Meet the Woman Running Operations at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas

Tiffany Northern (Courtesy: Texas Health)

Tiffany Northern is the new Chief Operating Officer of the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. She joins MedStar Health’s nonprofit healthcare system in Washington DC, where she served as Vice President of Operations for three years.

Born in Florida, she has been in the healthcare industry for 15 years and says she has been impressed with the dedication and warmth of her Texas Health employees. Their responsibilities include the hospital’s financial, operational, and service delivery goals.

She comes in the midst of the pandemic with extensive professional and personal experience. MedStar Health is a 912 bed Washington DC hospital that is part of a nine-hospital system. It is a Level I trauma center, has a regional burn program, and is a regional referral center.

Additionally, she lost her father to COVID-19 after her parents contracted the disease, which changed her view of her job. “It taught me to have a deeper compassion for those who are vulnerable and are going through a critical time in their life,” she says. “We’re trying to adapt and be nimble with all of the various changes that COVID has presented.”

The pandemic has required accelerated changes in hospital operations. Decisions that required a month or two to think about had to be made in hours, Northern says. Identifying wards for seriously ill patients, supply issues and dealing with burnout have been challenges she has faced in recent years.
As a leader, Northern sees herself as a relationship maker who can help others achieve their goals. “I really enjoy meeting people and understanding their passion and making them feel like they are doing their best,” she says. “I’m not looking for weaknesses in people. I love promoting them based on their strengths and positioning them so that they can fully develop. “

She counts a hospital experience a week before her prom while her grandmother died of heart failure and a relationship with former Ascension Health CEO Patricia Maryland as influences on what led her to manage health. Maryland’s words stuck with Northern: “We can choose whether to influence people or products,” she recalls as she told Maryland. “I was very moved when she talked about the impact we can have on people. The light bulb went on for me. “

A longtime fan of the Dallas Cowboys after graduating from the same high school as Emmitt Smith, Northern loves the food, diversity and people of Dallas. She already had her first cheesy State Fair dog and is well on her way to becoming a Dallasite. “The weather is beautiful. There are so many open green spaces that are so different from living and working in the District of Columbia, where there is an inner-city feel,” she says. “I enjoy the community I ended up in, the neighborhood was, so they helped us with the transition. “

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