The volatility hospitals are experiencing is being felt at the highest levels of leadership, new data reveals.
Challenging conditions at hospitals and health systems are prompting long-tenured leaders to retire, step aside, or be replaced by boards leaning on interim leadership to bridge uncertainty.
Through the first half of 2025, hospitals recorded 68 CEO exits, marking a 3% increase from the 66 announced in the same period last year, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
While hospital CEO turnover was down year-over-year in the first quarter, which featured 31 departures compared to 34 in 2024, activity picked up significantly towards the end of the second quarter. Seventeen of the 68 exits through the first six months came in June, a jump from the five announced in May and a slight increase over the 16 that came in June 2024.
Across all industries, June experienced 207 CEO exits, representing a 23% rise from May’s 168. Still, that total was down 12% from the 234 changes reported in June 2024.
Overall, 1,235 CEOs left their position in the first half of the year, marking a 12% increase from the 1,101 exits logged over the same period last year, making it the highest year-to-date total since the executive coaching firm began tracking CEO turnover in 2002.
‘CEO gig economy’
One of the prominent CEO turnover trends that emerged through the first six months of the year was organizations’ increasing reliance on interim leaders.
One-third (33%) of new CEOs in the first half were appointed on an interim basis, compared to just 9% over the same period in 2024 and 2023, Challenger’s data found. Among the interim appointments, 53% were selected from within the organization, while 47% came from outside.
Though interim leadership can be an appealing strategy for organizations preferring flexibility, both financially and operationally, it can also attract CEO candidates.
“At the same time, more executives are embracing the increasingly attractive option of short-term CEO roles, essentially participating in a ‘CEO gig economy,’” Andy Challenger, labor and workplace expert at Challenge, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement.
At hospitals, mounting pressures from rising costs and regulatory shifts are creating an uncertain environment that’s turning up the heat on both new and long-standing CEOs.
Jay Asser is the CEO editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
CEO turnover at hospitals increased 3% in the first half of 2025, with 68 exits recorded following a June spike in departures.
One-third of new CEOs were interim appointments, up sharply from 9% in 2024, signaling a shift toward more flexible, stopgap leadership models.
Financial and regulatory constraints are pushing hospital boards to act, resulting in more leadership changes.