.jpg "Melissa A. Fitzpatrick, MSN, RN, FAAN photo")
President
Kirby Bates Associates
Melissa has forty years of healthcare leadership experience and has served as Vice President of
Critical Care and Cardiac Services at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Senior Associate Chief
Operating Officer and Chief Nurse Executive at Duke University Medical Center. Melissa is a past
National President of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and was inducted as a Fellow in
the American Academy of Nursing in 1997. Melissa also served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Nursing
Management Journal and the first ever Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Hill-Rom.
In 2019, Melissa joined Kirby Bates Associates, a nationally recognized healthcare executive
search firm, as Chief Operating Officer and was named President of KBA in January 2020. Melissa
provides strategic vision and direction to the organization and is the liaison to their parent company,
Jackson Healthcare.
In July 2024, Melissa joined the Board of Trustees at her undergraduate alma mater, Gwynedd- Mercy University, and chairs its Marketing, Enrollment, and Campus Life Committee. Since 2020, she has served as the first ever nurse on the Board of UNC Rex Healthcare and chairs its Quality, Patient Safety, and HR Committee. Melissa also serves on the Board of the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare. She is actively engaged as an officer and member of many national nursing and healthcare organizations and serves our industry and the nursing profession at the highest level with integrity and passion.
Monday, March 2, 2026
10:00am - 11:30am CT