Nacogdoches Medical Center Appoints First Female Chief of Staff

January 30, 2021 - Nacogdoches Medical Center (NMC) is proud to announce that Modupe A. Sokunbi, M.D., FAAP, pediatric specialist, has been appointed as the hospital’s chief of staff. Dr. Sokunbi is making history as NMC’s first female to hold this position. She will serve in this role through the year 2022.

Jeff Patterson, CEO of NMC, said Dr. Sokunbi is the unanimous and obvious choice to lead in this capacity. 
“Dr. Sokunbi is the consummate professional and leader,” he said. “She has been practicing pediatrics in Nacogdoches for more than 20 years and has served in numerous leadership roles at our hospital and in the community throughout her career. We are honored that she has accepted to lead in this role,” he said.  

At NMC, Dr. Sokunbi has served as vice chief of staff, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, and as a member of hospital’s Governing Board as well as the By-Laws, Performance Improvement and Utilization Review Committees. In addition, 
Dr. Sokunbi has been actively engaged in many educational and community health initiatives. She has served as president of the Nacogdoches-San Augustine County Medical Society since 2017 and as secretary of the Board of the Nacogdoches Area Physicians Association. She was a physician sponsor in Hard Hats for Little Heads TMA Program in collaboration with NMC at the Blueberry Festival and Poultry Festival. 

In 2005, Dr. Sokunbi was honored by the Nacogdoches chapter of the American Association of University Women’s (AAUW) with the Woman of the Year Award in Medicine for her contributions to the medical community and for work in encouraging and supporting young women to consider career paths in math, science and medicine. Since 1881, the AAUW’s mission is to promote education and equality for all women and young girls and provides scholarships and increased support for and access to higher education for women.

Dr. Sokunbi is a Fellow of American Academy of Pediatrics. She is a clinical assistant professor (non-tenure track) with the School of Medicine at UTMB Health, Galveston campus. She is a graduate of the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and completed her internship and residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital at the School of Medicine SUNY at Stony Brook, Long Island, New York.
 
NMC CEO Jeff Patterson noted that Loyd Whitley, M.D., pulmonologist, is the outgoing chief of staff who served from 2019 to 2020. “He is a pillar of our medical staff and our main intensivist overseeing our ICU,” Patterson said. “Dr. Whitley has shown tremendous leadership and self-sacrifice in our battle with COVID-19 here in East Texas. We thank him for his dedication as he joins us in welcoming and passing the torch to our new chief of staff Dr. Sokunbi,” he said.