Hospitals experienced the most job growth in the sector during the month with 16,300 jobs added.
The healthcare sector continues to experience job growth for the fifth month in a row this year.
The newest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report found that employment in the healthcare sector rose by 28,000 in May.
Hospitals experienced the most job growth, with an additional 16,300 jobs added. Nursing and residential care facilities saw an increase in 5,600 jobs, and nursing care facilities saw 1,300 jobs added in the month of May.
Following continuous gains in employment this year, including +18,000 in January, +64,000 in February, +8,000 in March, and +34,000 in April, employment in the healthcare sector is now down approximately 223,000 jobs, or 1.3% lower, than pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.
According to the report, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 390,000 in May. Notable job gains occurred in the leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and transportation warehousing sectors, while employment in the retail sector saw a loss in jobs.
The unemployment rate in May was 3.6%, for a total of 6 million unemployed persons, remaining unchanged for the third month in a row. "These measures are little different than their values in February 2020 (3.5% and 5.7 million, respectively,) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic," the report said.
The health systems are currently "deep into discussions" and a final merger agreement is expected to be completed within the coming weeks.
Green Bay, Wisconsin-based Bellin Health and La Crosse, Wisconsin-based Gundersen Health System are in talks to combine the nonprofit health systems.
According to a press release, the health systems are currently "deep into discussions" and a final merger agreement is expected to be completed within the coming weeks. According to the organizations, the merger would create more resources and a broader network of services to improve patient care across the organizations' footprints in the Upper Midwest.
The merger plans, pending final agreement and regulatory review, would serve patients in Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, southeastern Minnesota, and northeast Iowa through 11 hospitals and more than 100 clinic locations. Headquarters would be maintained in both system's current locations in Green Bay and La Crosse, with the CEO at one location and board chair at the other location to create a balanced leadership structure.
"As health systems, our missions, visions and values complement each other, and the people and communities we serve are at the core of the care and service we provide," Bellin Health president and CEO, Chris Woleske, said in a statement. "Joining together would allow us to maintain and enhance the top-quality care to which our patients and communities are accustomed — and ensure that care endures for another 100 years and beyond."
The nonprofit health systems say they are "committed to people, not profits," and will continue to reinvest more than $210 million each year back into their respective communities. Through the merger, the communities served will continue to benefit from the organizations' reinvestment work and will experience advancements in population health and health equity initiatives.
"This merger would bring new opportunities to expand this important community-minded work," Gundersen Health System CEO, Scott Rathgaber, MD, said in a statement. "We invest dollars to improve health outcomes, specifically for marginalized individuals and broadly for everyone in our care. Through this model, we also work hard to lower or maintain premiums on health plans, which reduces costs for the employers and businesses we serve."
Gundersen CEO, Rathgaber, would serve as the new system's CEO, while the current chair of the Bellin Health board of directors, John Dykema, would serve as the chair of the newly created board. Bellin CEO, Woleske, would serve as system executive vice president and regional president of the northern counties.
Matthew Love, CEO of Nicklaus Children's, shares his lessons learned in leading the pediatric health system through the pandemic and explains how the virus impacted the system's pediatric patient volumes.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have disproportionately affected adults, but children weren’t immune from the virus. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association have reported that almost 13.3 million children have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic in 2019.
Pediatric hospitals and health systems also weren't immune to the pandemic effects, and have faced the same hardships that adult hospitals and health systems have over the past couple of years. These pain points include staffing issues, drops in patient volume, and navigating a novel disease.
One of those organizations is Nicklaus Children's Health System, a pediatric health system serving Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties in Florida. According to the health system's president and CEO, Matthew Love, the organization has a workforce of 4,000 that serves about half a million children across its locations, including a primary hospital outside of Coral Gables and over a dozen ambulatory locations.
Love recently spoke with HealthLeaders about his experience leading the pediatric health system through the pandemic, how the virus impacted the system's pediatric patient volumes, and shared his learnings from the past couple of years.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
HealthLeaders:What was your experience leading a children's health system through the COVID-19 pandemic?
Matthew Love: From a pediatric perspective, we were glad that it was not primarily a pediatric event. Kids got sick, but it was much more of an adult issue.
For us, it primarily [affected] our volumes, similar to most children's hospitals across the country, where we saw significant decreases in volumes almost overnight. Primarily, no children's hospitals were backfilled with COVID patients because there weren't very many COVID inpatients early on in the pandemic.
We had similar issues on the adult side with staff: staff were afraid, staff were sick, staff had to deal with kids saying home from school, those types of things.
