Susan Reinhard has shaped long-term care policy at the federal level. She has advised three New Jersey governors from both political parties. She became the first woman and first nurse to chair the RWJBarnabas Health Board of Trustees.
Now she’s receiving the ultimate honor in her profession.
Reinhard has been designated a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing — one of six nurses nationally to receive the honor this year. The Academy recognizes a small group of fellows annually for contributions to the nursing profession sustained over the course of their careers.
Reinhard was appointed chair of the RWJBarnabas Health board in 2025. She joined the board as a founding member in 2016 and served as vice chair beginning in 2022. She has chaired the board’s Quality and Safety Committee and served on its Audit, Compliance, Strategic Planning/Academic Affairs, and Human Capital and Executive committees. She also served on the board of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital since 2013.
RWJBarnabas Health President and CEO Mark Manigan said Reinhard’s voice carries unmatched authority on the board.
“As the first board chair to be a nurse, when Susan speaks it comes from a patient-centered point of expertise and leadership that needs no qualification,” he said.
Reinhard’s career has focused on health policy, with particular emphasis on long-term care and family caregiving at the federal, state and international levels. She served as deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health from 1996-1999 and again from 2002-2005, working under three governors from both parties on hospital, nursing home and community-based care licensing, regulation, financing and quality oversight.
She previously served as senior vice president of AARP’s Public Policy Institute, chief strategist of the Center to Champion Nursing in America, and founder of the Nurses on Boards Coalition. She was also professor and co-director of the Rutgers University Center for State Health Policy. She currently serves as a visiting professor of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators at UC Davis.
Reinhard earned a PhD from Rutgers University and an MSN from the University of Cincinnati.
This year’s Living Legends Ceremony will be held October 9 during the American Academy of Nursing’s Health Policy Conference at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C.
