Deirdre Stewart has dedicated her career to improving healthcare in the Middle East. She has over 30 years of experience as a nurse in the UAE, working to improve standards and provide care. As Chief Nursing Officer at Cerner Middle East, she leads over 250 associates serving over 200 facilities. She is passionate about advancing the nursing profession and ensuring high-quality, safe care through innovative technology solutions and programs. Deirdre is widely respected for her clinical expertise, leadership, and contributions to the healthcare system across the Middle East.

1. Deirdre Stewart RGN, RPN, PG Dip HCI, CNO Cerner Middle East.
“A Lifetime of Dedication”
Cerner’s mission is to contribute to the systemic improvement of health care delivery and the health
of communities. As the leading healthcare IT provider in the Middle East with the major market share
in most of the countries we are operating in we serve more than 200 client facilities that range from
large government hospital networks to health clinics, with over 250 associates across the region. The
competitive landscape is comprised of a substantial number of local, regional, and international
healthcare IT providers. The critical success factors for Cerner have been our broad local and regional
presence, for over 25 years, combined with the most innovative and comprehensive internationally
regarded solution offerings to serve our clients best.
Deirdre is a qualified general and psychiatric nurse with an
informatics post graduate degree, and has worked in the Middle
East since 1985. She came to the UAE from Ireland as a 21 year old
newly qualified nurse, and has made her life and home here in the
UAE. Deirdre has committed her working and personal life to the
region, meeting her husband to be, getting married and raising two
children in Abu Dhabi, both of whom wish to return to the UAE after
graduation to maintain the Stewart legacy!
Her first 10 years were spent in Al Ain, firstly at Al Jimi Hospital and then as a community nurse at
Tawam Hospital, with a regular case load of over 100 local families, she was their main contact back
into the healthcare system, providing care and advice in the home; Deirdre speaks Arabic fluently and
has a wealth of local clinical and community nursing experience.
She was a pioneer of food safety in the region working with local hotels to improve the standards of
food preparation and service.
Before joining Cerner, Deirdre was at the Corniche Hospital in Abu Dhabi for 5
years as an infection control nurse and risk manager, where she was also
responsible for guiding them through JCIA and ISO9001 accreditations.
When suggesting we nominate Deirdre, there was a unanimous agreement
from all our clients and partners that no one would deserve such an award
more than her in the region. I hope that in the course of this nomination I can
convince you that this doubly deserved, both for her lifetime of dedication to
the health and care of people across the MENA region and for all the work she
has done to support and advance the role of women in healthcare in the
region and enhance the status, education and recognition of the nursing
profession.
“Dee, It is amazing what you accomplished on our HIS, and you do not care who gets the
credit.” The nursing department appreciates your gift of time, energy and support. We
would like to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt “Thank You!” Neama Fouad, - Chief
Nursing Officer, Children’s Cancer Hospital, Cairo.

2. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Dee, as she is known, for a long time; so I want to tell you about
the many aspects of Dee that I know, to give the selection committee a feel for the passion that she
has for everything that she does and the commitment to advancing the role of nurses in the Middle
East, not just as part of Cerner. The thing that amazes me most, is her ability to be first to do
something, Dee is always looking for what comes next, never satisfied with the status quo.
There is Dee the teacher and mentor. Dee has done a lot of teaching to
students and colleges across the region, especially at the Higher
Colleges of Technology in UAE, working with female students on
nursing and informatics, seen here being recognised by His Excellency
Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al Nahyan and Tony Blair for her work. Dee
also lectures at the University Hospital in Dammam working with
senior managers in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia on medical and
health systems informatics and how it is being applied in various parts of the world, with particular
attention to the Middle East and Africa. This course is provided through the School of Medicine at the
University of Missouri. These are not as a Cerner Associate but as part of her “give back” to the
healthcare community at large, both to those starting their career and those who wishing to advance
it.
Dee was the inspiration for bringing the Magnet programme to the region, not just for Cerner clients,
but as a way of recognising and growing nurses in the Middle
East. Dee ensured that this nursing focused excellence and
recognition programme was introduced, providing strategic
connections worldwide for the participants. Her proactive
management meant that nearly 80 people, from about 20
organizations, across 4 countries, left Dubai with a fire in
their bellies and the determination to go forth and conquer
the Magnet landscape.
Dee was also instrumental in preparing and running the inaugural session of Women in Saudi Health
(Wish) - Fostering a forum for women in Saudi Arabia to come together to share knowledge and
experience and to collaborate in healthcare.
“Dee was one of the first Cerner Healthcare women leaders I knew, She has a profound
knowledge of healthcare IT, she is an advocate of best practices implementations in
healthcare” - Mubaraka Mubarak Ali Ibrahim. Director, Health Information Systems
Department, UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention
“I have involved Dee in the intensive, on-campus sessions to develop and lead instruction
on the historical development of medical and health systems informatics and how it is
being applied in the Middle East and Africa. I value Deirdre as a teacher, professional
colleague and her contribution to my course of instruction.” - Gordon D. Brown, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Health Management and Informatics, University of Missouri.

