The hospital CEO turnover rate hit its lowest mark since 2012, the American College of Healthcare Executives reported this week.
Chief executive positions changed at a rate of 17% in 2019, a small decline when compared to the 18% clip tallied every year since 2014. Yet still, the past eight years have seen the highest rate of turnover in healthcare C-suites since ACHE started compiling the report in the 1980s.
“Despite the slight drop in 2019, turnover rates in recent years remain at higher levels than in the past,” President and CEO Deborah Bowen said in a statement. “Organizations are evolving to meet a changing healthcare environment, resulting in restructuring and the movement of CEOs to different positions within health systems.”
Chief executives are also increasingly reaching retirement age, which is why health systems should keep a keen eye on succession planning and prepping tomorrow’s leaders, Bowen added. ACHE compiled the report using data from the American Hospital Association, its own internal information and other public sources. All told, the Chicago-based college included 4,438 hospitals in this year’s analysis.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.