HL: How were the health system's financials affected by the volume drop, and how did you offset that?
Love: From a financial perspective, we saw volume pretty much drop over 10% over the prior year. With that corresponding drop in revenues, we were able to look at our operating structure, and we addressed some of those shortfalls on the revenue side by reducing expenses. We furloughed non-patient care staff, executives and middle management took pay reductions, we suspended some pension contributions, and of course we looked at some of the non-essential things in purchase services, such as travel.
HL: How did the pandemic affect the children population that you serve?
Love: Outside of some of the very sick kids that were admitted, most of the impacts were in our ambulatory locations. Parents wanted to bring their kids in for testing, [and they] were afraid that their kids had symptoms, whether it be fever or cough. We saw increases in our emergency departments and urgent cares, for example, because parents were concerned.
We were able to set up an inpatient unit dedicated to kids with multi-inflammatory disease, also called Kawasaki-like syndrome, and took care of a decent number of those kids during the pandemic.
We quickly set up a vaccine clinic here on our campus for kids. Our trained pediatric nurses floated through five days a week or so during the early part of the pandemic, and having that vaccine clinic available as a walk-in model to vaccine kids [improved care coordination].
Some of our staff became aware of some kids in a shelter south of Miami. We went out, got their parents' permission, and we were able to help about 40 or 50 kids [get vaccinated].
HL: What were your main learnings during the pandemic and how will you take those and apply them to the future?
Love: When we were going through the middle of the pandemic, communication and the importance of listening to our staff, listening to their concerns, responding to their concerns, [was important.]
We learned that, for example, working from home and hybrid work were actually a viable option. We continue to implement some of those hybrid work practices for non-clinical staff, shrinking our real estate footprint.
And then telemedicine, I hope, is here to stay. It's a great way to improve access to care to pediatric specialists, and the pandemic was an accelerator of that. We saw a ton of kids through telemedicine and that continues today.
HL: How has the pandemic affected the health system's growth strategies?
Love: There was almost a pause on some of the things that we were trying to do strategically, but then as we realized that this wasn't going to be a short event, we had to pivot back to our growth strategy.
One of the things I'm very proud of in south Florida is our ability to partner and affiliate with adult hospitals. During the pandemic, we were able to partner with Baptist Health South Florida. The partnership allows us to do what we do best, which is take care of kids, and allows Baptist to do what they do best, and that is to take care of adults.
We hit pause on growth for a year or so. And now we're back to growing our clinical services through our heart program, neuroscience program, [and] ortho and cancer programs, [through] additional locations, and [by] continuing to partner with folks to provide pediatric healthcare in their communities.
HL:What advice do you have for other pediatric health system executives?
Love: What I would suggest folks do is build a great team around you. I feel very confident and comfortable with the team that's here at Nicklaus Children's. I don't know what the next thing is going to be, or when it's going to happen, but I am 1,000% confident in the executive team, the nursing team, and the frontline staff that will get through it. [We are] able to be flexible and nimble with the right team and being able to deal with anything that gets thrown our way.
I would also like to challenge everyone, whether you're in healthcare or not: how do we make pediatric healthcare better? Let's rise to that challenge and set high priorities for the healthcare of our children. In that scenario, everybody wins of making pediatric health care a top priority for our communities.
Allyson Brooks, MD, FACOG, a senior physician executive with Hoag, shares how the health system uses technology to improve patient experience and outcomes in women's health.
Editor's note: This conversation is a transcript from an episode of the HealthLeaders Podcast. Audio of the full interview can be found here and below.
Allyson Brooks, MD, FACOG, has experience working as a frontline provider, an OB/GYN physician, and in healthcare administration.
She currently serves as a senior physician executive for Hoag, overseeing quality, patient safety, regulatory compliance, accreditation, performance improvement, infection prevention, and patient relations at the California-based health system. She's also the Ginny Ueberroth executive medical director and endowed chair of Hoag Women’s Health Institute.
During the most recent HealthLeaders Podcast, Brooks shares how technology has had a major and positive impact on the women the health system serves, including virtual and augmented reality solutions for Hoag patients. She also shares her career background and insights into her authentic and curious leadership style.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
HealthLeaders: How has Hoag integrated technology into its patient care, and how has it helped create a better patient experience?
Allyson Brooks: That's a loaded question because technology is sort of mainstream now in healthcare delivery. But in the obstetrical realm of healthcare, and specifically at Hoag Hospital, where we deliver the second highest volume of pregnant women every year; we had [more than] 7,300 women come to hope hospital to have their baby. The age range of those women who are entrusting their families to us is in the 20-to-40 age range, [and] they're technologically savvy. When we did some focus groups when we were designing a new hospital, what we found is that they wanted the majority of their care to be at their fingertips with their iPhone, and they wanted applications, so one of the first investments we made was in virtual lactation support.
