Mount Carmel Health System CEO Tauana McDonald will retire at the end of 2026. Her tenure brought emergency services to the system's New Albany facility for the first time.

Mount Carmel announced the retirement Sept. 1, NBC4 reported. McDonald became CEO in July 2024, making her the first Black woman to lead Mount Carmel and the first Black woman to lead a hospital system in central Ohio.

The New Albany expansion is among the most visible changes during her time as CEO. Mount Carmel New Albany, at 7333 Smith's Mill Road, added emergency services under McDonald's leadership. She also oversaw the opening of Mount Carmel Dublin, the system's fifth hospital.

McDonald's 23-year career with Trinity Health, Mount Carmel's parent organization, began in 2003. She moved to Mount Carmel in 2017 as its first chief administrative officer.

In 2020, she was promoted to president and chief operating officer of Mount Carmel Grove City. She helped lead a financial turnaround at the newly opened hospital, which generated $34 million in operating income, according to the health system's statement.

In the retirement announcement, McDonald said serving at Mount Carmel had been one of the greatest honors of her career and that she had seen firsthand the care the system provides on patients' hardest days.

Her tenure also included leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to address health care workforce shortages through Mount Carmel College of Nursing. In 2026, she was named a YWCA Columbus Woman of Achievement.

McDonald was vocal about her priorities for the New Albany campus. When Mount Carmel appointed Timothy P. Graham as president of Mount Carmel New Albany, Dublin and St. Ann's in October 2025, she praised his "deep commitment to clinical excellence, education and innovation" and said she looked forward to seeing his work "continue to make a difference in central Ohio."

Trinity Health is working with Mount Carmel's Board of Trustees to search for the system's next president and CEO. No timeline for the search has been announced.