Gadsden Regional Medical Center Names New Directors of Emergency Department, Surgical Services, Women & Children’s, 9th Floor, and 8th Floor
6/8/2021
GADSDEN, Alabama – Gadsden Regional Medical Center recently named five new directors to their nursing staff. Lydia Higgins, R.N., BSN, was named emergency room director; Kathey Fails, R.N., BSN, was named director of surgical services; Nancy Smith, BSN, RNC-OB, was named women & children’s director; Darci Richards, R.N., BSN, was named 9th floor director; and Ashley Hairrell, R.N., was named 8th floor director.
Lydia Higgins, R.N., BSN, was named emergency room director. Higgins has been a registered nurse for over 16 years. She received her associate’s degree in nursing from Pensacola State College in 2004 and her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Chamberlain University in 2020. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in nursing leadership & management. Higgins has experience working in neonatal intensive care units, emergency and trauma departments, COVID intensive care units, and travel nursing. Higgins and her husband, Marcus, have four children (ages 19, 14, 13, and 12).
Kathey Fails, R.N., BSN, was named director of surgical services. Fails has worked at Gadsden Regional since 1989, most recently as the assistant director of surgical services. Fails graduated from Jacksonville State University with her Bachelor of Science in nursing, and she has worked in healthcare for over 36 years. She and her husband, Greg, have four grown children—Jeremy, Jacob, Joseph and Jessie Kaitlin.
Nancy Smith, BSN, RNC-OB, was named women & children’s director. She has been a nurse for over 30 years and has worked internationally. Smith graduated with a diploma in nursing from Aberdeen Hospital School of Nursing in Nova Scotia, a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Chamberlain, and currently is pursuing a Master of Jurisprudence from Liberty University. Smith came to Gadsden Regional from Greer Memorial Hospital in South Carolina, where she served as the assistant nurse manager. Smith and her husband, Tim, have two children (ages 26 and 13).
Darci Richards, R.N., BSN, was named 9th floor director. Richards has been a nurse for seven years and was an emergency medical technician in the Air Force for 4 years. She graduated from Montana Tech of the University of Montana. Prior to her transition to Gadsden Regional, Richards was the chief clinical officer of a long-term acute care hospital and a rehab facility in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Richards and her husband, Dex, have three girls—twins Reese and Riley (age three) and Ivy (age eight months).
Ashley Hairrell, R.N., was named 8th floor director. Hairrell, a graduate of Jacksonville State University and Gadsden State Community College, has been a nurse for four years. She started her healthcare career at Gadsden Regional as a multi-skilled technician. She has served in various roles at Gadsden Regional such as registered nurse and full-time charge nurse, and she most recently served as house supervisor. Hairrell has two daughters, Abigail (age 10) and Annabelle (age six).
Chief Nursing Officer Traci Howard, R.N., said, “We are very fortunate to have these four outstanding leaders join us here at Gadsden Regional Medical Center. We look forward to the vision, servant leadership, and patient-centered focus they will bring to our hospital.”
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