Heather Swallows has spent the majority of her adult life caring for the people of the Upper Cumberland at Cookeville Regional Medical Center. 

With an ascension from nurse to director of multiple hospital sectors including the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU), the Vascular Lab, and 4 West (cardiac procedure unit), Heather’s diverse, impactful career has unfolded largely within the walls of CRMC.

“I have been here for 16 years. I started in 2008 in the CVICU and spent the bulk of my career in that unit until taking the director position in CVICU last year. I felt like it was time to try something different and step into this role.” She elaborated, “Moving to the director position was a hard transition because I still have a passion for patients. But thankfully, I have great nurses in all the units I oversee. It’s been so rewarding to watch them do what I did for so many years, take care of patients.”

For many (myself included), the journey to finding a permanent occupation was a winding one. This was not the case for Heather who knew from an early age that her future lay in healthcare. 

She stated, “I’ve always wanted to take care of people. I’ve always wanted to be a nurse. It’s awesome to be able to go in and help someone on the worst day of their life and make that difficult time better for them. I just love taking care of people.”

In her new role directing multiple units, Heather seeks to enable those she leads to provide consistent, patient-first care every day by leveraging the skills and respect she earned throughout her 15 years in the CVICU. 

“I love helping others be the best they can be. We have a lot of young nurses at CRMC that start in our unit right out of school, so there is a lot they need to learn,” she said. “It’s fun to watch them have those “I get it” moments as they learn to better care for their patients. I tell my staff when they have bad days, ‘Remember, you’re caring for someone’s mom or grandma, someone that means the world to them. It’s not just a patient. If it was your family member, how would you want them to be treated?’”

As many in the community know, CRMC has gone through many management changes in the past few years. Heather ended our conversation by gushing about the direction the hospital is headed, those charting its course, the services the hospital offers the area, and the part she plays at Cookeville Regional Medical Center. 

“Right now, we have a wonderful leadership group at the hospital and it’s been great being part of the change and growth CRMC is currently experiencing. We make this hospital feel like home to the people that come here. We are a smaller hospital, but we do many advanced procedures like open heart surgeries, lung surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, and neuro surgeries. We do a lot of things in a small town hospital that are often only found in larger cities. CRMC offers cutting-edge options that allow our patients to stay close to home when addressing their health concerns which is so powerful for our community. I am truly honored to say that I work at Cookeville Regional Medical Center.”  

– by Andrew Buckner, photos by Abby Weeden