Aura Hickey
Director, Care Model Development
Aura Hickey serves as Director of Care Model Development at Heartland Whole Health Institute, where she plays a strategic role in the design and implementation of whole‑person, value‑based care models that improve patient outcomes, strengthen care team performance, and support sustainable system transformation.
A licensed registered nurse, Hickey brings more than 14 years of progressive clinical and operational leadership experience across primary care, specialty, population health, and care delivery transformation. She began her career at the bedside before advancing into leadership roles focused on workflow redesign, quality improvement, and scalable care model development. Most recently, she served as Director of Primary Care Nursing at Mercy, where she led multi‑clinic initiatives to optimize clinical operations, integrate value‑based care strategies, and support care teams in delivering coordinated, patient‑centered services.
Hickey’s expertise spans value‑based care implementation, case management, change management, and cross‑functional collaboration, with a particular passion for translating whole‑person care principles into practical, measurable models that work in real‑world settings. She holds a Master of Business Administration from John Brown University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Arkansas Tech University. She is bilingual in English and Spanish.