MiraVista Behavioral Health center Appoints Elizabeth Sandstrom as Associate Chief Nursing Officer
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MiraVista Behavioral Health Center has named Elizabeth Sandstrom as its new associate chief nursing officer, a strategic move aimed at bolstering the center’s commitment to quality care, patient safety, and workforce development. The appointment, announced Thursday, brings over a decade of leadership experience in behavioral health and related fields to the Holyoke-based facility.
A Decade of Leadership in Behavioral Healthcare
Sandstrom’s career spans a diverse range of settings, including behavioral health, home health, and post-acute care. She has a proven track record of successfully leading clinical teams across multiple states, overseeing care delivery in inpatient programs, detox and residential treatment centers, skilled nursing units, and community-based acute treatment services. Her expertise encompasses a broad spectrum of operational and clinical responsibilities.
Throughout her career, Sandstrom has held key leadership positions, including director of Nursing, director of Operations, and Utilization Review director. In these roles, she consistently focused on improving documentation standards, enhancing medication safety, reducing incidents, optimizing EMR workflows, and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Recent Roles Demonstrate Commitment to Patient-Centered Care
Most recently, Sandstrom served as director of Operations and director of Nursing at Amedisys Home Health, where she managed a team of over 35 clinicians. There, she focused on strengthening care coordination and implementing quality assurance and performance betterment strategies to enhance patient safety and minimize medication errors. Prior to Amedisys, she was the director of Nursing for Promises Behavioral Health in Worcester, responsible for nursing services across six programs serving more than 140 patients. This included oversight of staff training,Joint Commission preparation,and ensuring the reliability of clinical workflows.
Her earlier experience includes leadership roles at Sprenger Health Care, BriteLife Recovery, sunrise Detox, and behavioral Health Network in Springfield. In these positions, she oversaw operations for both adolescent and adult recovery programs, supervised multi-disciplinary teams, and developed crucial training programs for medication governance and EMR documentation.
Strengthening Nursing Practice at MiraVista
“I am honored to join MiraVista and support a nursing workforce that demonstrates skill, dedication, and compassion every day,” Sandstrom said.”My focus is to ensure that nurses have the resources, training, and structural support necessary to provide safe, consistent, patient-centered care. When we strengthen nursing practice, we strengthen the entire care habitat – and together, we will continue to expand access to treatment for individuals and families in our region.”
Sandstrom’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix and an associate degree in nursing from Mount Wachusett Community College. She maintains active licenses in both massachusetts and South Carolina, wiht compact licensure privileges, and holds certifications in infection control prevention, NIATx performance improvement, trauma first aid, tobacco treatment education, and Joint Commission Green Belt training.
A Strategic Addition to the MiraVista Team
“Elizabeth brings a strong operational lens and a proven ability to align clinical workflows with quality and safety goals,” stated Shelley Zimmerman, hospital administrator at MiraVista Behavioral Health Center. “Her experience leading interdisciplinary teams, improving documentation and regulatory readiness, and implementing standard work that supports reliable practice will contribute meaningfully to our ongoing work to grow services and deliver high-quality behavioral healthcare.”
The appointment of Sandstrom signals MiraVista’s continued investment in providing remarkable behavioral healthcare services to the region.
