Patricia Gerrity, PhD presently serves as Associate Dean for Community Programs at Drexel University’s College of Nursing & Health Professions. She focused her career on providing access to health care for underserved populations through the advancement of nurse-led health centers. Nationally known for her work in promoting health in diverse urban communities, and in trauma informed care, she received more than $23 million in grants from local, state and federal sources. She also serves as the director of the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University, a nurse-led, federally qualified health center in North Philadelphia operating in partnership with the Family Practice & Counseling Network. In addition to improving the health status of community residents, the center serves as a site for research, education and practice for the college’s faculty and students.

Gerrity completed a prestigious three-year fellowship through the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program where she conducted a leadership project to expand the health center into a healthy living center with a strong community-based health promotion component. From 1998-2000 she served as a fellow at the International Center for Health Leadership Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she explored the redirection of health professions education and health services through academic- community partnerships for health.

Academic Distinctions

• White House Champions of Change - Prevention & Public Health, 2013
• Roosevelt Award for Service to Humanity - presented by the March of Dimes on November 16, 2012
• Nursing Spectrum Excellence Awards - National Nurse of the Year Award for Advancing & Leading the Profession, October 2010
• University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Outstanding Alumni Award, May 15, 2009
• American Academy of Nursing - Edge Runner - 2007 "As part of Raise the Voice!, the Academy is showcasing stories of nurse 'Edge Runners' - the practical innovators who have led the way in bringing new thinking and new methods to a wide range of health care challenges."
• Health Resources & Services Administration - Community Service Excellence Award 2000.

Faculty Fellowships

• Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
• Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows
• International Center for Health Leadership Development - University of Illinois, Chicago

Professional Society

American Academy of Nursing
American Nurses Association
Sigma Theta Tau
American Public Health Association

Research Interests

Trauma informed care, health access, social determinants of health and social participation in health community.

Specialization

Community Health Nursing