Brian Dawson, RN-BC

Brian Dawson serves as the system vice president of perioperative services, CommonSpirit Health, where he provides strategic and operational leadership and leads the design, integration and coordination of perioperative services across health facilities and effectively manages 120 hospital OR leaders.

As the first African American male Nurse Corps Officer to command a naval hospital, Brian earned his Bachelor of Science in nursing from American University in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps in 1983. Brian went on to serve in various positions, including Sterile Processing Department manager, OR department head and director of surgical services at multiple facilities. In 1997, Brian graduated with honors from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., with an Master of Science in nursing administration/leadership. Then, he served as the COO of Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Base, Jacksonville, N.C., and as the CEO of the Navy’s largest overseas medical treatment facility, U.S. Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan.

Brian finished his distinguished 28-year naval career as the chief of staff for the 36th Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy. Since retiring from the Navy, Brian has served as the vice president of surgical services for Salem (Ore.) Hospital; director of surgical services at St Anthony’s Hospital, Lakewood, Colo.; instructor/educator for the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses’ Nurse Executive Leadership Series; and CEO/president of BD Perioperative and Healthcare Consulting LLC.