Gemma Rama-Banaag, Chief Nursing Officer

When Gemma Rama-Banaag came back to Paradise Valley Hospital in early 2011, she was a familiar face to many PVH employees who remember her when she worked here from 2002 – 2008, first as a Nurse Educator, and then in Business Development as a Nurse Liaison, and finally as the Nurse Manager of the Rehab Care Unit. After a two-year absence, during which she was the Director of Nursing, and then Director of Clinical Services at Promise Hospital in San Diego, she is now back at PVH as our new Chief Nursing Officer.

Gemma has been a nurse for almost her whole life. She started as an ER nurse in the Philippines shortly after she finished her BSN at Philippine Union College in 1987. Since then she has worked as a nurse in Obstetrics, Long Term care, Med/Surg and Rehabilitation in Los Angeles and San Diego. In every facility and unit she has worked in, she has eventually taken on leadership roles: from being a charge nurse, to educator, to program coordinator, to manager, to Director, and finally CNO.

Her distinguished professional career is mirrored in a stellar academic career. The capstone projects for both her MBA and MSN degrees at the University of Phoenix were chosen by the university as best in class projects, and they are both used today as examples to students in those programs.

Gemma somehow finds the time to remain active with the Philippine Nurses Association of San Diego and volunteer at her church. She loves teaching and mentoring, and is an avid golfer and she loves to cook. Gemma is married to her husband Chester, and they have two sons. They currently live in the South Bay in Chula Vista.