The Invest in Nursing grant has had great success over the past three years in the partnership between UNC Chapel Hill School of Nursing and Piedmont Health Services, Inc., with three cohorts of Student Scholars from UNC Chapel Hill, and with three cohorts of Faculty Fellows from across the State of North Carolina. This program is a time-limited grant funded opportunity, provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration, and will no longer continue programming in this current iteration after the 2021-2022 cohort year. It is our hope that other educational entities will use Invest in Nursing as a blueprint for implementing similar programming. Reach Out

Crystal Torain, RN, MPA

Director of Nursing, Piedmont Health Services, Inc.

In her DON role, Ms. Torain has responsibility for the delivery of nursing services across the organization, including services at PHS’ ten community health center locations, as well as in its Piedmont Health SeniorCare program, a CMS-deemed Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly. Ms. Torain collaborates on a daily basis with organizational leadership to develop, support, and coordinate patient care and related administrative functions. Prior to assuming this role in 2018, Ms. Torain had served as site director of Piedmont Health SeniorCare at Burlington since 2011, where she oversaw the delivery of high-quality health care to a frail elderly population in an adult day health center environment. Ms. Torain has significant expertise in design and implementation of quality improvement strategies in ambulatory care settings, as well as in staff supervision. Prior to joining PHS, Ms. Torain worked at UNC Hospitals on the abdominal transplant unit. Ms. Torain holds a Master’s in Public Administration (2015) with a concentration in healthcare management from DeVry University, and a BSN from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (2001).