Betty Harlowe Breeden

Name: Betty Gay Harlow Breeden
Born: February 20, 1935, Ruckersville, Virginia
Died: October 9, 2003, Richmond, Virginia
Buried: Spring Hill Baptist Church Cemetery, Ruckersville, Virginia
Parents: William Randolph and Hallie Burnett Harlowe
Husband: Milton F. Breeden
Children: Barkley and Betsy Breeden

Professional Career:

University of Virginia Hospitals, Charlottesville

Surgery Unit, staff nurse and head nurse, 1955-1957

Thoracic Surgery Supervisor, 1957-1959

Thoracic and Orthopedic Surgery Supervisor, 1959-64

Assistant Evening Supervisor, 1964-1968

The Cedars Nursing Home, Charlottesville, Virginia

Director of Nursing 1968-1970

Arlington House Nursing Home, Charlottesville, Virginia

Director of Nurses, 1970-1972

University of Virginia Hospitals, Charlottesville, Virginia

Associate Director of Nursing, 1972-1974

Acting Director of Nursing, 1974-1976

Director, Utilization Review, 1976-1979

Director, Risk Management, 1979-1994

Educational Coordinator/Consultant, 1994-2003

Portrait

Bibliography

Betty Harlowe Breeden began her nursing career at the University of Virginia Hospitals rising from staff nurse to supervisor. In 1968, she made a change and devoted four years to working in nursing homes as director of nursing ultimately obtaining a license as a nursing home administrator. Breeden returned to the University of Virginia Hospitals in 1972 and remained there until her untimely death in 2003. She served as acting Director of Nursing for two years before moving into the position of Director of Utilization Review. Breeden's next move was to establish the hospital's Risk Management Department where she began the phase of her career that has left the most lasting impact on the quality of health care. As Director of this new department for fifteen years she not only made a difference at the University of Virginia Hospitals, but also through workshops, classes, and other programs, she shared her knowledge across the Commonwealth and to other states.

Breeden continued her own education by obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Allied Health Administration from Mary Baldwin College and certificates in Health Services Management and Healthcare Risk Management. In addition to the many presentations she gave, she wrote and published several articles.

In 1994 Breeden retired, but she remained passionate about her work and recognized that more needed to be done. Though her health was declining, she used a motorized wheelchair and continued to provide education and consultation one day a week to the staff at the hospital until her death. Breeden was often recognized for her outstanding work and she never lost her gift for listening. In 1974, a staff nurse said, "When one talks to Mrs. Betty Breeden one gets the impression she has all the time in the world." Kathleen Fletcher, in her nomination of Breeden for the Hall of Fame wrote, "Betty always appeared as if she had unlimited time for us, and nursing and health have suffered a personal loss with her early death."

Despite the responsibilities of continuing employment over the years and of home and family, Breeden found time for professional service. She served two terms as president of the University of Virginia Nursing Alumni and she was president of District 7, Virginia Nurses Association in 1962. Breeden was a charter member of the National Association for Healthcare Quality, theVirginia Quality Association, and the Virginia Society of Healthcare Risk Management. She was a member of the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management and the Risk and Insurance Management Society. She served as president of the Virginia Society of Healthcare Risk Management.

A number of honors were presented to Breeden during her career. In 1975 she was honored as the outstanding member of District 7 of the VNA. She was recognized with the Outstanding Contribution Award by the University of Virginia Hospitals in 1991 and received the first Ronald Hodges Award for Law and Medicine in 1998 from the University of Virginia Hospitals and the Piedmont Liability Trust. In 1993, the Virginia Society for Healthcare Risk Management presented her with its first Distinguished Member Award which was renamed the Betty Breeden Award for Excellence in Risk Management in 1994. The University of Virginia Nursing Alumni Association honored Breeden in 2002 with its Distinguished Alumni Award.