How Hospital CEOs Are Rebuilding the Public's Trust in Providers from the Inside Out

From combatting misinformation to reaching as many patients as possible, these hospital leaders are working to repair their communities' confidence in healthcare.

Trust in providers has eroded in recent years and hospital CEOs are seeing the effects across their organizations. The pandemic may have sparked the decline, but misinformation, politicization, and access disparities have kept the issue front and center.

In HealthLeaders' The Winning Edge for Rebuilding Patient and Public Trust this week, Glencoe Regional Health CEO Ben Davis and Vernon Health CEO David Hartberg shared how they're addressing the challenge through strategies spanning internal culture, community engagement, and operational transparency.

Here are four approaches CEOs are using to restore confidence in their institutions:

Identify trust gaps

Before rebuilding trust, hospital leaders must first recognize where and why it's broken.

Davis and Hartberg emphasized the importance of listening, both formally and informally, to detect early signs of distrust within your organization and in your communities.

Feedback from conversations with staff, patients, civic groups, local influencers, and public forums can surface concerns not captured quantitatively.

"I asked 'who are the informal leaders that are in the community that might not show up on a list somewhere, but they had a large influence?'" Hartberg said. "I was trying to establish those relationships so that I could be seen as a connection from Vernon Health out into the community and vice versa."

Hospital leaders can also utilize data-driven indicators like patient experience surveys, employee engagement scores, and market share shifts to systematically pinpoint trends in satisfaction, morale, and quality.

While trust is not easily measurable, the combination of data-driven insights with human-centered listening can allow CEOs to proactively identify trust gaps and tailor their strategies to address them.

Simplify transparency

Transparency is essential to creating an environment of trust, but too much technical detail can overwhelm patients, which means CEOs must work to strike the right balance with communicating complex medical information.

Davis and Hartberg both acknowledged the importance of simplification to clearly and effectively convey the full message.

"We want to look like the smooth gliding duck on the top of the water," Hartberg said. "They're already dealing with lots of things as patients. They're dealing with pain and confusion and frustration over what's going on in their life."

Leaders should engage in selective public messaging to avoid alarming their community, while also training their staff on communication techniques like AIDET (Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, Thank You) to make patients feel comfortable.

Using plain language to explain technology and procedures is another way to communicate without overwhelming patients. Hartberg shared an example of a physician at his organization explaining ambient AI listening to a patient by saying, "'I've got my robot friend here… it's going to help me keep track of what we're talking about.'" The plain-language approach helped the patient feel at ease without diving into technical jargon.

Expand access to care

How providers communicate with patients is vital, but that can only happen if they meet them where they are. Without providing necessary access to care, reducing barriers, and reaching underserved populations, organizations risk losing credibility.

"You can't let access slide," Davis said. "That's key to keeping trust within the community—that you have access to the services your communities are depending on you for."

One way both Glencoe Regional Health and Vernon Health have strived for that is through primary care expansion by hiring providers to improve availability. Additionally, Vernon Health is adding a psychiatrist and licensed social worker to meet rising behavioral health needs.

Meanwhile, Glencoe Regional Health has deployed on-site interpreters and bilingual providers to serve its Hispanic population.

Addressing health literacy and social determinants of health like food insecurity also allow organizations to better serve populations.

"We're trying to explore food pantries in our clinics and work with some area high schools to create some food pantries out into the communities," Hartberg said.

Strengthen internal culture

Though public perception often dominates the conversation around trust, hospital CEOs increasingly recognize that rebuilding it starts within their own walls.

A strong internal culture, defined by shared values, psychological safety, and frontline engagement, is not only essential for staff morale, but also directly influences patient experience and community perception.

"We can't be the provider of choice if we're not the employer of choice," Davis said.

To achieve that, Hartberg and Davis emphasized the importance of involving frontline staff in decision-making. Whether it's redesigning workflows, shaping patient experience initiatives, or contributing to strategic planning, staff engagement fosters ownership and trust.

Recognition can also be a powerful tool for reinforcing culture. Hartberg shared how he publicly celebrated a team's emergency care success after receiving a heartfelt call from a former community member. Sharing these stories internally helps staff see the impact of their work and strengthens their connection to the mission.

By investing in internal culture, hospital leaders are laying the foundation for rebuilding trust externally.

Davis said: "It's having great people doing great work caring for our community."