Nurse Who Started as an LPN Helped Build West Louisville's First Hospital in 150 Years

Nurse Converse, presented by Nurse.orgNov 13 · 16 min

Episode Description

The nearest hospital was less than four miles away. For West Louisville residents who relied on the bus, Corenza Townsend says, the trip could take 84 minutes. So when she needed executives to understand why the neighborhood needed its own hospital, she didn't just show them the data. She put them on the bus.

Recorded live at the 2026 ANCC Magnet & Pathway Conference in Chicago, Nurse Converse host Jana Price, MBA, BSN, BA, RN, CEN, TCRN, talks with Corenza Townsend, chief administrative officer of Norton West Louisville Hospital. Corenza started her career as an LPN. In November 2024, the hospital she helped propose in 2017 opened as the first hospital in Louisville's West End in more than 150 years.

Corenza shares what surprised her team when they spent a year and a half surveying residents, why most of the hospital's physicians skip the white coat, what nursing taught her that a business classroom couldn't, and the one step nurses can take to start influencing how their organizations make decisions. She also makes the case that holding LPNs back is a form of bias.

Skip Ahead:

00:36 - Meet Corenza Townsend, from LPN to hospital leader
02:13 - Why she put senior leaders on a bus
04:09 - Seeing privilege up close
05:14 - Making the case for a hospital in West Louisville
07:29 - Building trust in a community with reason to distrust healthcare
09:28 - What nursing taught her about leadership
11:10 - Why nurses are still missing from decision-making rooms
14:52 - Advice for nurses who feel limited by their title

Mentioned in this episode:

Read the companion article on Nurse.org: https://nurse.org/news/lpn-to-hospital-executive-corenza-townsend/
ANA votes to admit LPNs and LVNs as members: https://nurse.org/news/ana-bylaws-lpn-lvn-membership/
How to go from LPN to RN: https://nurse.org/education/lpn-to-rn/
2026 ANCC Magnet & Pathway Conference: https://magnetpathwaycon.nursingworld.org/

More Nurse Converse: https://nurse.org/nurseconverse

Nurse Converse is presented by Nurse.org, a collaborative podcast amplifying diverse nurse voices. If this episode helped you, please leave a five-star rating and review on your favorite podcast platform.

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