Carolyn La Vita, MHA, RRT has been Director of Respiratory Care Services at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) since 2021. Carolyn joined Mass General as a student respiratory therapy intern in 2003.  As a registered respiratory therapist, Carolyn later specialized in the care of pediatric and neonatal patients and became certified as a Specialist in ECMO (Extracorporeal Life Support). She has earned advanced credentials as an Adult Critical Care Specialist (ACCS) and Neonatal/Pediatric Specialist (NPS) through the National Board of Respiratory Care.

Carolyn earned her BS in Cardiopulmonary Care Sciences from Georgia State University in 2003 and her master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Colorado State University in 2019. 

Throughout her career, Carolyn has been committed to cultivating the next generation of respiratory therapists.  To ensure MGH respiratory therapists remain as leaders in the profession, Carolyn has created many educational programs, team-oriented opportunities for learning, and initiatives for personalized staff development.  She brings innovative approaches and ideas to practice and management.

Some of Carolyn’s current clinical interests are acute respiratory distress syndrome, extracorporeal life support, electrical impedance tomography, and mechanical ventilation for low-birth-weight neonates.  She supports departmental research efforts and collaborations around these topics, among others, through publication, presentation, and participation in professional societies.