Anne Carlsen names Thomas Harris Jr. as chief operating officer

Thomas Harris Jr. joined Anne Carlsen as chief operating officer in January 2026, putting a healthcare leader with more than 26 years of experience into a role that affects how the Jamestown-based nonprofit staffs, schedules and delivers care. For a provider with multiple local sites and a long service footprint in Stutsman County, the appointment is less about a title than about how smoothly families, employees and partners can move through the system.

Anne Carlsen says it has spent more than 85 years serving people with developmental disabilities or delays through a person-centered model that reaches children, young adults and families. In Jamestown, that presence includes the Ballantyne Berg campus, the North Campus and community-based offices, along with homes, regional outpatient services and residential centers that depend on tight operational coordination.

Harris came to the organization from Gillette Children’s in St. Paul, where he served as executive vice president of operations and chief operating officer. His portfolio there covered patient care operations across hospital, clinic, ancillary, integrated care and virtual care services, experience that fits a provider like Anne Carlsen, where clinical support, residential care and family services have to stay aligned across sites.

The appointment also lands against a broader leadership transition at the organization. In January 2025, Anne Carlsen announced that Stephanie Nelson would become chief executive officer in December 2025, succeeding Tim Eissinger, who planned to retire that month. Harris’s arrival adds another layer to that planned reshaping at the top and points to continuity in the organization’s day-to-day management rather than a sudden reset.

Anne Carlsen’s Jamestown roots go back to 1940, when the Crippled Children’s School was established in the city. The North Dakota governor’s office says the school later became the Anne Carlsen Center for Children and gained national recognition under Dr. Anne H. Carlsen’s leadership. That history helps explain why a COO hire matters locally: operational choices can ripple into hiring, program capacity, family access to therapy and support, and the organization’s ability to keep growing in Jamestown without losing the service model that made it a fixture here.