HSS Florida, part of world leader in orthopedics Hospital for Special Surgery, has appointed experienced executive and Registered Nurse Heather Woolf as Vice President and senior administrator for its teams and facilities in Palm Beach County.  Previously, Woolf served in leadership roles at healthcare institutions in Stuart, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, and as Chief Operating Officer for a physician network spanning more than 100 locations in Florida and South Carolina.  Woolf starts in the new role on March 18, reporting to HSS Florida CEO Tara McCoy and partnering closely with Co-Medical Directors Nicholas Sama, MD, and Ryan Simovitch, MD, sports medicine surgeon. 

Founded in 1863 and headquartered in New York City, HSS is the world’s leading academic medical system specialized in musculoskeletal health.  HSS has been ranked no. 1 in orthopedics worldwide for the past four years by Newsweek, and nationwide since 2010 by US News & World Report.  Before the opening of HSS West Palm Beach in 2020, thousands of Florida residents traveled each year for care at the HSS main campus in New York City.  

Ms. Woolf earned her Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration at Florida Atlantic University.  She is a past member of the Executive Leadership Board of the Extraordinary Women Leading Change Conference in Fort Lauderdale.  A Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, Ms. Woolf is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the Florida Association of Nursing (FNA), and the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ). 

“In Heather, we have found a leader uniquely qualified and committed to advancing a care facility unlike any other in the region to ensure we deliver the full benefit of more than 160 years of specialization,” said Ms. McCoy.  “We are focused on helping people get back to what they need and love to do better than any other place in the world – right here in West Palm Beach.” 

Among the region’s most highly regarded orthopedic surgeons for more than a decade, HSS West Palm Beach co-medical directors Sama and Simovitch, in a joint statement, described Woolf’s appointment as a milestone in increasing access to higher quality care: “Meeting the high demand for HSS quality care in our home state requires not only the world class clinical team we are building, but also the excellence in operations that Heather can help us continue to expand.”    

Ms. Woolf said her 25 years of experience in healthcare gives her a special sense of responsibility and opportunity in joining HSS, the only hospital in North America designated by the World Economic Forum as a member of the Global Coalition for Value in Healthcare. 

“The more one knows about orthopedics, the more one understands the quality and innovation difference that HSS represents,” said Ms. Woolf.  “In Palm Beach County HSS is perfectly positioned at the intersection of the world’s best quality of life, and the world’s leading cause of disability: musculoskeletal conditions.” 

“I am honored to join the best in the world in making the highest quality of care and experience more accessible to the community I have called home for nearly 20 years.”