Oakland University graduates, Constance O’Malley and Debra Guido-Allen, have been recently been promoted to vice president positions at Troy Beaumont Hospital.

Constance O’Malley, who received her bachelor’s of science in nursing from OU, has been named vice president and chief operating officer at Troy Beaumont. Debra Guido-Allen also received her bachelor’s of science in nursing from the university and is the new vice president and chief nursing officer at the hospital.

O’Malley has worked at many hospitals in the community, including the St. John Health System, the Detroit Medical Center and Beaumont hospitals. She has held many different positions including patient care educator, staff nurse, director of surgery and vice president of clinical services.

O’Malley said she chose OU because it was known to have an excellent nursing school, and at the time was known as the “Harvard of Midwest.”

“I think that there was an expectation that we would always do spectacular so we studied hard,” she said. “It was a tough program and that I think was the reason that we did so well.”

Not only did O’Malley leave Oakland with an education, but friendship as well.

“I can tell you as of today I still have five or six really close friends who graduated from OU with me,” she said.

According to Guido-Allen, the flexibility OU allowed really appealed to her.  She was able to attend nursing classes at multiple locations, including Royal Oak Beaumont and Oakland’s main campus.

“I was actually a nurse at the Royal Oak (Beaumont) campus and OU offered classes within the campus, so it was very, very convenient for me,” she said. “It was just a good school that met the needs of the adult learner.”

Although she received a full-ride scholarship to attend Wayne State University, after a year of classes, Guido-Allen knew it was not the school for her. She said it was difficult to adjust to the large class sizes.

Guido-Allen has been working at Beaumont for 24 years. Some of the numerous positions she has held include the assistant nurse manager of the coronary care and cardiac telemetry units, the critical care nursing director and vice president of nursing and nursing support services.