San Antonio, TX – Methodist Hospital Northeast has appointed Felicia De La Garza as their new chief operating officer (COO). De La Garza currently serves as the assistant chief operating officer (ACOO) at Methodist Hospital.

During her tenure, she helped to spearhead the lung transplant development program and played a pivotal role in the creation of Methodist Hospital’s first vascular program and the Diabetic Foot and Ankle Institute (DFAI). Prior to her role as ACOO, De La Garza served as vice president of operations at Methodist Hospital, where she focused on hospital operations, programmatic development, physician recruitment, strategic planning, quality outcomes, and service line growth initiatives. Within that role, she was influential in launching Methodist Hospital’s first Texas Medical Board-approved Transplant and Circulatory Support Fellowship Program. Additionally, De La Garza helped lead the hospital's heart transplant growth strategies and recruitment, resulting in record transplant volume for 2021 and 2022.

Before joining Methodist Healthcare, she directed Transplant Services at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and spent 10 years in the Houston healthcare industry. De La Garza received her Master of Science in Nursing, Leadership Management, and Education and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Lubbock Christian University.

“We are very excited for Felicia to join our Methodist Hospital Northeast family,” shared Michael Beaver, chief executive officer of Methodist Hospital Northeast. “Her leadership and expertise have been incredibly valuable at Methodist Healthcare. I look forward to the impact she will have on our hospital growth and capital expansion plans, as we continue to increase access to healthcare for the rapidly growing northeast Bexar, Guadalupe, and Comal Counties.”

De La Garza will assume her new role February 27.