Champagne Named Nurse Manager

Of Heart Center Operating Room

DANBURY — Theresa Champagne of Newtown has been appointed nurse manager of the operating room at The Regional Heart and Vascular Center at Danbury Hospital.

Ms Champagne has worked at Danbury Hospital for the past 27 years, most recently as nurse manager of several surgical departments, including the operating room, the postanesthesia care unit and the ambulatory surgical unit. Earlier in her career she was a staff nurse in the operating room at Danbury Hospital and at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

She earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing from St Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., and is a candidate for a master’s degree in nursing at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury. She received a Service Recognition Award from Newtown High School for her participation in an externship program.

During her career at Danbury Hospital, she has been an active member of the Performance Improvement Committee, team leader of the main operating room, specialist in chest and vascular surgery, and chairman of the Perioperative Nursing Practice Counsel. She has received certification in the operating room (CNOR) by the Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN). She is also a member of the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) and the Cardiothoracic Surgery Special Assembly.

Ms Champagne received the Danbury Hospital Nurse Exemplar Award in 2002, and was recognized with a Surgical Service Line Award in 2003.

She is a team member of The Regional Heart and Vascular Center at Danbury Hospital, which launched its open-heart surgery program in January 2005. The center is expected to add angioplasty services this summer.