Anna Liza Rodriguez, MSN, MHA, RN, OCN®, NEA-BC

Bio

As the chief nursing officer and vice president of nursing and patient services, Anna Liza Rodriguez provides leadership and administrative oversight for all nursing practice at Fox Chase Cancer Center. She is responsible for fostering the Magnet® culture, ensuring that the delivery of patient care is evidenced based and innovative with attention to the individual needs of every patient, supporting our nursing professionals and leaders, and further advancing the quality of care both at Fox Chase and throughout Temple University Health System.

Rodriguez joined Fox Chase from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center—a top NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center—in Nashville, Tennessee. She served for nearly five years there as Associate Nursing Officer, leading Vanderbilt’s oncology enterprise in collaboration with other senior leaders. She also assumed expanded cancer enterprise operations responsibilities during key leadership transitions. In her roles, she managed a $145M budget and a staff of 350+ to provide high-quality cancer care, overseeing 215,000 yearly clinic and infusion visits.

Among her accomplishments at Vanderbilt were the planning and construction of a new cancer ambulatory site to open this January; the integration of a newly acquired hospital-based cancer ambulatory site in August 2020 to provide new programs; EPIC electronic health record (EHR) and other technology implementation; redesign of new patient access and cancer navigation processes; workflow and throughput infusion center and clinic process improvement; development of an outpatient CAR-T and Lutathera® programs; an increase by nearly 15% in nursing certification rates; creation of a nursing conference scholarship program to increase nursing attendance at national conferences; and multiple, successful surveys and reaccreditations, including Magnet designation.

Prior to Vanderbilt, Rodriguez spent four years at Presence Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago, Ill., where she held various roles, including Director, Clinical Operations; Director, Oncology, Women’s and Children’s Programs; and Director, Oncology Program.

She also served for four years at Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago, where she held the role of Unit Director, Oncology, and for eight years at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where she began as a staff nurse in the Stem Cell Transplant/Hematology Unit and advanced to the roles of Clinical Coordinator and then Patient Care Manager, both in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.

Earlier in her career, Rodriguez served at Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital and Fairmont Care Center, both in Chicago, focusing on quality improvement and medical staff credentialing.

Rodriguez received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Saint Louis University in the Philippines and master’s degrees in both nursing and healthcare administration from the University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. She holds specialty certifications as a Nurse Executive Advanced-Board Certified (NEA-BC) and Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN), and has Six Sigma Green Belt training.

Rodriguez is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONE), and Oncology Nursing Society (ONS). In addition, she serves on ONS’ Leadership Development Committee and on the Best Practices Committee and Nursing Directors Committee of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).

Passionate about integrating research and clinical care in the academic setting, Rodriguez has presented a number of lectures and abstracts at national nursing conferences on nursing management, clinical process improvement, stem cell transplantation, and other topics. She also has a number of books and peer-reviewed publications to her credit.