Senior Vice President for Nursing,
Vice President of Nursing and Patient Care Services

Dr. Deborah Baker is the senior vice president for nursing for the Johns Hopkins Health System.  She also serves as the vice president of nursing and patient care services for The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

As the health system’s first senior vice president for nursing, Dr. Baker partners with the chief nursing officers at our other hospitals to ensure integration of services and alignment with the health system’s strategic goals and objectives, including the provision of quality services and strengthening of the enterprise as a true full-service, integrated health system.  She is accountable for enhancing a clinical practice environment that is patient centered, with unsurpassed clinical quality and patient safety, while also providing significant contributions to education and research, ensuring nursing practice at the highest scope of licensure.

Dr. Baker first came to Johns Hopkins as a student, earning her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, where she currently serves as a member of the school’s advisory board.  She joined the staff of The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1992 as a clinical nurse in the Department of Surgery. Prior to her current appointment, She served as the Director of Nursing for Surgery, Wilmer Ophthalmology and the Comprehensive Acute Care Rehabilitation Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital (2008- 2015); as Assistant Director of Nursing for Advanced Practice and nurse practitioner in the Division of Surgical Oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital (2005 -2008); and Manager of the Department of Surgery NP/PA teams (2003-2005).  Prior to nursing leadership roles, Dr. Baker practiced as an acute care nurse practitioner in the Divisions of Trauma and Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins. 

Dr. Baker has spent most of her career focused on patient and family centered care.