She's the Boss

Photography by James Moore

From Meteorology to Nursing Leadership: Lacey Carter's Unexpected Journey to Becoming a Role Model in Healthcare

The most successful careers often launch in the most surprising of ways. Take Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer Lacey Carter, who every day works to strengthen the hospital’s culture, particularly among the nursing corps, where she started her career. 

Carter’s love for the organization ― she was born here ― and her experience and expertise in the field make her a visible role model for employees at all levels of the organization, which is why it is so shocking to learn it almost never happened at all. 

When she was considering what career path to follow, she was originally headed to the University of Missouri to study meteorology. However, her grandfather fell ill during her senior year of high school, prompting her to stay home and complete general education credits at the local college while she determined her next career move. Nursing wasn’t high on the list.

“I had a few negative experiences with healthcare,” she said. “I was always the annoying kid who asked a lot of questions. ‘Why are you doing this, why are you doing that?’ My first bad experience was one where I felt very dismissed by the healthcare worker.” 

Carter’s professional path might have been radically different except for her encounter with a nurse who treated her grandfather in the nursing home.

“That nurse took the time to explain everything she was doing, not only to me but my grandpa, my grandma. She even let me help a little bit,” she said. “It was through that experience that I wanted to make that type of difference.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Carter earned her nursing and administrative degrees from Missouri State University and the University of Colorado. She enjoyed a career in labor and delivery that led her to two other medical institutions where she honed her craft at the bedside and began accumulating promotions that sent her up the company ladder. 

Carter returned to her hometown and Ozarks Healthcare in 2018 where she served as Director of Women’s Services, Director of Education and Executive Director of Nursing before moving into the CNO role. She played a crucial role in Ozarks Healthcare’s Incident Command System during the COVID-19 pandemic and helped establish the health system’s first and second COVID-19 units. 

As if she needed further reinforcement of the validity of her career choice, Carter likes to tell the story of the wink she received from her late grandpa during her undergraduate work, a gesture to let her know she was where she needed to be.

“It wasn’t long after I got my acceptance letter to nursing school that my grandpa passed away,” she said. “In my final semester of nursing school I did a dialysis rotation, and when I walked into the clinic the nurses were like ‘You’re Glen Hall’s granddaughter.’ He had been on dialysis for years. They said, ‘He would talk about you and show us pictures all the time.’ That really brought things full circle.”