Theresa (Terry) McDonnell is senior vice president and chief nurse executive at Duke University Health System, where she oversees nursing across four hospitals, more than 250 ambulatory clinics, and a clinical workforce of over 10,000.
She also serves as vice dean for clinical affairs at the Duke University School of Nursing, holding a first-of-its-kind joint appointment that integrates academic and practice leadership. With more than 25 years of executive leadership experience, Dr. McDonnell is leading an ambitious nursing transformation agenda at Duke, including the Duke Co-Care Model, which pairs bedside nurses with AI-enabled virtual nursing and remote safety-observation technology.
Before Duke, she served as senior vice president of operations and chief nursing officer at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, now Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, where she helped lead a major merger integration.
Earlier, she spent 14 years in progressively senior roles at Massachusetts General Hospital, directing operations across disease centers, clinics, and multiple sites while maintaining clinical practice as an acute care nurse practitioner in gastrointestinal oncology. Dr. McDonnell is a Gold Stevie Award winner for Most Resilient Female Leader and a Modern Healthcare Most Influential Clinical Executive honoree.
She serves on the board of trustees of the Durham County Hospital Corporation and chairs the board of directors of Watts College of Nursing, and she is a frequent keynote speaker at national and international healthcare forums. Dr. McDonnell earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice and Master of Science in Nursing from the MGH Institute of Health Professions and a bachelor’s degree from Boston College.