Leadership Team

Event Chair

Doug Lawson

Douglas (Doug) Lawson, Ph.D., serves as Chief Executive Officer of St. Luke’s Health and as Senior Vice President of Operations, Texas Division, at CommonSpirit Health (St. Luke’s Health’s parent ministry). Doug leads a team of 11,000 employees and caregivers, and more than 5,000 physicians, in an integrated health network of 16 acute care hospitals and more than 270 access points serving Greater Houston, East Texas, and the Brazos Valley.

Leadership Team
Doug has built a nearly 20-year career in healthcare administration in a variety of leadership roles, with a solid track record for turning around underperforming hospitals and vastly improving the patient experience. He began his healthcare career leading the cancer program at Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Clinic in Temple, Texas and served in Kansas City with Saint Luke’s Health System. He later was named COO of Cabell-Huntington Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia, where over the course of three years his team brought patient satisfaction ratings from the single digits to the 90th percentile and earned the ranking of most preferred hospital in the region by Forrester Research.

Doug returned to Texas in 2007 to become President of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Grapevine, where within four years he and his team elevated the hospital to a top performer in the region. In 2012, he took on the Chief Operating Officer role at Baylor University Medical Center and in 2015 was named President of the center and of the North Texas Central Region. He has been in his current role with St. Luke’s Health System and CommonSpirit Health since 2018.

Under his leadership, the system’s flagship facility, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, became the first cardiovascular center in Houston to earn the American College of Cardiology (ACC) HeartCARE Center Designation. The hospital is the recipient of the ACC’s 2020 HeartCARE Center National Distinction of Excellence award. It was also named Healthgrades’ Best Hospital for cardiac care, only one of four hospitals in Texas and among only 102 nationally to receive this distinction in 2021. Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center ranks among the Top Three hospitals in Texas, receiving “A” ratings from the Leapfrog Group for patient safety.

A fifth-generation Texan, Doug attended Texas A&M University, where he played football while earning a B.S. in political science. He went on to earn a Master of Science degree in healthcare administration from Trinity University, and a Ph.D. in Leadership from Dallas Baptist University.

Leadership Team

  • KMARC BRYANT TYSON, BRYANT FAMILY REPRESENTATIVE
  • KZACH DAILEY, MARATHON OIL CORPORATION
  • KCARLA DAWSON, GOW MEDIA
  • KSTEVE ESTES, KPMG, LLP
  • KSCOTT EVANS HOAR CONSTRUCTION
  • KMELVYN HARRINGTON, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
  • KMONIKA HARRIS, ACCENTURE
  • KMARC HELM, HELM FAMILY FOUNDATION
  • KEDUARDO HERNANDEZ, TEXAS HEART INSTITUTE
  • KVICKI HOLLUB, OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM
  • KSHAWN LAFFERTY, KPMG
  • KDR. GAYLON MCCOLLOUGH, MCCOLLOUGH INSTITUTE
  • KKEVIN MCDONALD, NEXTIER
  • KDAVID MILICH, UNITEDHEALTHCARE
  • KANNE NEESON, MEMORIAL HERMANN HEALTH SYSTEM
  • KEMERSON PERIN, TEXAS HEART INSTITUTE
  • KRODNEY REED, NOV
  • KSONDRA RUHMAN, ACCENTURE
  • KJOSH SHERMAN, OPPORTUNE
  • KCINDY TAYLOR, OIL STATES INTERNATIONAL
  • KNEIL H. TOFSKY, SENTERRA REAL ESTATE
  • KWILLIE WOOD, PILLSBURY LAW

American Heart Association Staff Members

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Dan D’armond

Vice President, Development
Dan.darmond@heart.org

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Alexxa Newman

Development Manager
Alexxa.newman@heart.org