(This story has been updated with additional information.)
Carolyn Jackson, the former chief executive officer at Saint Vincent Hospital, whose six-year tenure was marked by the longest nurses strike in Massachusetts history and more than 600 complaints lodged by nurses that claimed chronic understaffing had compromised patient safety, has taken a new job.
Jackson was hired last month as CEO at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Braintree, according to her LinkedIn page. The 187-bed inpatient hospital has a main campus in Braintree and a satellite campus in Framingham.
Jackson was traveling and unavailable for an interview, said Encompass Health.
In a prepared statement from Encompass, she said, “I am honored to be Encompass Health Braintree’s next CEO. We will continue serving our community and the Greater Boston area with the high-quality rehabilitation care that Encompass Health Braintree is known for.”
Encompass noted Jackson’s business acumen and focus on patient safety in its press release.
“Carolyn is a strong health care executive who succeeds at business development and hospital operations,” said Mat Gooch, regional vice-president of operations for Encompass Health, in a prepared statement. “She maintains a strong focus on enhancing patient safety and satisfaction, as well as quality of care. I know she will successfully lead the hospital team at Encompass Health Braintree.”
The Worcester Business Journal first reported Jackson’s hiring.
Encompass is the largest provider of inpatient rehabilitation services nationwide, according to its website. Besides Braintree, Encompass has Massachusetts locations in Woburn, Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital in Worcester and Lowell.
Jackson left Saint Vincent in February, and was replaced later that same month by Denton Park, former CEO of for-profit Community Health Systems.
An internal letter from Dallas-based for-profit Tenet Healthcare Corp. to Saint Vincent staff said Jackson’s time at Saint Vincent occurred in a “difficult union environment,” and that she was choosing to focus on the next chapter of her career.
Jackson’s accomplishments leading Saint Vincent, according to the letter, included navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure high-quality care and upgrading the electronic health record system and clinical technology.
“Relieved” is how the Massachusetts Nurses Union described the news of Jackson’s departure from Saint Vincent. In January, the union called for the state department of public health to send independent monitors to Saint Vincent to investigate understaffing that was allegedly responsible for three patient deaths.
Tenet has described that union’s demands as “publicity stunts” and part of a negotiating tactic with the current four-year contract between Tenet and the union set to expire in 2026.
Prior to her running the administrative side at Saint Vincent and Tenet’s other properties in Massachusetts, including MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and Natick, Jackson was chief operating officer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
She has a chemical engineering degree from the University of Delaware and a master of business administration from Harvard Business School.
Contact Henry Schwan at [email protected]. Follow him on X: @henrytelegram.
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