HAMILTON, Alabama—Registered nurse Kaleena Bates, director of clinical quality at North Mississippi Medical Center-Hamilton, has recently passed the examination to become a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality.

The Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) is the only accredited certification in healthcare quality. Certification validates a person’s knowledge of healthcare quality practices and competencies and demonstrates a commitment to advancing healthcare quality.

Bates graduated from Sulligent High School in 2000 and earned her associate degree in nursing from Mississippi University for Women in Columbus in 2004. She joined the Hamilton hospital staff in 2006 as a medical-surgical nurse and also worked in the Emergency Department. She became a case manager in 2015 and assumed her current role in 2018.

She lives in Sulligent with her 16-year-old daughter, Madalyn.