MURFREESBORO, TN (WGNS) - Daphne David hasn’t been in Murfreesboro long, but she’s already shaping the future of health care across Rutherford County. Since stepping in as president and CEO of Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford in May 2025, David has brought more than 20 years of leadership experience to a community that’s growing faster than almost anywhere in Tennessee. Her mission is straightforward: make sure residents can get advanced medical care right here at home.
One of the biggest success stories is the hospital’s heart program. Just three years after launching open‑heart surgery in 2023, Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford has now completed its 1,000th cardiac surgery—a milestone that underscores how quickly the program has grown and how deeply it’s impacting local families. What began with a $5.6 million investment has become one of Middle Tennessee’s fastest‑growing cardiovascular surgery programs, eliminating the need for patients to travel to Nashville for complex procedures.
David points out that more than 700 heart surgeries were performed in the first phase alone, and the momentum hasn’t slowed. Saint Thomas Heart has expanded to include a structural heart program offering advanced, minimally invasive procedures such as TAVR and left atrial appendage treatments (LAA). Even more growth is on the horizon: a new cardiac care patient center is being development at the hospital’s Westlawn campus, bringing additional services to the western side of Murfreesboro.
Cardiovascular surgeons Dr. Wilson Clements and Dr. Aaron Hoffman say the ability to provide comprehensive heart care locally is transforming patient outcomes. Families can stay close, recovery is easier, and access to specialized care is no longer limited by geography. For one of Tennessee’s fastest‑growing counties, that’s a game‑changer.
And heart care isn’t the only area expanding. David proudly shared that 13 new labor and delivery rooms will open by fall 2026—welcome news for a county where births continue to climb. And this coming Friday (7/17/2026), the new third floor Satellite Nursery at the hospital will officially open. A satellite nursery is essentially an overflow newborn care unit—a fully equipped, staffed extension of the main Mother‑Baby Unit that allows the hospital to safely care for more newborns when the primary nursery is at capacity. NewsRadio WGNS will be there.
CEO David also highlighted a partnership with Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance that brought Rutherford County’s first orthopaedic outpatient surgery center to Saint Thomas Westlawn, giving residents more options for same‑day procedures.
With Rutherford County expected to grow another 8% in the next five years, David is steering strategic expansions across multiple departments while keeping patient needs at the center of every decision. Her track record—from major capital projects in Hermitage trauma upgrades (level III trauma center)—shows she knows how to guide hospitals through rapid growth.
For Murfreesboro and all of Rutherford County, her leadership is already paying off in the most important way: more care, closer to home.
