COVID-19 Operations
Wolgast named director of COVID OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER As part of the plan to manage the presence of COVID-19 on campuses throughout the commonwealth, Kelly A. Wolgast, assistant dean for outreach and professional development and associate teaching professor, was appointed director of Penn State’s new COVID-19 Operations Control Center. The control center has been the hub for data management and reporting, testing and contact tracing, supply chain and procurement, and more. As the center’s director, Wolgast, a retired U.S. Army colonel and nurse commander with extensive health care and higher education experience, collaborates with University leadership and the 16 coronavirus task groups to oversee operations related to Penn State’s COVID response effort; she serves as a connection point among groups, units and campuses; and manages aggregate data to inform strategies for quickly addressing needs and developments. The
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COVID-19 Operations Control Center works closely with Penn State’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to maintain regular communication, align strategies and tactics, and share information. During Wolgast’s 26-year activeduty military career in the U.S. Army, she earned the Bronze Star Medal for combat experience as deputy commander and chief nurse in Afghanistan; served as a hospital commander for relief operations following Hurricane Katrina during a deployment in New Orleans; and was the senior nurse executive of the U.S. Army Medical Command. In accordance with Gov. Tom Wolf’s requirements for higher education, Wolgast will lead the development of a report for the Pennsylvania Department of Education on the University’s plans and strategies related to in-person instruction, hygiene and sanitation practices, face mask and social distancing policies, attendance, travel policies, course delivery, schedules, and more. Wolgast has many years of executive nursing and healthcare leadership experience and has a
strong background in medicalsurgical nursing. As an assistant dean in the College of Nursing, she led efforts to shape and grow the college’s online nursing programs and portfolio through Penn State World Campus and the Commonwealth Campuses. Prior to arriving at Penn State in 2016, Wolgast was an assistant professor and specialty director for the Healthcare Leadership Program at Vanderbilt University. She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American Academy of Nursing. A graduate of the University’s Army ROTC program, Wolgast earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Penn State, a master’s degree of science in nursing (administration and education) from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a doctorate in nursing practice (executive nurse leadership) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.