President and Chief Executive Officer, Mount Carmel Health System
A visionary leader, Tauana McDonald has delivered transformational hospital and health system turnarounds, led through unprecedented crises, and championed countless inaugural programs and initiatives.
The new CEO of Mount Carmel Health System, Tauana is no stranger to MCHS or its parent company Trinity Health, having held numerous C-suite, SVP, and VP positions throughout her 20+-year tenure with the organizations. Currently casting a strategic vision for the $2B health system with more than 10,000 employees, 2,000 physicians, and 900 volunteers. Bringing her depth and breadth of operational and clinical leadership to the team, she is championing a continuous improvement mindset, building a vibrant safety and quality culture, and fueling value creation to position the system to meet the demands of Central Ohio’s explosive growth over the next decade.
Previously President, COO, and CAO of Mount Carmel Grove City Hospital, she was hand-selected to lead the turnaround of this new $350M facility that was falling short of performance expectations. In just 4 years, and while navigating the impacts of the pandemic, she and her team achieved a financial, quality, and cultural turnaround. From double-digit gains in productivity, volume, and likelihood to recommend to an additional $34M in operating income, she left a lasting legacy on the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the facility.
Earlier, as CAO of MCHS, Tauana faced crises in triplicate. From a high-profile safety event generating intense media interest to a Legionella outbreak in a brand-new facility to the system’s response during the early days of the global pandemic, Tauana earned a reputation as a ‘go-to’ crisis manager. In fact, as a result, she became referred to as a verb, with colleagues affectionally stating that if you needed something done, you ‘Tauana-ed’ it!
Throughout her almost 15 years with Trinity Health, Tauana moved rapidly through 6 promotions, with her last two roles being VP of Program Partners and SVP of Clinical Business Operations. Most notably, she championed the introduction of Meaningful Use, becoming the largest health system to achieve compliance in year one, and generating $250M in vital revenue for the organization. Immediately following that, she led the conversion to ICD-10 and then led the BPCI program in fueling $500M in revenue. Her impact with Trinity can’t be understated when it comes to the administrative, operational, and clinical outcomes of her leadership of first-time programs.