Margaret R. Peterson, PhD, MSN, RN

Margaret R. Peterson, PhD, MSN, RN is a Principal & Executive Vice President with COPE Health Solutions. She has extensive experience as a hospital CEO and a CNO and spent numerous years in academia as professor and chairman of a baccalaureate nursing program. Her eclectic background includes experience in managing a medical group, managing a population health program, working with medical residency programs, managing hospital building projects, managing the implementation of health care technology, and leading a Baccalaureate Nursing Program. Her priority within a health care entity is to create a safe patient care environment and a safe work environment while providing care at the highest level of quality.  She has also worked in several different States, which gives her a national perspective of health care. In addition, she has worked in not-for-profit, for-profit, system and independent hospitals. Her strengths include creating a strategic vision for the hospital/providers to further stability and growth for the benefit of the citizens within the community it serves.

Dr. Peterson is on the Board of Western Atlantic University School of Medicine, an international medical school in the Grand Bahamas. She was the 2019 Chair of the Hospital Association of Southern California Board of Directors, a member of the California Hospital Association Board of Trustees and a Trustee of Olympia Medical Center in downtown LA. She was also an appointee to the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Commission. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated her commitment to excellence in patient care through strategic partnerships with many notable community and health care organizations. Thus, she has held leadership positions in the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, county-level health commissions, and hospital association boards and councils.

Dr. Peterson was recognized by Becker’s in December 2022 as one of “26 Women CEOs of Hospitals and Health Systems to Know”.  She has also been honored by numerous organizations for her community leadership and was named as “2005 Woman of the Year” by the 38^th Assembly District of the California State Legislature. She was also named “2018 Woman of the Year” by the Women in Health Administration of Southern California and “2018 Health Care Leader” by the LA Business Journal. A results-oriented leader, Dr. Peterson understands the important role that a hospital/providers plays in the well-being of the community it serves.

Dr. Peterson began her career as a registered nurse after earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Columbia Union College in Maryland. She went on to earn a Master of Science Degree in Cardiovascular Nursing from The Catholic University of America in Washington DC, and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Administration from Miami University in Ohio.