DE222 Honoree: Penny Short

Title: President

Penny Short

Workplace: TidalHealth Nanticoke

Alma Maters: Delaware Technical and Community College, Wilmington University

Boards: Delaware Healthcare Association Board of Directors, Sussex Montessori Charter School Board

Q&A: What was your first job? “I started as a nursing assistant at the same hospital I currently work. I’ve held many roles within the organization and each one of them helped prepare me for my current role.”

For 40 years, Penny Short has worked at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford. She started as a nursing assistant, then went to Delaware Technical Community College to become a registered nurse with an intensive care unit specialty. Short worked her way up from chief nursing officer and chief operating officer of Nanticoke Health Services. In those roles, she helped Nanticoke Memorial Hospital receive accreditation as the first primary stroke center in Delaware. Shortly into her tenure, Short worked to help finalize a merger between Nanticoke Memorial Hospital and Peninsula Regional Health System, based in Salisbury, Md. The merger brought the Seaford hospital into a larger network and a new name: TidalHealth.