“I want to work there someday,” Tiffany Stewart, executive director of Maternal Child Health at Hoag, said as a teenager visiting Newport Beach with her family. She was—and still is—in awe of the hospital overlooking the ocean. This year marks Tiffany’s 11th anniversary at Hoag, where she’s advanced her career from a per diem staff nurse to overseeing all mother and baby services, including labor and delivery, Hoag’s neonatal intensive care unit, lactation services, fetal diagnostics, and more. 
 
Tiffany was able to accomplish this tremendous career growth thanks in part to support from philanthropy. She was the recipient of a nursing scholarship, funded by Hoag’s generous donors, which allowed her to complete her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). “I had my associate degree when I started at Hoag,” she said. “But when I came to Hoag, everyone was in school and getting scholarships. It was infectious, having that motivation from your colleagues.” 
 
Thanks to dedicated philanthropic investment in Hoag nursing, over 88% of Hoag nurses have their BSN degrees or higher, exceeding American Nurses Credentialing Center requirements for Magnet® recognition, the highest honor an organization can receive for professional nursing practices. 
 
With her BSN, Tiffany worked the night shift as a full-time nurse for five years, until she was trained to be a charge nurse, taking on leadership responsibilities for emergency care coordination and decision-making, among other tasks, for her floor. When an interim director role for labor and delivery, OB emergency care, and fetal diagnostics opened up, she was asked to step in. “I say yes to whatever comes my way. I always want to help,” she said. 
 
Tiffany soon took on the position full time and went back to school once more to pursue a master’s degree with the help of Hoag’s tuition reimbursement program and another philanthropically funded scholarship. In September, Hoag is sending Tiffany to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania for a two-week intensive executive leadership course. “There are so many layers of support at Hoag,” Tiffany emphasized. “The limits are endless. It’s inspiring and pushes you to want to do more.” 
 
Hoag’s culture of excellence is the foundation of its high-quality care. In her current role as executive director of Maternal Child Health, Tiffany’s training and experience is being channeled into a holistic team approach that’s improving the breastfeeding experience for mothers and babies, incorporating more movement into labor management, decreasing C-section rates, and enhancing childbirth education for new moms, among other initiatives. “This is the level of impact of philanthropy. Everyone is dedicated to quality and safety at Hoag, including donors and volunteers, which speaks volumes.”

Tiffany Stewart, RN, BSN, Executive Director of Maternal Child Health

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