Portuguese professor Céu Cirne-Neves appointed to the Council of Regents

Céu Cirne-Neves, an Associate Professor of Teaching at the Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, New Brunswick, NJ, has been appointed to the Council of Regents, the legislative body of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) in Chicago, IL.

With an understanding of ACHE’s policies, programs and services, the Council of Regents provides advice and counsel to the Board of Governors as it carries its mission of healthcare leadership excellence. 

Cirne-Neves will be installed as Regent in March 2023, prior to the Congress on Healthcare Leadership. As a Regent, she will represent ACHE’s New Jersey membership of more 1,000 members, grouped under the ACHENJ chapter. 

In 2022, Cirne-Neves joined the full-time faculty of the CAHME (Commission on the Accreditation of Health Management Education)-accredited Master of Health Administration Program, where she teaches Population Health and the Professional Practicum capstone courses. She has taught Population Health at Rutgers as a part time lecturer since 2018. 

Prior to her academic career, Cirne-Neves spent 25 years in senior and executive level roles in hospitals in Northern New Jersey, including ten years as a chief administrative officer. Most recently, she served as the Vice President of Ambulatory Services and Performance Excellence for Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (RWJ Barnabas Health) in Livingston, NJ. 

Under her leadership, the medical center in 2017 achieved the regional award for Excellence by the Mid-Atlantic Alliance for Performance Excellence, a Baldrige criteria-based awards program. She was responsible for strategic planning and growth, the Leadership Development Institute, the Community Health Needs Assessment and Implementation Plan, and ambulatory services, including the alignment of physician practices outcomes with Population Health parameters.

According to Cirne-Neves, with healthcare leaders facing the challenge of delivering highly reliable patient care and population health, the value of ACHE membership could not be more relevant. ACHE promotes and stands for “Lifelong Learning.” Healthcare leaders both those new to the profession and those in senior ranks are called to take responsibility for assessing their competencies to address gaps through professional development.