3. Then there is Dee as Chief Nursing Officer at Cerner, she is the cornerstone of the Middle East team.
She hosts client education and collaboration events, teaches informatics and provides clinical sales
support from Middle East to Asia and Australia. Deirdre speaks at many industry conferences and
events each year, sharing her expertise, knowledge and recommendations. Her total knowledge of
the Cerner Millennium solutions and ability to demonstrate them from a clinician point of view comes
from her experience with Cerner. Starting as a delivery consultant in Emergency before assuming
positions as a practice and resource manager. She started the clinical adoption service in 2009, and in
2012 formed the Middle East demonstration team, still leading both teams. These teams provide
support across the Middle East, Asia and on occasions in Europe. Dee also represents the Middle East
in defining new software development needs and prioritising them based on their clinical value and
benefit to our clients and drives the design of their systems from an evidence based view but with
usability and the real world in mind, gained from her 31 years of practical experience. She, and her
family, are deeply involved with many of the Cerner Middle East CSR initiatives both as a leader,
Healthcare Ambassador and as a participant.
I work with Dee in her role as a senior director of Cerner Middle
East, Dee is focused on quality and clinical excellence in consulting
and performance improvement. The depth of her industry
knowledge, coupled with deep cultural awareness and trusted
relationships with clients, ensures she is successful.
Notably she has helped clients in the Middle East and around the
world achieve HIMSS accreditations and is the “go-to” person in the region for other healthcare
accreditation programs such as JCIA. The first HiMSS 6 accredited hospitals outside the USA were in
Saudi Arabia and the UAE thanks to Dee’s passion in seeing our client’s receive measurable and
recognisable value from the systems she has helped design and implement.
When asking other associates for input to this nomination they all agreed with me that it is her clear
vision and strategic focus that makes sure we stay on track, but her sense of humour and the fact she
must have kissed the Blarney Stone more than once that makes it such a riotous experience and
pleasure to work with her. One of the most respected leaders in Cerner Middle East, trustworthy and
accessible to all, where ever she may be. Personally she has given me good advice, which I try and
take, encouragement when I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and enough laughs and coffee
to keep me going.
I also know Dee the DAISY nurse (and her support of DAISY in the region). No one understands the
power of recognition for nurses better than Dee. She has worked tirelessly to spread The DAISY Award
for Extraordinary Nurses to hospitals around the Middle East, educating nurse leaders on the impact
of recognition on nurse recruitment, retention, professionalism, the importance of compassionate
care, and the patient experience. With Dee’s strong support, nurses are now honoured with The DAISY
Award in 16 hospitals in the region. Hundreds of nurses have received nominations from patients,
families, and colleagues, sharing the stories of their extraordinary care.
“We strongly recommend Deirdre for the MENA Award for her dedication to the nursing
profession and to excellent patient care. Given how much meaningful recognition she has
brought to so many nurses, it’s time to honour Deirdre!” – Bonnie and Mark Barnes FAAN,
Co-founders the DAISY Foundation.

4. I hope I have convinced the Selection Committee that Dee
has provided a lifetime of dedication to the improvement
of health care and the nursing profession in the Middle East
and beyond. I know that anyone who has ever met her or
been lucky enough to have worked with her would agree
she is the person most deserving of “A Lifetime
Achievement” award, having given so much to so many
people with no thought of self-promotion. There are many
people in the UAE and their families who have been direct
recipients of the care that only such a dedicated nurse can
give, and there must still be many stories around Al Ain of
the “crazy Irish Bedouin” that came to help them whenthey
were in need. There are many more who have benefitted
from the education and recognition that Dee has given across the region, being cared for by nurses
that have seen the standard for quality of care set high, been encouraged to meet it, and then been
rewarded as a consequence. Then there are literally millionsi
of patients across the region whose care
is being managed on systems designed and implemented by Dee, and have received safer more
efficient care because of it.
It has been my pleasure to nominate Deirdre Stewart, for the Middle East Healthcare Leadership
Awards 2016 for her Lifetime of Achievement, however the last word should be from one of her clients
and friends.
Jim Massey
Cerner Middle East
i
Cerner Millennium systems currently manage over 30 million unique patient records across the Middle East.
“I have known Dee for many years as we have both worked for the Health Sector in Abu
Dhabi. One irrefutable fact about her is when she does something she does it with fervour
- there is no missing the point. Be it discussing biological warfare, drawing parallels from
the plague to make it very real to the audience, or maximizing value from Electronic
Medical Records she is 100% committed, her passion for improving healthcare knows no
bounds.” – Joanna Mary Holt, Corporate Clinical Applications Manager, Abu Dhabi Health
Services Company - SEHA.