Angela Costa Named Chief Nurse Executive for Allegheny Health Network

PITTSBURGH – Allegheny Health Network (AHN) today announced the appointment of Angela Costa, RN, BSN, MPM, as Chief Nurse Executive (CNE) for the organization.

Costa began her nursing career at Allegheny General Hospital over 30 years ago and has served as interim CNE for AHN since early 2023.

During her interim tenure as CNE, Costa has worked with the chief nursing officers at each of AHN’s affiliated hospitals to innovate and improve the quality of nursing practice across the organization as well as provide exceptional care to patients and their families. She will serve as the voice of the organization’s 6,000 nurses as a member of AHN’s executive leadership team and has led the implementation of best practices in nursing that has made AHN a preferred destination for nursing professionals.

“Angela is an exceptional clinician, educator and nursing leader whose values, passion and ingenuity have helped define the quality of patient care at AHN for more than three decades,” said Jim Benedict, president of AHN. “She has been a strong advocate for and architect of our transformative ‘reimagining nursing’ initiative, and at a time when recruiting, developing, and retaining the best and brightest nursing professionals has never been more important, we are extremely fortunate to have someone with Angela’s impressive qualifications and experience leading those efforts.”

Over the last year, Costa has helped to implement and expand several nursing workforce programs meant to recruit and retain nurses and create new roles and schedules that meet nurses’ personal and professional expectations. Those programs, part of AHN’s “Work Your Way” lifestyle initiative, include the creation of a mobile internal nursing team that allows nurses to float between different AHN hospitals; the creation of new “night owl” and “weekend warrior” shifts that allow nurses to build work schedules that are a better fit with their personal needs; and the creation of a new digital nursing team, which allows nurses to perform certain nursing duties remotely, from their own homes.

Throughout her career with AHN, Costa has served in roles of increasing responsibility, including most recently as the Chief Nursing Officer of West Penn Hospital, Vice President of Clinical Nursing Operations, and CNO/COO of Canonsburg Hospital. In these roles she has worked with nursing executives to plan and develop AHN’s nursing strategy, collaborating with hospital leadership and medical staff to execute clinical care initiatives.

At West Penn, Costa also led the nursing team’s successful recent Magnet journey, helping the hospital become Southwest Pennsylvania’s only four-time Magnet-recognized facility – which is the industry’s gold standard for nursing quality. Costa also stood up and worked in the AHN COVID command center early in the pandemic.

Costa’s areas of clinical expertise include trauma, critical care, and neurology/stroke. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Duquesne University and later received a Master of Public Policy and Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

She serves on the Allegheny Credit Union board and is a member of the Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania’s Nurse Ambassador Advocacy Initiative. Costa also is active in the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) and Partner for Work, and she is a member of Palladium’s board of directors.