Dr. Charla Johnson’s “Winn-Dixie” Moment

From a heartfelt moment in a Winn-Dixie produce aisle to leading clinical informatics at FMOL Health, FranU alumna Dr. Charla Johnson reflects on the love, hope and sacrifice that inspired her to pursue nursing.

Three weeks before graduating high school, Dr. Johnson was standing in the produce aisle of Winn-Dixie when a chance encounter changed everything.

A woman approached her mother, wrapped her in a tight embrace and began thanking her through tears for the care she gave her family. Johnson watched, confused. She knew all her mother’s close friends, but she never saw this woman before.

When the emotional exchange ended, she finally asked, “Who was that lady?”

Her mother explained that the woman was the mother of one of her former patients. He was a young boy with juvenile diabetes who was hospitalized frequently. Johnson’s mother had cared not only for him, but for the entire family. The boy had passed away, but his mother never forgot the nurse who saw them through their darkest moments.

I was in awe of my mother. The power to completely be part of the human experience in someone’s time of distress and bring love, hope and healing. I understood the cost of nursing then, the sacrifice necessary to impact someone else’s life. I saw genuine care.”

In that aisle, Dr. Johnson realized what nursing could mean, and what it could demand. She applied to nursing school the very next week.

Thirty-eight years later, she still remembers exactly why she chose FranU.

Known then as Our Lady of the Lake (OLOL), the School of Nursing appealed to her because she wanted an education rooted in faith, one that aligned with her values and offered a foundation built on service.

She earned her nursing diploma in 1987 and began her career as a registered nurse in the orthopedic unit at Our Lake of the Lake Regional Medical Center.

The nursing program was clinically and academically rigorous, so when I graduated, I felt prepared for my first nursing role. The ability to achieve hard things through adequate preparation was a lifelong lesson in meeting my professional goals,” she said.

Today, Dr. Johnson serves as the Director of Clinical Information Systems and Nursing Informatics for FMOL Health, where she continues to merge connection, innovation and leadership across the health system.

She still stays connected with her classmates, Shelly Roy, Mitzi Pierce, Melissa Hendricks and Margaret Falgout, thanks to “the book of faces and LinkedIn”, she jokes.

Even after decades in the field, her commitment to the mission that shaped her has never wavered.

I am proud to be a part of a university that lives out a mission that points to the service of Christ within our vocation.”