Our Leadership

Candace Mori, PhD, RN, APRN, ACNS-BC, NEA-BC, ONC

Senior Vice President, System Chief Nursing and Patient Care Services Officer

Dr. Mori leads MetroHealth’s professional nursing practice and provides executive oversight to ensure excellent patient care across the system. She also holds the JoAnn Zlotnick Glick Professorship in Community Health Nursing with Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.

Prior to joining MetroHealth in 2022, Dr. Mori was Director of APRN & Education at Wooster Community Hospital. Since 2010, she has taught nursing coursework as an Assistant Professor at the University of Akron.

She is the author of 17 peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and other publications and is a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences.

Dr. Mori holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from Kent State University, a Master of Science in Nursing from The University of Akron, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The University of Akron.

Mary Jo Murray, MScHM, BSN, BA, RN, NE-BC

Vice President, Associate Chief Nursing Officer

Mary Jo oversees inpatient, ambulatory, rehabilitation, and behavioral health nursing services, with a strong focus on accountability, clinical quality, patient safety and achieving positive patient outcomes.

A board-certified Nurse Executive, Mary Jo has over 40 years of nursing experience and 25 years of leadership experience.  She is committed to building consensus, promoting collaborative teamwork and driving solutions that create a culture of safety and improve patient care.

Mary Jo serves on many committees to promote safety, throughput, engagement and both patient and employee satisfaction that help drive the positive patient experience.  With the support of many team members and engaged nursing staff, MetroHealth has been awarded Magnet designation with Distinction.

Mary Jo holds a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from SBS Swiss Business School, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ohio University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Ursuline College.

Jennifer Bocci, MBA, BSN, BBA, RN, NEA-BC

Executive Director, Ambulatory Nursing

Jennifer is an accomplished healthcare leader with more than 20 years of experience in ambulatory nursing, clinical operations, and healthcare management. Throughout her career, Jennifer has built a reputation for operational excellence, team development, and delivering high-quality care.

In her role, she provides strategic leadership for ambulatory nursing services, with a focus on advancing nursing practice, developing future nurse leaders, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, and enhancing patient experience.
Prior to her current role, Jennifer supported several key MetroHealth service lines, including the Cancer Center, Infusion Services, Heart and Vascular and Parma Medical Center. Through operational improvements and workflow standardization, she helped drive significant growth in patient volumes, service line performance and staff engagement.

Jennifer holds a Master of Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Cleveland State University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Cleveland State University.

Laura Schmidt, MSN, BSN, RN, CEN, NEA-BC

Executive Director, Nursing Services, Emergency Departments

Laura provides strategic and operational leadership for MetroHealth’s Emergency Departments, overseeing nursing services across four emergency departments, a clinical decision unit and forensic nursing services. She leads a high-acuity service line that includes a Level I Adult Trauma Center and comprehensive burn, stroke and STEMI programs, with a focus on clinical quality, patient safety and exceptional care.

Laura has led numerous performance improvement initiatives, including reducing left-without-being-seen rates, improving patient experience scores, decreasing blood culture contamination rates and implementing innovative staffing and care delivery models.

An engaged leader, Laura serves on multiple committees focused on patient safety, quality, trauma performance improvement, sepsis, patient experience and workforce retention. Under her leadership, MetroHealth’s emergency departments have earned Emergency Nurses Association Lantern Awards recognizing excellence in emergency nursing, innovation and patient care.

Laura holds a Master of Science in Nursing with an Executive Leadership focus from Walden University and is pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, with an expected completion date of 2028.

Nicholas Weppler, MBA, MSN, RN, CEN, FESI, EMT-P

Executive Director, Inpatient Nursing

Nicholas oversees inpatient nursing services across MetroHealth’s Medical, Surgical and Critical Care units at Main Campus, Cleveland Heights Medical Center, Parma Medical Center, Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility in Old Brooklyn and Cleveland Heights Behavioral Health Hospital.

Since joining MetroHealth in 2013, he has provided operational leadership focused on clinical quality, patient safety, workforce engagement and exceptional patient care. He has also served in leadership roles including Interim Director of Nursing for MetroHealth’s Behavioral Health Hospital and Chief Flight Nurse.

Throughout his career, Nicholas has led strategic growth initiatives, operational improvements and multidisciplinary teams. His accomplishments include guiding teams through accreditation processes, including Acute Stroke Ready designations and renewals, and implementing initiatives that improve care delivery, operational performance and patient outcomes

Nicholas holds a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University Shreveport, a Master of Science in Nursing from Chamberlain College of Nursing, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ohio University.

Kimberly Green, MSN, RN, C-EFM

Executive Director, Nursing Services, Women’s and Children’s Services

Kimberly provides clinical and operational leadership for women’s and children’s nursing services, overseeing clinical quality, patient safety and care delivery. She is passionate about advancing initiatives that promote excellence in care, improve outcomes and support the health and well-being of mothers, infants and families.

A nurse leader with more than 30 years of experience, Kimberly has held a variety of progressive leadership roles in her career. Under her leadership, multidisciplinary obstetric teams have achieved national recognition, including consecutive Best Maternity Hospital for Obstetric Care honors from Newsweek and the prestigious Baby-Friendly designation, reflecting a strong commitment to exceptional maternity and newborn care.

A passionate advocate for maternal and infant health, Kimberly extends her impact beyond into the community. As an Executive Board Member of First Year Cleveland, she helps identify community needs and advance initiatives that improve maternal and infant outcomes. She also oversees the Nurse-Family Partnership Program, which supports first-time mothers throughout pregnancy and until their child reaches age 2.

Kimberly holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The Ohio State University, a Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Leadership and Management from the University of Phoenix, and is pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

Jody Blessing, MSN, MS, RN, NEA-BC, CNML

Director, Regional Perioperative Services

Jody provides operational leadership for MetroHealth’s regional perioperative nursing services, overseeing procedural areas as well as pre- and post-procedure nursing care. She is focused on optimizing clinical operations, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and ensuring the consistent delivery of safe, high-quality patient care. She is passionate about enhancing the patient experience, improving quality outcomes and developing engaged, high-performing teams.

With extensive nursing leadership experience across a broad range of clinical and operational settings, Jody has held progressive leadership roles throughout her career. She is recognized for her collaborative leadership style, commitment to evidence-based practice and continuous quality improvement, and ability to drive meaningful clinical and organizational outcomes.

Jody is passionate about mentoring future nurse leaders, fostering innovation and building strong teams. She remains committed to advancing perioperative nursing practice, improving patient outcomes and supporting a culture of excellence across the continuum of care.

Jody holds a Master of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. She also earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Kent State University.

Mary Barnes, MBA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, TCRN

Director, Magnet Program

Mary is a seasoned nursing professional with over 15 years of experience in nursing, including a decade in nursing leadership. She currently leads the Magnet program at MetroHealth, where she successfully guided the organization to its 5th Magnet designation and its first Magnet with Distinction recognition – an achievement that reflects a deep commitment to nursing excellence and patient care.

In her role, Mary partners closely with clinical nurses to strengthen shared governance and oversee the career advancement program, fostering professional growth, engagement and leadership development across the nursing workforce.

Mary holds a Master of Business Administration from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Columbia University