Trident Health President and CEO Christina Oh announces David Was as the new Chief Operating Officer of Live Oak Mental Health & Wellness, the health system’s new 60-bed mental health hospital. It is scheduled to open in June 2023.

“David’s experience, vision and personality are the perfect match as we continue building on our legacy of providing compassionate, patient-centered, evidence-based mental health services to our patients,” said Oh.

When Live Oak Mental Health & Wellness opens, it will be the first mental health hospital built in South Carolina in more than 30 years. It will provide inpatient and outpatient services to adolescents and adults, including geriatric adults.

“I’m honored to join Trident Health as it makes an important, and much-needed, commitment to patients, and their families, in the South Carolina Lowcountry who need accessible and high quality mental health services,” said Was.

In his 17-year career with HCA Healthcare, Trident Health’s parent company, Was has held a number of executive leadership positions. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer at 467-bed HCA Florida Aventura Hospital in Aventura, FL since 2020. He held a similar position at 221-bed HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford, FL.

“My passion in health care is to create an environment of care where our patients’ needs are provided with compassion by colleagues who have the knowledge and resources they need to be a source of hope for patients who are among the most vulnerable in healthcare,” explained Was.

Was earned his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University and his graduate degree at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, where he specialized in health care operations. He is fluent in Spanish; a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives; and has served as an active member in his communities’ chambers of commerce.

Trident Health includes 321-bed Trident Medical Center, 124-bed Summerville Medical Center and three freestanding ERs –Brighton Park Emergency, Centre Pointe Emergency and Moncks Corner Medical Center. For the second consecutive year, Healthgrades has named Trident and Summerville Medical Center’s as America’s 250 Best Hospitals™, which places them among the top 5% of the nearly 4,500 hospitals Healthgrades reviewed for 30 quality indicators.

In addition to opening Live Oak Mental Health & Wellness in 2023, Trident Medical Center will also open James Island Emergency and a 569-space parking garage.