UW Oshkosh nursing alumnus Shane Carter to be honored with Distinguished Alumni Award

Shane Carter '02, '10 MSN, president of Ascension Mercy Hospital in Oshkosh and vice president of the Omro School Board, will be presented with a 2024 University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Distinguished Alumni Award on Homecoming weekend this fall.

Carter, of Omro, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing in 2002 and a Master of Science in nursing in 2010. He began his health care career as an ICU (intensive care unit) nurse at the hospital now known as Ascension NE Wisconsin - Mercy Campus. He was tapped to be president of the same hospital in 2023.

Prior to his current role, Carter served as chief nurse officer at Advocate Aurora Medical Center in Oshkosh for 12 years and has worked as a nurse manager and in clinical nursing education. He has been an Omro School Board member since 2019 and volunteers with several athletics' booster organizations. He has served on the board of visitors for the UWO College of Nursing since 2011.

Seon Yoon Chung, dean of the UWO College of Nursing, touts Carter as a steadfast leader and forward-thinker.

"He has been safeguarding the health and well-being of clients in our communities during good and bad times and through some non-ideal times, including the COVID-19 pandemic," she said. "The fact that Shane Carter rose to the top was not surprising given his vast experience and contribution towards securing access to high quality health care in our community."

Jane Dus, who had worked with Carter at Aurora Medical Center, echoed Yoon's sentiments.

"Shane has participated in many strategic activities and helped to shape many of our current processes," said Dus, who is the regional chief nursing officer and system vice president for Advocate Aurora Health.

Carter was instrumental in redesigning how nursing education is delivered, shifting from a traditional model to a hybrid model, Dus added, resulting in a much-improved platform to meet the needs of the nursing teams.

She pointed to Carter's work during the pandemic as an example of his leadership skills.

"He worked tirelessly to assure his staff had the supplies and the information they needed to safely care for our patients and, more importantly, he worked to make sure our patients were well cared-for during the time when the volumes of COVID-positive patients were surging," Dus said. "His leadership was instrumental in guiding the entire team through an incredibly challenging time."

Carter, who grew up in Omro, thought he was going to be a sports coach and follow his grandfather, Ed Goss', footsteps. Goss taught physical education and coached football at Omro High School, where Carter was a starting running back and cornerback.

He started at UW Oshkosh undecided but leaning towards something sports related. However, he got a job at a local plasma center working as a phlebotomist and found that many of his co-workers were nursing students. They urged him to consider the nursing program, and so he did.

"I was in a health care setting at the plasma center, interacting with the donors, the community, and I felt a little bit of the calling to be in that type of service industry," he said.

He applied for UWO's nursing program, was accepted and never looked back.

"I've been blessed to be part of something special, and that's health care delivery," said Carter, who credits much of his professional success to his alma mater. "UW Oshkosh has helped mold me into the person I am today. It has really helped set the tone of my nursing experience, but more importantly, as a servant leader that leads with compassion and strives for integrity."

The UW Oshkosh Alumni Association will celebrate the talents and successes of 13 alumni during Homecoming weekend Oct. 18-19. There are four, including Carter, receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award, two recognized with Alumni Outstanding Service Awards and seven being honored with the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

Learn more:

Study nursing at UWO

13 UWO alumni to be honored at Alumni Awards Celebration Homecoming weekend

UW Oshkosh Homecoming

UWO Alumni Relations

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International studies, political science alumna Dahse earns 2024 UWO Outstanding Young Alumni Award

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