Every woman who delivers at Hoag Hospital receives a complimentary one-year gift subscription to Hoag Pacify. It [offers] 24 hours a day, seven days a week access to certified lactation specialists and consultants that can help women that are struggling or have particular questions or concerns about breastfeeding. This is not intended to replace in-person lactation consultation or lactation support, but we all know that it's not necessarily possible to have in-person support 24 hours a day and on weekends and holidays. We've served over 8,000 women using this virtual lactation support and have received rave reviews. [Patients are] very appreciative because they're busy; they want their questions answered on demand.
Hoag is at the forefront of the application of virtual reality and augmented reality, to help not only in educational content or information but in diagnostic and therapeutic manners. We embarked on [this] about two years ago with an external virtual reality company called BehaVR; we collaborated to develop a VR application called Nurture VR. The idea was to provide education and curriculum that would take a woman from 28 weeks of pregnancy all the way through 12 weeks postpartum, with the goals of empowering her with her pregnancy or on her perinatal journey, also improving some of the bonding experiences with her unborn child. Also to increase and improve the readiness to be a new mom, and to be able to withstand or manage that postpartum or fourth trimester period of time where there's sleep deprivation, fatigue, and oftentimes feeling overwhelmed with physical changes, emotional changes, and balancing work, family, travel, the newborn, etc.
With Nurture VR, the intent was to help pregnant and postpartum women develop an individual practice of meditation and mindfulness. The concept was that when a woman is pregnant, they're more receptive to self-improvement or recommendations of ways that they can be healthier, or reduce their stress, or habits. The idea was that if we could expose them to meditation and mindfulness, and help them see the power of it, that they may develop a lifelong relationship with it that will give them improved health and life.
HL: How were you involved in the creation of Nurture VR?
Brooks: As an OB/GYN, I was approached by a neurosurgeon entrepreneur at Hoag, Dr. Rob Lewis, who established the augmented reality and virtual reality lab that we have at Hoag. He approached me and said, 'We think that the maternal/child health population would be right for this technology,' that they would be the beneficiaries. [There are] large numbers of women who are looking for an immersive experience to help empower them and educate them and help them be more engaged and in control of their pregnancy and postpartum experience. He's the one that brought me and Hoag to BehaVR.
It has taken a significant amount of time and iterations to get it to where we have it today. We are launching our clinical research to see if we're achieving the goals that we set out by enrolling women in a research trial that we're doing.
HL:What other innovations in women's health have you helped lead while serving at Hoag?
Brooks: The one that I would say that I'm the most proud of is when I did a fellowship in leadership as a chief medical officer. I was asked to design … a population health or a public health type of program, and get it launched within a two-year time period. What I selected was to have all women that present to Hoag Hospital or one of our imaging centers for mammography or breast cancer screening … complete a questionnaire on an iPad about their personal and individual and family risks of cancer, [and] also some of their other demographic information that would allow us to assess what their lifetime risk was for developing breast cancer. We put that through an algorithm and a program, and [contacted] all the women that have undergone this type of testing, letting them know if they had an increased lifetime risk of breast cancer, and then [provided] them with lifestyle improvement coaching at no cost through one of our nurse practitioners who was an advanced practice breast practitioner.
They discuss weight management, diet, exercise, as well as genetic testing and counseling, and even more importantly, the importance of regular surveillance and imaging for higher-risk women, which would be a mammogram every year and breast MRI every year. That program went into place a little over six years ago and to this point, we have screened [more than] 60,000 women and have identified 275 women who were carriers of a genetic mutation that increased their risk for breast cancer.
This program, called the Hoag Early Risk Assessment program, has allowed us to take women who are presenting for breast imaging [and give them] individualized breast cancer risk assessment, and then be … counseled and followed ongoing if they prove to be a carrier of a mutation that increases their chances.
HL: How would you describe your leadership style and how does your background as an OB/GYN physician help define that?
Brooks: It's a little bit of servant leadership, but a lot of it is curious leadership. Going out and finding out what isn't working, assessing the pain points, and then looking for solutions and getting individuals involved in designing the best solution in the shortest time so that pain point can be resolved.
