Ken Grubbs
Dr. Ken Grubbs, DNP, MBA, RN, is the Executive Vice President for Accreditation and Certification Operations (ACO) and Chief Nursing Officer for The Joint Commission. In this role, he has executive leadership for the accreditation and certification of more than 22,000 health care organizations and programs, all activities related to surveys, eligibility and application processes, customer account management, and federal deeming compliance requirements. Dr. Grubbs also administers accreditation and certification policy development, surveyor education and development, survey technology, and the ongoing development and refinement of the accreditation process.
Dr. Grubbs has extensive work experience in health care accreditation. Previously, he served as Vice President, Regulatory and Accreditation Services for HCA Healthcare. In this role, he supported all HCA Healthcare facilities by providing leadership for clinical regulatory compliance and continual survey readiness for foundational quality and safety. By developing clinical performance improvement, quality management and risk mitigation programs, he helped lead HCA Healthcare to benchmark clinical performance in numerous areas. Earlier at HCA, Dr. Grubbs served as Director of Quality Standards and as a Patient Safety Specialist for Emergency Services. He also served at the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) as the Assistant Vice President of programs. During his time at NPSF, he was responsible for leading the development of patient safety tools and resources. He also completed the American Hospital Association/National Patient Safety Foundation’s Comprehensive Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship.
Dr. Grubbs began his career in health care as an emergency department nurse in Tennessee and has held various leadership positions with a primary focus in emergency services and medical-surgical intensive care services. He served on the Quality and Safety Advisory Council of the Emergency Nurses Association and the Lantern Award Selection Committee for multiple years. He also served on multiple liaison councils for The Joint Commission.
Dr. Grubbs received his Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, TN, and his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY.