Tara A. Cortes Is Named President and CEO of Lighthouse International
New York - Tara A. Cortes, RN, PhD, a distinguished leader in health care for 38 years, has been named President and CEO of Lighthouse International, effective June 20, 2005. Dr. Cortes has joined the Lighthouse after serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Patient Care Operations, Bridgeport Hospital, Yale New Haven Health Care System. Dr. Cortes succeeds Barbara Silverstone, DSW, as President and CEO of Lighthouse International. In the spring of 2004, Dr. Silverstone announced her intention to step down after 21 years of service. Following a year-long initiative, Dr. Cortes was selected by the Lighthouse Board of Directors' Search Committee from a field of eminent national and international candidates.
Dr. Cortes' extensive clinical, managerial, administrative and academic experience have included work in institutions ranging from Columbia University and New York Presbyterian Medical Center; Rockefeller University and Hospital; Hunter College School of Nursing; The Mount Sinai Hospital and School of Medicine, and New York University Medical Center.
A graduate of Villanova University and New York University, where she received her PhD in Nursing Science and Research, Dr. Cortes was named a fellow in the highly competitive Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow program. She is the recipient of numerous professional and academic honors and a member of the Board of Trustees of Villanova University.
Lighthouse International is a leading resource worldwide on vision impairment and vision rehabilitation. Through its pioneering work in vision rehabilitation services, education, research, prevention and advocacy, Lighthouse International enables people of all ages who are blind or partially sighted to lead independent and productive lives. Headquartered in New York, Lighthouse International is a not-for-profit organization, and depends on the support and generosity of individuals, foundations and corporations.