Judy Reitz

Reitz, an executive vice president and chief operating officer for The Johns Hopkins Hospital, was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She received her bachelor of science in nursing from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing in Washington in 1971 and a master of science in nursing from the University of Maryland School of Nursing in 1976. She later earned an Sc.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1985.

A former officer in the Army Nurse Corps, Reitz began her career as an obstetrical nurse at Kimbrough Army Hospital at Fort Meade in Maryland and then became a medical nurse in the biocontainment unit at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland. After her discharge from the Army, Reitz became director of nursing for a 250-bed long-term care facility in Baltimore County.

A tireless leader and champion for Johns Hopkins’ patient and family-centered care initiatives widely regarded for her expertise in patient care, operations, and multitasking, Reitz first came to Johns Hopkins in 1981, where she applied for a position as a nurse manager but was hired as director of nursing practice for The Johns Hopkins Hospital because of her quickly recognized skills as a leader and change agent. In 1984, she became part of the Johns Hopkins management team that transformed the deficit-ridden Baltimore City Hospitals into what now is known as Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, turning a $7 million annual loss under municipal ownership into a positive bottom-line performance. In the process, she rose from vice president of nursing to executive vice president/chief operating officer there.

Reitz was named executive vice president and chief operating officer for Johns Hopkins Bayview in 1993 and within two years started serving as vice president for operations integration for The Johns Hopkins Health System. In 1996, Reitz returned to The Johns Hopkins Hospital to initially serve as senior vice president of operations while continuing to serve as executive vice president and COO for Johns Hopkins Bayview.

In 1999, she relinquished her role at Johns Hopkins Bayview and joined The Johns Hopkins Hospital full time when she was promoted to executive vice president and COO there. She was the first woman in the institution’s history to hold that position. She retired in 2016.

During her tenure, Reitz spearheaded numerous initiatives in safety, service, and quality improvement. She was instrumental in the 2012 opening of the Sheikh Zayed Tower and The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center, and has been a strong advocate for using new technology in support of patient care. Reitz has led research and authored many publications related to patient care. Additionally, she has been recognized as one of the top fifty women in Baltimore business, one of the top 100 women in Maryland, and she was honored with the Girl Scouts’ Distinguished Women’s Award.