheaded a program to address the nursing shortage. The Associate Degree in Nursing Regional Collaborative is expected to enroll 70 to 100 more nursing students in a two-year pilot program. Six of seven participating hospitals are contributing $100,000 each over three years, while various foundations have contributed significant funding to assist the program. The new student nurses will use teleconferencing to complete classes remotely and do lab work at local hospitals.

Coale earned a bachelor of science in healthcare management from the University of La Verne and a master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University. She attended nursing school at St. Vincent’s College of Nursing in Los Angeles.