The Heart Behind Healthcare

January 17, 2025
Tammy Rodriguez, DNP

Baylor University has a long tradition of training healthcare providers who influence how the best care is delivered to patients in Texas and beyond. For many Baylor alumni who become practitioners and leaders shaping the field of medicine, their careers can become callings, and often the Baylor experience makes all the difference in the work they do. 

So often, family plays a pivotal role in an individual’s career choice. So it was with Tammy Rodriguez, D.N.P. ’22. When her grandmother passed away during a routine heart procedure, Rodriguez resolved to pursue a career as a cardiology nurse. Today, she serves as the chief nursing officer (CNO) at AdventHealth Central Texas.

“I didn’t take a very traditional education path. I didn’t go to school to be a nurse until after I’d already started my family. I got my associate’s degree, worked for five years, got my bachelor’s degree, worked for five years, got my master’s degree, and then right before COVID-19 made the decision that I wanted to get my doctorate. I enrolled, started the program and then COVID happened,” Rodriguez said. “COVID and a doctorate program at the same time was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, but by the grace of God I made it through.”

While Rodriguez has served as CNO for 10 years, she’s been a part of the organization for the last 20 years. Her role gave her different lenses of leadership as her D.N.P. focus was on executive nursing leadership. 

“I was always mainly focused on the inpatient and acute care side, and we have a lot of ancillary outpatients off-site. It gave me the ability to say, ‘There’s an opportunity for us to collaborate from the inpatient side to the outpatient side to help the patient’s journey through the healthcare system be more seamless.’ The program I went through contributed to that,” Rodriguez said. “Ultimately, I think our community is getting or has the opportunity to navigate the healthcare system in a way that’s healthier for them.”

Rodriguez began her Baylor doctorate program in August 2020 and learned quite a bit about herself through the process. She, along with several in her cohort, worked in leadership positions within healthcare while the pandemic surged. While she and her fellow students were invested in the work they were doing, so were their faculty. 

“We had frequent touchpoints — they knew about our families, they knew what was happening in our specific geographic locations in relation to the pandemic. They made us stop and recognize how much we were doing and reminded us to show ourselves grace. They were great encouragers and inspirers,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t know if other universities would’ve been that flexible while also challenging us when we needed to be challenged. That’s one of the reasons I chose Baylor — outside of my daughter having a phenomenal experience in her own undergraduate education there — being faith-based makes a huge difference and it drives what I do.” 

Rodriguez constantly works to consider how her leadership affects those she works with. She leads by example, especially when it comes to caring for patients. 

“My intent is to be as inclusive as possible. Sometimes people may forget that there are nuances that affect people’s health that we should consider,” Rodriguez said. “As healthcare providers, we have the opportunity to be inquisitive and learn from our patients. As a leader, I know that the more diversity we have in the room, the better our solutions are going to be.” 

Learning plays a vital role in Rodriguez’s leadership. 

“No matter how many classes I take, how many letters I have after my name, degrees that I get, if I come from a place of wanting to learn, I’m more likely to make the best decision,” Rodriguez said. “I want to develop, encourage and inspire leaders who pause and seek to learn in every interaction. When we point back to compassion and empathy, we move forward.”