Dr. Michelle Dennis
Secretary, Board of Commissioners
Michelle D. Dennis, Ph.D. obtained a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana (BS), a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Alabama (BSN), a Master of Public Administration- Healthcare Concentration (MPA), and Doctorate of Philosophy in Healthcare Public Policy (Ph.D.) degrees from Southern University and A&M College Baton Rouge. Dr. Dennis is currently the Senior Director of Operations with Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System/Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group. In this role, she serves in various capacities which include managing the daily administrative operations of the Surgical and Specialty Clinics across the Baton Rouge market including Ascension Parish. Dr. Dennis also serves as a member of the Inter-Institutional Biological and Recombinant DNA Safety Committee for Louisiana State University. In her previous roles, she has served as Dean of Nursing and Allied Health with Baton Rouge Community College, and with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center as Nursing Director within the Medical Surgical Division. She was selected to the Catholic Healthcare Leadership Association, the Louisiana Nurse Leadership Class of 2020, as well as the Barton Leadership Academy in 2020. Most recently, Dr. Dennis is a Spring 2023 Fellow of the Baton Rouge Business Report Executive Leadership Class.
Throughout her 23-year career in Nursing, the first 12 years were spent working at the University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham, Al. During this time, she worked in numerous areas, which included Critical Care primarily Surgical Intensive Care, Surgical Nursing as both a circulating nurse and scrub nurse, Perioperative and Post-Operative Nursing, Medical-Surgical Nursing, Case Management Nursing, and as a Kidney and Liver Transplant Nurse Coordinator. Working in these various areas allowed for a vast opportunity of growth and knowledge into the diversity and depth that lies within the world of nursing and healthcare. In these roles, she has been able to consistently work in a manner allowing her to become proficient not only in her skills but has also constantly presented the opportunity for her to obtain a complete understanding of the organizational and administrative framework required to operate healthcare systems and practices effectively and efficiently. Dr. Dennis maintains a passion for Nursing centered around giving patients, family, and staff the best care experience, and this is achieved through embodying staff with all the necessary tools to be the absolute best Nurses and Healthcare Professionals possible. Furthermore, this enables them to provide their patients with the highest and most effective level of care.
Michelle is an active volunteer with Move Baton Rouge, which is a physical fitness program dedicated to improving the health of citizens of Baton Rouge. She also serves as a volunteer and tutoring instructor for the Louisiana Leadership Institute. She is an active member of the Southern University Alumni Home Chapter and a member of the Baton Rouge Sigma Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, INC. She enjoys Zumba, cycling, running and enjoys spending time with her family.
