Virginia Hebard, Global Occupational Health Principal Specialist; Abbvie Inc.

Virginia is passionate about developing a culture of health, safety and wellness. In Virginia's current role, she is responsible for the strategic mission for AbbVie Global Occupational Health across the enterprise. Presently, she provides oversight and governance monitoring for 19 health clinics across the AbbVie enterprise.

Virginia has often worked in occupational health settings where her creative spirit has taken a blank slate and created a strong, well founded occupational health delivery system.  During her employment with the Department of Energy, she led the clinics to achieve accreditation for ambulatory care. Audits by Federal Occupational Health as well as Health and Human Services lauded the clinics as "best-in-class" of DOE sites.

Over Virginia's 30-year career in occupational health, she has received numerous awards for her work in occupational health, receiving the Creative Practice Award in Occupational Health Nursing. She has also been recognized locally, receiving the Chicago Working Woman Award. In 2015, Virginia was inducted as an American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Fellow.

Virginia is dedicated not only to her own continuous development as a professional, but also to the advancement of others in the field of occupational health. She received her BS in Nursing and her MS in Occupational Health Nursing from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. She has been a clinical preceptor for the University of Illinois at Chicago and for the Washington State University School of Nursing and taught occupational health concepts at Barat College and Columbia Basin College. Virginia is a frequent guest presenter for the Academy of Organizational and Occupational Psychiatry, National Safety Council Congress and American Association of Occupational Health Nurses conferences.

Virginia is a registered nurse who is also a certified occupational health nurse specialist, certified case manager, and a certified workers' compensation professional.