I'm comfortable being vulnerable. I got a lot of my inspiration from Brene Brown. In a couple of her books, the podcast, and other things she talks about daring greatly, and being vulnerable, and having boundaries. She has a number of inspiring messages that I relate to and have tried to build in the way that I interact with individuals on a day-to-day basis that allow me to make progress in the areas of women's health, all aspects of it, the holistic approach to all of the healthcare needs and the experience for women of all ages and life stages.
HL:Do you have any advice to offer to those who want to work in women's healthcare or serve as an executive in healthcare?
Brooks: Just do it. I think it's incredibly valuable. It's very meaningful work. We have so much work to do, and there are many women, present and future generations, that depend on us driving forth and giving them the care that they need, and responding to their evolving needs, wants, and desires. We need to ask what they want, ask what their expectations are, ask what they're willing to pay for, what they're willing to drive to, and how they want to receive their care, and it's our obligation to design around that.
I encourage women to get involved in every aspect of improving how healthcare is delivered and experienced by women.
Among the states with the highest turnover rate were Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Wyoming, Florida, and Arizona.
According to a new report by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the turnover rate for hospital CEOs in 2021 remained the same as the turnover rate in 2020.
In 2021 and 2020, CEO positions turned over at a rate of 16%, which was lower than the previous eight years, the report found. The last time the turnover rate was at 16% was a decade ago in 2021 and 2011.
The states with the highest turnover rates in 2021 include:
Puerto Rico: 50%
Rhode Island: 33%
Wyoming: 33%
Florida: 28%
Arizona: 27%
The District of Columbia had the lowest turnover rate of 0%, followed by Nevada which had a 3% turnover rate.
The turnover rates in the report are based on CEO changes at nonfederal, short-term, general medical, and surgical hospitals, that were reported to the American Hospital Association, then confirmed by ACHE data and public sources.
"Hospital leaders have played, and continue to play, a critical role in our recovery from the COVID crisis, and the value of strong, capable leaders has never been more evident," president and CEO of ACHE, Deborah J. Bowen, FACHE, CAE, said in the report. "While continuing to address immediate patient needs, healthcare leaders have long been looking beyond the pandemic to position their organizations for the future. This includes succession planning and a focus on developing a pipeline of leaders equipped to address the challenges of tomorrow."
We'll have to wait and see what 2022 will bring for hospital CEO turnover. The pandemic continues to affect the healthcare system. It brought on delayed retirements, burnout, and the Great Resignation, which may have an effect on this year's CEO turnover rate.
According to a recent report released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, hospital CEO exits through April were up 80% from exits through April 2021. The analysis found that 36 hospital CEOs have made departures this year, compared to 20 hospital exits announced through April 2021.
The name change hopes to emphasize the insurer's "commitment to elevating whole health and advancing health beyond healthcare."
The previously proposed Anthem, Inc. name change and rebrand to Elevance Health Inc. was approved during the 2022 annual meeting of shareholders held earlier this month, the health insurance provider announced.
According to a statement from the organization's president and CEO, Gail K. Boudreaux, the result of the vote "reflects the shareholders' affirmation that our company continues to transform to a lifetime, trusted health partner that offers a range of health-related services, including traditional health benefits. This change is the next important chapter in our journey, and better reflects our business and the company we are today."
The name change to Elevance Health, according to the press release, is looking to emphasize the insurer's "commitment to elevating whole health and advancing health beyond healthcare."
"Fueled by our bold and ambitious purpose to improve the health of humanity, I look forward to creating opportunities to deliver innovative products and services as well as move health forward, in order to better serve the needs of our consumers, care providers, communities, partners, and associates," Boudreaux said in a statement.
Anthem has offerings beyond insurance for its 118 million consumers, including digital capabilities, pharmacy, behavioral, clinical, and complex care assets, which the rebrand hopes to highlight. During the health insurance organization's first-quarter earnings call earlier this year, Boudreaux spoke about the name change and explained that whole-health focus is central to Anthem's strategic transition from a "traditional health insurer."
During the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on June 28, Anthem will commemorate its official rebranding to Elevance by ringing the bell. Immediately following, the organization will begin trading under ELV as its new ticker symbol.
The Elevance Inc. rebrand will not affect the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan's name.
If the deal is approved, what will it mean for consumers, payers, and local markets?
Despite the regulatory crackdown on hospital consolidation, Advocate Aurora and Atrium Health are betting that federal antitrust watchdogs will allow their proposed megamerger to create a $27.1 billion nonprofit health system with operations in six states.
The systems believe that their consolidation—which would create a footprint across Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama—would not be contiguous, and will nullify anticompetitive concerns.
