President Bill Clinton with Carolyn Caldwell, as photographed at Desert AIDS Project.
As we learn in her Executive Biography:
“Carolyn Caldwell is the Chief Executive Officer of Desert Regional Medical Center, a 387 bed tertiary acute care facility.
A Medical Technologist by training, Carolyn earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Alabama A&M University in Zoology and Chemistry and her Master of Science in Health Care Administration from Texas Woman’s University.
Carolyn has excelled through the ranks in several executive positions. After spending twelve years on the clinical side of the health care industry, Carolyn was promoted to Chief Operating Officer at Dallas Southwest Medical Center. Shortly after becoming COO, she was named Interim CEO and coordinated the sale of the hospital to a physician group. Subsequently, Carolyn was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of a larger facility, Medical Center of Arlington, a 326 bed facility in Arlington, Texas. During her tenure with Medical Center of Arlington, Carolyn oversaw a $70 million construction project which included a three story Women’s Center.
After spending 3 ½ years with Medical Center of Arlington, Carolyn was promoted to Chief Executive Officer for Lee’s Summit Medical Center in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, with a specific task of building an $85 million replacement facility. Carolyn was instrumental in achieving a major turnaround in service, quality and satisfaction at Lee’s Summit Medical Center during her tenure with the facility. Two months after opening Lee’s Summit Medical Center, Carolyn was once again promoted to lead Centerpoint Medical Center, which flourished in several areas under Carolyn’s leadership.
Desert Regional Medical Center in two short years under Carolyn’s leadership exceeded EBTIDA performance by 15 percent over budget and 39 percent over prior year, and also saw growth in Emergency Department visits by 6 percent and overall admissions by 8 percent.
Carolyn has led highly functioning teams that have exceeded corporate expectations by exceeding EBITDA performance, demonstrating growth in hospital admissions and achieving positive results in overall satisfaction.
Carolyn is an action-oriented executive who has a reputation for working collaboratively with key stakeholders to drive results. Some of her key strengths include strategic development and execution. She has proven on several occasions that she has the ability to lead organizations through challenging situations.
She has been recognized in the business community for her business acumen and leadership: 2005 Class of Women Who Mean Business in Kansas City; 2008 Most Influential Women in Kansas City; 2010 Class of Kansas City’s Influential Women; Women worth Watching in 2011 by the Profiles in Diversity Journal and the 2013 Hallmark award from Texas Woman’s University. She was recognized by the City of Palm Springs Human Rights Commission for her ongoing commitment to affordable healthcare for everyone, and as one of the champions for Get Tested Coachella Valley, a three year campaign to offer free HIV testing to residents in the Coachella Valley. Carolyn also received the 100 Women Award during the twenty second annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards in 2016.
Carolyn Caldwell speaks to the media at the kick-off of the Get Tested Coachella Valley Campaign.
She is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives, a past member of the AHA Region 6 Policy Board and past Chair of the AHA Institute for Diversity for Health Management. Carolyn is a board member of the American Hospital Association (AHA). Recognizing that there were exceptional mentors who helped craft her career, Carolyn is very passionate about mentoring young executives.
Carolyn and her husband Daniel (pictured above) have two adult children. They have a daughter, Monique and son-in-law Sean, who reside in Atlanta, Georgia. Monique is a Chemical Engineer with Coke. They also have a son Jonathon, who is an administrative specialist at Dupont Regional Medical Center which is a part of the Lutheran Health Network in Ft Wayne, Indiana which is part of Community Health System.
Carolyn likes reading, traveling and spending time with her family.
A Carolyn's-Eye-View of the city she loves.
Carolyn says, “PS I love you because…”
- Diversity: The diversity of Palm Springs is like no other place I have ever lived. Because of that diversity and acceptance of others regardless of race, color, gender or sexual orientation, Palm Springs is truly a place where people from all backgrounds can come together for the betterment of the entire community.
- Beauty: The beauty of the mountains, the sunsets, and watching the sun rise every morning – all absolutely amazing. No matter how hectic things are around me when I step outside and see the beauty of our community with the mountains and palm trees, things always seem to get a little better.
- The people: My husband Daniel and I have had the opportunity to meet some of the most friendly and wonderful individuals. We have made lifelong friends who we truly enjoy spending time getting to know better. Where ever we go, we also run into people who are quick to offer a smile and a warm handshake or hug.
- The food: We absolutely love all of the amazing restaurants in Palm Springs. We are fortunate to have our family and friends visit us often and we never seem to run out of wonderful places to eat or just hang out with friends.
- Being outdoors: Daniel and I love to spending our weekends hiking or spending time outside The beauty of the desert is so enjoyable during our walks. We often get our out of town visitors to tag along, and they often comment on the beauty of our desert.
Another Carolyn's-Eye-View of Palm Springs
Carolyn, I've come to know and love you because of your championship of the Get Tested Coachella Valley campaign (for which I am a social ambassador), and because of your philanthropic and board leadership support of Desert AIDS Project (of which I am a grateful client).
I can easily say that we love you as much as you love Palm Springs. We are all so much better (and healthier!) because of your leadership and participation in our community. Thank you! We are also grateful to your beautiful family for sharing you with us!
See you soon, I'm sure…
Much love,
Want to be featured in the “PS I love you because…” column?
To be considered, email me (Nicholas Snow, SnowbizNow@gmail.com) your top five answers (they can be short or long) to the statement, “PS I love you because…” and/or “PS I love you because I enjoy…”, along with two or three biographical paragraphs. Also, send some photos of things you love about the area including, ideally, you doing something you love in the area. Your submission does not guarantee publication. Thanks!