Sterling Martin Associates Finds New Leader for COLA

September 26, 2018 – Following a national search conducted by Sterling Martin Associates, Nancy Stratton has been named the new CEO of COLA, the leading accreditation provider for clinical laboratories. She succeeds Doug Beigel, who recently retired after more than 29 years with the organization.

“In Nancy, our organization gains a leader with an unmatched breadth of experience in the clinical laboratory field, understanding of the healthcare landscape, and reputation for developing and implementing strategic plans that produce positive results,” said Rick Eisenstaedt, chairperson of the board of directors for COLA. “We are extremely fortunate to have her at our helm as we work to help more laboratories across the country improve their practices.”

Columbia, MD-based COLA was seeking candidates with experience managing an organization of its size and scope and who would be strategic visionaries and experienced leaders and executives with passion for patient safety.

Ms. Stratton fit that bill. She is a senior leader with more than 35 years of experience in laboratory management. She was most recently CEO of Clinical Pathology Laboratories (CPL), the largest division of Sonic Healthcare. She joined CPL in 1995 as a bench technologist and advanced to various management positions, helping CPL improve its quality management, customer service, human resources, risk management, and regulatory and medical legal compliance. She was promoted to CEO in 2016. Prior to joining CPL, Ms. Stratton was a medical technologist in a variety of laboratory settings, including hospitals and physicians’ offices.

Commitment To Patient Care

In addition to having extensive experience in all aspects of laboratory operations, Ms. Stratton is highly regarded in the industry for her commitment to high-quality patient care, her collaborative leadership style, and her ability to cultivate meaningful relationships with employees, physicians, hospitals and community partners.

Ms. Stratton will be responsible for driving the organization’s continued growth in its efforts in laboratory medicine and patient care. “I have long been impressed with COLA as a champion for patient safety,” said Ms. Stratton. “I am honored to be a part of this mission to work in collaboration with our customers to ensure excellence in laboratory medicine on behalf of the patients,” she said.

COLA accredits nearly 8,000 medical laboratories and provides the clinical laboratory with a program of education, consultation, and accreditation. The organization is an independent, non-profit accreditor whose education-based program and standards enable clinical laboratories and staff to meet U.S. CLIA 88 and other regulatory requirements.

Veteran Search Consultants

Established in 2006, Sterling Martin Associates focuses on finding leaders for associations and non-profit organizations. The firm has been engaged by over 150 clients throughout the U.S. Its staff consists of 16 professionals located in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco, and Orange County, CA.


HR Trends Impacting Healthcare Recruiting Specialists
Changes in healthcare are continuing to occur at a quickening pace, seemingly the fastest in recent history. But any changes coming to the sector, good or bad, will impact many businesses, including search firms, that work in the healthcare space.


Eighty-five percent of the firm’s searches are for roles at the CEO/executive director level with the balance being for senior staff. The firm recently recruited executive directors for the Chemical Educational Foundation, the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions, the Texas Society of Association Executives and the Texas Society of CPAs. It also filled CEO roles for the National Speakers Association, Maryland Food Bank and the American Rental Association.

Sterling Martin Associates is led by David Martin, CEO and managing partner. He has three decades of professional experience, including national executive search, non-profit leadership and with Georgia-Pacific Corp. Mr. Martin has conducted searches in a broad range of executive leadership positions at the C-suite level, including president and CEO roles, executive directors and chief operating officers.

This spring, Sterling Martin Associates helped place Lori Tremmel Freeman as chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining NACCHO, Ms. Freeman served for four years as CEO of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, where she oversaw all of the organization’s operations. From 2010 to 2014, Ms. Freeman was NACCHO’s associate executive director for administration and advancement. In that capacity, she built strategic partnerships with local health departments and other key organizations, ensuring that NACCHO was a relevant, responsive, member-driven and fiscally sustainable organization.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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