Overview
- Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs, Duke University School of Nursing
- Senior Vice President & Chief Nurse Executive, Duke University Health System
THERESA MCDONNELL Dr. is a transformational healthcare leader with 25 years of experience driving strategic innovation, operational efficiency, and patient-centered excellence across multi-billion-dollar health systems. As Chief Nursing Executive at Duke University Health System, she oversees a workforce of 10,000+ nurses and leads operations across three hospitals, 150+ ambulatory clinics, and a rapidly expanding network that includes a new acute care hospital and an additional hospital acquisition. She also serves as Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs & Innovation at Duke University School of Nursing, bridging healthcare delivery with academic excellence to shape the future of nursing leadership.
Throughout her career, Dr. McDonnell has redefined nursing excellence, championing workforce transformation, cost-efficiency, and innovative care models. She spearheaded Duke’s new framework for nursing excellence, a globally informed, data-driven alternative to outdated accreditation models like Magnet, ensuring scalable, real-world impact. She also leads the Duke Nursing Innovation Hackathon, a pioneering initiative that empowers frontline nurses to identify challenges, develop solutions, and secure funding to drive meaningful improvements in patient care.
Previously, as Senior Vice President of Operations & Chief Nursing Officer at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (now Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center), she led a $1.7B specialty hospital system, overseeing 1,500 employees and managing large-scale transformation, including a major merger and acquisition with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She played a key role in securing $525M in financing for major infrastructure projects and led efforts that delivered a 30% revenue increase over four years. Her strategic leadership also turned a pharmacy operations deficit into $2.8M in revenue through contract renegotiations and operational efficiencies.
At Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Dr. McDonnell held progressively senior leadership roles, overseeing 22 disease centers and leading multi-disciplinary teams managing over 450 patients daily. She pioneered a financial care coordination model, recovering $1.4M in potential insurance denials within four months, and helped scale innovative care delivery models, including a nurse-led patient navigation system that became an industry benchmark. A practicing oncology nurse practitioner, Dr. McDonnell ensures that executive leadership remains connected to frontline care. She is deeply engaged in shaping national healthcare policy, advocating for licensure expansion and workforce models that elevate NPs and RNs into executive decision-making roles to address system-wide workforce shortages.
Dr. McDonnell is a respected global thought leader, regularly delivering keynote addresses and panel discussions at major healthcare summits worldwide. She has spoken at Harvard Medical School, ASCO, The Atlantic Live, the Singapore Nursing Conference, and multiple international healthcare forums, sharing insights on nursing innovation, workforce transformation, and the intersection of technology and patient care. Her expertise has been featured in leading medical publications, reinforcing her influence in shaping the future of healthcare on a global scale.
She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice and a Master of Science in Nursing from MGH Institute of Health Professions and serves on multiple boards, including Watts College of Nursing, Durham County Hospital Corporation, and Durham Technical College Board of Advisors, shaping the future of healthcare and nursing education.
