Providence names Northern California chief, Napa hospital CEO
Laureen Driscoll, a health care executive from Washington state, has been named regional chief executive at Providence Northern California, the health care system announced Monday.
Driscoll succeeds Kevin Klockenga, who retired in May after 13 years with St. Joseph Health System. Klockenga served four years as president and CEO of the St. Joseph Health-Sonoma County before being named executive vice president and CEO of the entire St. Joseph Health Northern California region, according to Providence. St. Joseph Health rebranded as Providence in 2016.
Driscoll will lead Providence Northern California region's six hospitals – Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Petaluma Valley Hospital, Healdsburg Hospital, Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, and St. Joseph Hospital and Redwood Memorial Hospital, both in Humboldt County, Providence stated in a press release. She also will oversee Providence’s ambulatory facilities, medical offices and health care services operations in the region.
Driscoll and her husband, John, will relocate to Northern California from Tacoma, where she currently serves as president of Tacoma General and Allenmore hospitals, part of MultiCare Health System, where she has worked for five years.
Before taking over as president of the two health care systems in May 2020, she served for nearly three years as president of MultiCare’s Deaconess Hospital in Spokane. Driscoll joined MultiCare in Dec. 2016 as vice president of operations, where she helped lead the integration of its acquisition of Rockwood Health System, according to the release.
Prior to joining MultiCare, Driscoll served for nearly seven years as chief operating officer at Seattle-based Swedish Health.
“Laureen’s combination of clinical and leadership expertise, along with her compassionate nature and proven ability to inspire complex organizations to greatness will help us further our outstanding care throughout the Northern California communities we serve,” Erik Wexler, president of operations and strategy for Providence, stated in the release.
Driscoll began her health care career as a nurse before moving to administrative leadership roles. She holds an executive MBA from the University of Washington and a Master of Science in nursing administration from Northeastern University.
“I have dedicated my career to caring for people in need and the pursuit of health care excellence,” said Driscoll. “I’m excited to continue my professional journey at Providence, where community-centered care is supported by a broad and deep collection of outstanding health care services.”
Separately, Providence has appointed Terry Wooten as chief executive of Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, where he is responsible for the hospital’s operational effectiveness and performance, according to Providence, which stated he began his role July 6.
Wooten has worked within the St. Joseph Health and Providence health care system for more than 25 years, according to the release. For the last five years, he served as operations leader for Providence Mission Hospital’s two campuses in Southern California, where he was responsible for overall planning, development, coordination, implementation and management of the hospitals’ operations.
At those two Southern California hospitals, Wooten led a team of more than 1,100 caregivers and had direct oversight of a number of service areas, including comprehensive cancer services, inpatient and outpatient physical rehabilitation services, and ambulatory surgical services, among others, according to the release.
Before that, Wooten served as vice president for clinical supply chain for the St. Joseph Health System Office, and earlier held a variety of roles at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, including director of business and materials resources, surgical services and endoscopy, according to the release.
Wooten holds a master’s degree in health care administration from the University of Southern California.
