MSN, RN, NI-BC, CHCIO, CDH-E
Chief Nursing Informatics Officer, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region
Donna has been dedicated to the field of Informatics and Clinical Technologies for over 25 years. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente in 2025, Donna has served as the Chief Nursing Informatics Officer (CNIO) at MultiCare Health System in Washington State, and previously held the same position at Sutter Health, Sacramento, California.
At MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, Washington, as the CNIO, Donna oversaw Epic refuel and the Nursing Wellness Initiative across 12 medical centers and 250 ambulatory clinics. Utilizing Epic NEAT data, Donna optimized flowsheets, nursing brain, best practice advisories to reduce documentation time, interruptive alerts, increased KLAS net EMR experience scores, and achieved Epic Gold Stars 7 to 9. She was responsible for strategic planning with clinical executives for Epic Clinical Pathways that aligned clinical best practices that included ICU liberation, sedation, diabetes, and sepsis surveillance. While at Sutter Health, as the CNIO, Donna developed the clinical informatics program, optimized perioperative workflows and performance within the EMR, once again increasing KLAS net EMR experience and Joy of Work scores.
Donna’s previous roles have included being the associate CNIO at Intermountain Health, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Clinical Informatics Director at Baylor Scott & White in Dallas, Texas.
Donna Woelfel grew up on a small grain farm in central North Dakota, inspired by her mother who served as a nurse in a rural nursing home. This early exposure to healthcare motivated Donna to pursue a career in nursing.
Donna earned a business degree from the University of North Dakota, which she combined with a BSN in nursing. She began her nursing journey in the Phoenix Metroplex, where she worked at a Level 1 trauma center as a critical care and emergency department nurse. Her passion for providing patient care in high-energy environments led her to enroll in a Master of Nursing program. During her Master’s cohort, Donna encountered an informatics opportunity to partner with Information Services for the opening of the new Mayo Clinical Hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona.