Meet the two women running Sentara Health's largest and busiest market

When Newsweek named Sentara Health one of America's Greatest Workplaces for Women in 2026, it raised a natural question: what does that look like in practice?

Part of the answer can be found in Sentara's Southeast market, the health system's largest and busiest region, where two seasoned women executives are running five hospitals across Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and northeastern North Carolina.

Dana Weston Graves and Joanne Inman are not the first women to lead this region. But together, they are rewriting the playbook on what collaborative, authentic healthcare leadership can look like — and setting an example for the leaders coming after them. 

Moving from hospital silos to a unified market

Historically, Sentara’s acute care division functioned as 12 individual hospitals, each with its own president. However, an organizational transformation in 2025 shifted that operational strategy, organizing the health system into regional markets, with market presidents overseeing multiple hospitals.

For Graves and Inman, the change meant working more closely together than ever before.

"We no longer think about our hospitals as standalone facilities," said Graves, who oversees Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, a 525-bed Level I trauma center, and nearby Sentara Leigh Hospital. 

Inman oversees Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, a Level III trauma center, Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, and Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

"If Virginia Beach is facing a challenge, Norfolk is facing the same and vice versa,” Graves said. “It’s all one Southeast market, serving a community that moves across city lines. Joanne and I work incredibly close. We talk 80 times a day.”

Their collaboration extends beyond the Southeast market. They often work closely with Kapua Conley, Eastern Market President, and Jeff Joyner, Northwestern Market President. 

Inman recognizes first responders and care teams at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital for their quick actions which saved the life of a 35-year-old firefighter who suffered a stroke.

To make it all work, both women say a spirit of openness and a willingness to change is key. 

“What I love about Sentara is our leaders embrace change, understanding that if you change nothing, nothing changes,” Inman said. “It takes courage to adopt this approach to leadership. It isn’t always perfect, but it’s crucial as we bridge the gap between the care we deliver and how patients experience that care.”

Inman leads her teams to focus on "the art of what’s possible" and thinking outside the box to improve the patient experience. Graves echoed that spirit.

"We’ve built a team where we can challenge each other’s thinking, admit when we’re wrong, and have each other’s backs,” she said. “Honest conversations have brought us closer together, making us a highly effective unit."

Understanding the healthcare consumer

In many households, women make 80% of healthcare purchasing decisions. Women also comprise about 80% of Sentara’s workforce, including in the Southeast region. Comparatively, women make up only about 40% of healthcare executives in the U.S.

That positions the two female executives leading Sentara's largest market to bring a valuable perspective to healthcare leadership in the region and broader organization.

“We've sat in waiting rooms, worried about loved ones and tried to make the best healthcare decisions for our families,” Graves said. “That perspective stays with you as a leader.” 

Inman agreed, noting that those experiences help them as leaders influence how care is delivered.

“Even as a healthcare leader, I feel overwhelmed at times trying to navigate care for myself or my family,” Inman said. 

“Staying connected to what I experience gives me important perspective as we work to deliver on our mission to improve health every day. It puts me in a better position to create a system where care feels more coordinated, more personal, and easier for people to navigate.”

Those experiences, and a leader’s willingness to be open, can also have an impact on how employees feel supported and empowered at work.

“It creates space for honest conversations about motherhood, bias, and professional growth,” Inman said.

That commitment is reflected in initiatives like Sentara’s Women in the Workplace Employee Resource Group (ERG).  

With nearly 1,000 members across all levels of the organization, the group fosters community through hikes, coffee meetups, and virtual events. In 2025, the group hosted 21 virtual events, drawing an average of 110 participants each.

“I’m a wife, a mother, a daughter, and a sister. Those roles shape how I lead and how I think about the people we serve,” Inman said. “Dana and I both work to ensure women’s perspectives and experiences are represented in decisions being made at the highest levels.”

Balancing executive leadership and motherhood

For Inman and Graves, that willingness to be open and authentic leaders extends to some of the most personal parts of their lives — including what it means to run a major healthcare market while being a mom.

Inman gave birth to both her daughters at Sentara Leigh Hospital, and Graves had her youngest son at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital.

“To have Sentara be such a meaningful part of our lives, both personally and professionally, connects us even more deeply to the mission and the work,” Graves said. 

Inman drops her daughter off at soccer practice (left), and Graves enjoys a weekend event with her son (right).

Despite the demands of the high-stakes work they do, Inman and Graves have built a partnership that respects family commitments.

"We are running a massive region, but we are also moms," Inman said. "We intentionally create space to support one another so we can excel in both roles. When we support each other to lead authentically as working moms, our hope is it encourages our teams to do the same."

Graves echoed the importance of maintaining those boundaries.

"On my car ride home, I try to let my mind close some loops so that when I walk through the door, I have the opportunity to just be mommy and a wife,” she said.

By speaking openly about these experiences, their intention is to create an environment where employees feel supported both at work and at home.

Creating a pipeline for future leaders

Both presidents are committed to widening the path for the next generation of healthcare executives. 

Graves openly discussed the hurdles women and minority leaders face, including "prove-it-again" bias, where credibility must be repeatedly earned.

"Joanne and I have had no problem proving it again and again over the course of our careers because we work incredibly hard," Graves said. "But visibility and representation matter. It matters for the pipeline of leaders coming after us.” 

Melinda Hancock (left), Sentara’s first female chief finance officer, and Graves (right) watch as Tara Silvestri (center), nurse manager of labor and delivery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, shows them photos of Hospital Week celebrations.  

Graves added that she often reflects on what she wished she had earlier in her career: access to leaders whose life experiences mirrored her own.

By sharing their experiences openly and being accessible, Graves and Inman hope to give emerging leaders the kind of visibility, mentorship and representation they once sought themselves.

In Sentara's Southeast market, that vision is already taking shape — and with it, helping make Sentara Health the kind of workplace where women can thrive.