Sherri DeVita, RN, BSBA, BSCS
Sherri DeVita, RN, BSBA, BSCS, Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations
Supporting the Caregivers
Sherri DeVita knows Samaritan’s person-centered care is delivered one visit at a time, wherever and whenever Samaritan’s care team supports a patient and their family through serious illness or during the tender moments at the end of life.
As Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations at Samaritan, DeVita combines her experience in two vastly different fields: systems analysis and nursing.
“One thing I told myself when I went from being a hands-on nurse to a leadership role was, I could never forget how I felt caring for patients,” she says. “Nursing is one of the most demanding and rewarding jobs. There are moments when you feel overwhelmed, and others when you feel so blessed.”
“Ultimately, my goal is to lead an organization where staff feels valued and patients and families receive expert care that preserves their dignity and honors their lives.”
DeVita joined Samaritan in early 2022 as Director of Quality and Compliance. She was promoted to Vice President of Quality, Compliance & Education in 2023 and stepped into her current role earlier this year. She oversees hospice operations, social work, counseling, grief support, quality and compliance, business development, IT services and clinical applications. But the path that brought her here began somewhere else entirely.
With degrees in computer science and business administration, she started out as a systems analyst, drawn to the challenge of figuring out how different parts of an organization connect, and how data and workflow can lead to better decisions. Later, while raising her four children, she went back to school for nursing, spending six years in acute care, including neurology and oncology. Then she moved into long-term care, where her clinical work grew into leadership.
The dual background, she says, allows her to view the delivery of patient care from multiple angles, enabling her to combine analytics with deep compassion to meet the needs of patients and families navigating the journeys of serious illness and aging.
In a highly-regulated field where processes, regulations and expectations change frequently, DeVita says an organization needs to have the ability to pivot quickly while ensuring staff understand the importance of what they’re being asked to do.
“Our staff is our greatest asset,” DeVita says. “I’m committed to fostering a culture where they feel supported, heard, and are provided with the resources and tools they need to do their best work.
“Ultimately, my goal is to lead an organization where staff feels valued and patients and families receive expert care that preserves their dignity and honors their lives.”
“Samaritan is committed to being there for those we serve at every step of their healthcare journey, as early as the time of a serious illness diagnosis. This is their journey, their life, and we are privileged to be by their side.”
“From the very beginning, I have been touched by the kindness and compassion so apparent in Samaritan’s culture for both our patients and families and for each other,” DeVita says.
It’s a feeling she now shares with new staff in orientation, sharing the story of her arrival at Samaritan, expecting that first impression to fade and realizing it never did.
“What’s really important to me is just never losing sight of our mission,” she says. “That’s what we call The Samaritan Difference, that human element – being there and meeting people where they are.”
