Health Care Hero: Charlotte Business Journal Spotlights Holy Angels Chief Nursing Officer for driving innovation, improvement
/
The Holy Angels team celebrates Louise at the CBJ
This article was first published in the Charlotte Business Journal.
It’s not X-ray vision or the ability to fly, but each of CBJ’s Health Care Heroes has a super power:
Listening.
Empathy.
Humor.
Those are some of the special qualities noted by the honorees in this signature awards program in response to a survey about their work and backgrounds.
"I’ve learned that if you can reframe a tense moment with laughter, people can take a breath, regain perspective and approach the challenge with renewed strength," writes Louise Pernisi with Holy Angels.
The Health Care Heroes Awards program annually highlights some of the best in the medical field, from doctors and nurses to executives, support personnel and others. It turns a spotlight on those who are driving innovation and improvement.
The survey of honorees also asked why they got into health care, their proudest accomplishments, favorite aspects of the job and more.
CBJ celebrated them with an event held Sept. 11 at The Westin Charlotte, where winners were named across multiple categories. That's after two dozen finalists were named following a nomination process earlier this year.
Below is the profile on Louise Pernisi, Chief Nursing Officer at Holy Angels, who was one of only four finalists in the Nursing category. This recognition is a true reflection of Louise’s unwavering dedication to ensuring our residents receive top-notch, compassionate care. CBJ’s Healthcare Heroes Awards honor individuals who bring innovation and compassion together to improve the human condition—and that couldn’t describe Louise more perfectly. We are proud and honored to have her on our team!
Responsibilities: I oversee all nursing care services for residents, ensuring their health and well-being. My role includes developing policies, processes and training, overseeing nursing and medication technician staff, and coordinating medical providers who deliver 75-plus on-site clinics annually to ensure high-quality outcomes for our residents.
Year started at organization: 2019
Number of employees: 350
What’s the best part of the job? One of the best parts of my job is the variety — at Holy Angels, we do every nursing specialty at any given time, from birth to infinity. I get to pull out my bag of tricks! I also love the teaching aspect of the job. I have a degree in education and I get to do that here — teaching families, nursing students, even physicians who may not have run into our subspecialty before about the dignity and value of individuals with IDD. When students or hospital staff meet our residents, they often leave changed, understanding the importance of consent, respect and listening differently. Here, every gesture, facial expression and movement is meaningful — and our job is to slow down and truly receive what our residents are telling us. That’s what makes this work so extraordinary. Hopefully, when they get to the next IDD patient, they recall how Holy Angels does it and not only deliver that same level of care, but also remember they’re more than their diagnosis.
What do you consider your greatest recent achievement at work? During Covid, I worked with our interdisciplinary team to develop policies that created a safe environment for our high-risk, medically fragile residents. Down syndrome is among the Centers for Disease Control’s top 10 diagnoses for poor Covid outcomes — intensive-care unit or death — so we had to get it right. Lives were truly at stake. We lost no residents—a rare and extraordinary outcome. My role was to interpret evolving guidance, pull the best evidence-based practices, and adapt them into policies and procedures to keep our staff and residents safe. It was 24/7 work, sleepless nights and unwavering teamwork — and we came through together.
Why did you choose health care for a focus of your work? My path started at 16, when my grandmother was in a serious car accident. She always cared for others (especially through food, which we called "Sicilian Meals on Wheels"), so when she needed help, I took a bus to the hospital every day, learned her dressing changes and spent my summer nursing her back to health. Next thing I know, I’m getting my EMT, volunteering on an ambulance and applying to nursing school. I later found my calling in the IDD field when I worked at an adult traumatic brain injury program at a trauma center in Syracuse, New York. The chair believed in approving intensive therapies for IDD patients who were often overlooked for rehab programs, teaching families how to help them move and have a quality of life.
If you could change one thing to improve health care in our community, what would it be? I would put a greater focus on preventive care. At Holy Angels, we prioritize proactive screenings — like cancer checks and scopes—so we can catch concerns early, before they escalate. This approach helps prevent complications and avoid costly health-care needs or catastrophic outcomes down the line. Especially for individuals with disabilities, early detection can change the course of an illness entirely, protecting their long-term health and quality of life. I believe prevention is the most compassionate and effective way to care.
What is your super power? Humor is my superpower! I’ve learned that if you can reframe a tense moment with laughter, people can take a breath, regain perspective and approach the challenge with renewed strength. During something as stressful as Covid, those silver linings mattered more than ever, especially for our staff. I like bringing order out of chaos, but also joy into the hard moments. Laughter gives people the energy to keep going.
Read all of the responses received from this year's Health Care Heroes in the profiles contained in this special report.
