Denise Laws, RN, DNP
Chief Nurse Executive/Chief Operating Officer
KP San Rafael Medical Center
HeartMath® Certified Trainer
WCSI Caritas Coach®
KP CCEP Faculty
Denise began her career at Kaiser Permanente in 1987 as a staff nurse in San Rafael the day after graduating from Dominican University in San Rafael with her BSN. Since that time, she has held many different positions in Patient Care Services nursing departments spanning KP San Rafael and KP Santa Rosa Medical Centers that allowed her to develop her skills and expertise in nursing leadership and advancing nursing practice including Patient Care Coordinator, Med-Surg Assistant Nurse Manager, Med-Surg Manager, and serving in the capacity of Clinical Adult Services Director, Director of Clinical Education Practice & Informatics, as well as Coordination of Care Service Director serving KP San Rafael and KP Santa Rosa Medical Centers. While in her hospital leadership roles Denise pursued her advanced nursing education credentials, earning her MSN from Sonoma State University (1994) and earning her Executive Nursing Leader DNP from University of San Francisco in 2013.
Denise’s clinical and practical focus in her advanced education has been centered on Dr. Watson’s Caring Science Theory, and its implementation into all our nursing care delivery processes. Denise’s passion is promoting the professional practice of nursing using evidence from the literature as well as contributing to the body of nursing literature through research. Her skills in working with a broad array of physician leaders, community stakeholders, and clinical staff across multiple disciplines has earned her additional leadership roles in the service area when she became the Continuum Administrator for KP San Rafael and KP Santa Rosa Medical Centers. This has allowed her to learn and lead in the important work of smooth transitions centered on our patients as they move from one level of care to another. She and her team have routinely and successfully managed a census of over 1000 patients in our two KP home health agencies (Novato and Santa Rosa) and our contracted SNF partners, while improving the quality of care with Lean methodology.
Denise has also earned certifications in HeartMath and as a Caritas Coach. She serves on the board of Ceres Community Project, ensuring sustainable meals for vulnerable elderly and populations of need.
Denise resides with her partner Tony in the cities of Sonoma and Santa Rosa. When not at work, Denise loves spending time with her family, including her two grown sons, Nick, and Greg and her father. She is also passionate and competitive golfer.