Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare – 2014

Woods, 49, has been executive vice president and chief operating officer for Irving, Texas-based Christus for nearly three years. Woods joined 16-hospital Christus from Catholic Health Initiatives' Lexington, Ky.-based regional organization, St. Joseph Health System. He became CEO of St. Joseph in 2007 after leading the integration of seven Kentucky hospitals into the regional group. This group included the four hospitals that had been a part of CHI's St. Joseph HealthCare, also in Lexington, where Woods had served as president and CEO since 2005. Before joining CHI, Woods was COO at the Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center, a teaching hospital with nearly 800 beds.