Professor Emerita Joins PA eHealth Advisory Board
Margarete L. Zalon, Ph.D., professor emerita in the Department of Nursing at The University of Scranton, was appointed as a consumer representative to the Pennsylvania e-Health Partnership Advisory Board.Margarete L. Zalon, Ph.D., professor emerita in the Department of Nursing at The University of Scranton, was appointed as a consumer representative to the Pennsylvania e-Health Partnership Advisory Board. The appointment was made by Valerie A. Arkoosh, M.D., Secretary of Human Services, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania eHealth Partnership is responsible for the creation and maintenance of Pennsylvania's secure health information exchange, known as the PA Patient and Provider Network, or P3N.
Before retiring from Scranton in 2022, Dr. Zalon served as director of the University’s online Master of Science in Health Informatics Program and played a pivotal role in the program’s success. In 2021, the graduate program received accreditation from the prestigious Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).
Dr. Zalon has been a member of Scranton’s faculty since 1988. During her more than three decades of service at the University, Dr. Zalon has served on numerous committees, including in leadership roles on the Faculty Senate. Dr. Zalon’s research focuses on vulnerable elders. She has authored book chapters, as well as articles published in numerous scholarly journals and other professional publications. She received a 2022 American Journal of Nursing (AJN) Book of the Year Award for the third edition of her book “Nurses Making Policy: From Bedside to Boardroom.” The book placed 2nd in the program’s Nursing Management and Leadership category. Dr. Zalon also received a 2019 AJN Book of the Year Award for the second edition of this book in 2019.
Dr. Zalon was inducted as an American Academy of Nursing Fellow in 2010 in part for her positive influence on health care policy and delivery. Her leadership legacy includes grassroots advocacy, progressive program design, execution and outcomes in state and national nursing organizations focused on establishing practice and education policy and building research funding capacity.
A previous chair of the American Nurses Foundation, former board member of the American Nurses Association and a past president of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, Dr. Zalon has also made research and health policy presentations at the local, state, national and international levels. She currently serves as the president of the Nursing Foundation of Pennsylvania, the charitable arm of PSNA which focuses on providing scholarships to students enrolled in nursing programs.
In 2022, Dr. Zalon received the John L. Earl III Award for service to the University, the faculty and the wider community. She was also a recipient of the Duke University School of Nursing Distinguished Alumna Award, the PSNA Distinguished Nurse Award and a Leahy Fellowship at Scranton. She also received the University’s Excellence in Advancing Interdisciplinary Study Award in 2020.
Dr. Zalon earned her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her master’s and Ph.D. degrees from New York University.
