Scotland County Hospital Names New Chief Nursing Officer

Scotland County Hospital is pleased to welcome Cassie Beard, RN, MSN, as the new Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). She replaces Ashley Ward, RN, BSN, who has been wearing two hats for the last two years as CNO and Surgery Center Supervisor. Ashley will continue the role as Director of Surgery and Anesthesia Services, as SCH continues to grow surgery services.
Prior to joining the administrative team at Scotland County Hospital, Cassie worked at UnityPoint Health Trinity, in the Quad Cities, in a variety of roles to include: Med Surg Nurse, NICU Nurse, NICU/Peds Nurse Manager and Women’s & Children Service Line Director. In 2023, she earned an MSN in Healthcare Leadership and Management from Western Governors University. She has also been a school nurse and a home health nurse. Prior to going into the nursing field, she was a licensed cosmetologist and owned her own shop.
Dr. Meagan Weber, Chief Executive Officer, Scotland County Hospital said, “When we interviewed Cassie for the role of CNO, her vision of building a positive work culture, and ideas of growing your own nurses, really caught my attention. She comes to us with great management experience and training in healthcare leadership, and has an energetic approach to change. We are very fortunate that she chose us.”
She is a native of the Quad Cities and calls Silvis, IL, her hometown and most recently lived in Bettendorf, IA. Cassie and her husband, Jason, have two daughters. They have moved to Memphis, purchased a home and enrolled the girls in school at SCR-1. She said, “When interviewing for the role onsite and taking the community tour with Meagan, my husband and I felt at home and the move to Memphis and joining SCH felt right. The leadership team at SCH exhibited many of the progressive views that I have in healthcare leadership, and the entire staff was extremely welcoming.”
Outside of work, she loves to travel, cook, bake and be outdoors. Cassie said, “When considering relocating our family, we were extremely interested in remaining in the Midwest, and close-ish to home in case our families needed us. Memphis felt like a small, supportive community to continue to raise our girls in. We are looking forward to not being in a busy large city every day.”