As executive director, Ms. Lucas oversees East Hospital, Harding Hospital and Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital, all community hospitals that are part of Columbus-based Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. She first joined Ohio State Wexner in 2011 as Harding Hospital’s executive director and added oversight of East Hospital nearly three years ago. East Hospital features a level 3 trauma center, a ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction program and a certified primary stroke center, and Ms. Lucas has expanded services there including vascular surgery, electrophysiology and neurosurgery. She helped launch a behavioral health urgent care during the pandemic and supported the opening of residential addiction treatment services at East Hospital in spring 2024. Ms. Lucas also led community engagement efforts around the construction of a new rehabilitation hospital, building consensus with neighborhood stakeholders to preserve a historic home on the planned site. She serves on the Ohio Hospital Association’s behavioral health committee and the Near East Side advisory council, and previously served on the American Heart Association’s “Heart Walk” executive leadership team for Central Ohio. Under her leadership, East Hospital earned a Leapfrog grade “A” in 2024 and 2025, as well as a 2023 Press Ganey “Human Experience Award” for its inpatient addiction work. Before her current role, Ms. Lucas spent more than a decade in nursing and administrative leadership positions at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, Columbus-based Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