"We respect the role of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to protect the best interests of consumers, and as such, expect that they will want to carefully review our proposed combination," an Advocate Aurora spokesperson said in an email exchange with HealthLeaders. "Given the geographic separation of the combined entities, along with the fact that assets will remain within our respective organizations and states, we are hoping for a timely review."
The two systems also believe that the merger will result in better, more efficient care delivered at a lower cost to consumers.
"We are coming together to better serve our patients and communities with more access and better care at a lower cost, while addressing the root causes of health inequities," Advocate Aurora said. "We can expand access to key subspecialties via technology, extend the reach of our population health approach to improve outcomes and affordability, and provide more opportunities to recruit diverse teams with the cultural competence to confront the toughest equity issues."
Advocate Aurora says it has controlled the growth of medical costs in its value-based plans with increases of 1%–2% while the national average is 6%–7%. Mortality rates have also fallen by 11%, team safety events are down 20%, and compliance with sepsis protocols is up by more than 50%.
"Together we can undoubtedly do more, be better, and go faster," Advocate Aurora said.
Past Failures
The proposed merger by Advocate Aurora, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Downers Grove, Illinois, and Charlotte-based Atrium Health, follows a string of failed merger bids by both systems with rivals in their respective regions.
Advocate Aurora and Southfield, Michigan-based Beaumont Health agreed to call off their merger during the last quarter of 2020, after confronting resistance from physicians and community stakeholders.
Atrium and Chapel Hill-based UNC Health called off their merger during the first quarter of 2018 due to power struggles in their negotiations.
Additionally, Atrium successfully acquired Wake Forest Baptist Health in 2020 and Floyd health system in Georgia and Alabama in 2021.
An Advocate Aurora spokesperson told HealthLeaders that the system's president and CEO, Jim Skogsbergh, reached out to Atrium President and CEO Eugene Woods about a merger after Atrium's Wake Forest acquisition.
"Both organizations come with nationally recognized expertise and long, established track records of service to their communities, which is critical for navigating and leading improvement in healthcare. Our complementary strengths, diverse experiences, and enhanced capabilities will enable us to reimagine health and well-being, advance health equity, and improve lives," the system said.
The consolidated system would operate with 67 hospitals and more than 1,000 ambulatory locations, and will be supported by 148,000 teammates, 7,600 employed physicians, 18,500 aligned and medical staff physicians, and 41,000 nurses.
Woods and Skogsbergh will serve as co-CEOs during the health system's first 18 months, after which Skogsbergh will retire and Woods will become the sole CEO.
New headquarters will be in Charlotte, where Woods is located, and Advocate Aurora said it "will continue to maintain a strong organizational presence in Chicago and Milwaukee."
"We are deeply invested in all of our communities and that’s one thing that won’t change. We've repurposed our Advocate Aurora corporate offices as collaboration spaces, having embraced a remote-first model in support of our goal of remaining a destination employer," the system said.
Strategy and Implications
A Kaufman Hall analysis found that while there were fewer hospital mergers and acquisitions in 2021, the deals that went through involved bigger health systems. The report also said that these trends are expected to continue this year.
In an interview with HealthLeaders earlier this year, John Washlick, shareholder at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, shared the same sentiment. "Last year the deals were [less], but they were much bigger," he said. "I don't see a slowdown [in M&A this year] because the same reasons to be acquired or merging haven't changed in the healthcare system."
The megamerger between Advocate Aurora and Atrium is subject to regulatory review and will need to face approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has been cracking down on anticompetitive mergers in the healthcare sector.
But is this transaction anti-competitive? Not if you look at the footprint.
"It's an interesting strategy," Michael Abrams, MA, managing partner of Numerof and Associates, told HealthLeaders.
The organizations have learned from past merger attempts that would give them a majority control of a given market, he said, "but they have figured out that they can do this kind of merger where the footprint is larger, where the markets involved are not contiguous. This is a loophole in the FTC's view of what's anti-competitive."
"As long as the FTC continues to take such a parochial view of what crosses the anti-competitive line, then we will continue to see more megamergers like this," Abrams said.
However, Abrams rejected the systems' claims that as a combined system they would achieve efficiencies and lower care costs.
"If research on the subject is any guide, patients can expect that neither the cost of care nor the quality will improve as a result of the merger, certainly in the short term," he said.
In the long-term, Abrams said that larger, consolidated systems with deeper pockets will attempt to stifle the efforts of non-traditional providers such as CVS and Walmart. Those systems can also block competitors at the political level, and more easily finance their own entry into aspects of the market, such as home health and ASCs, to chip away at competitors' business.
It could also affect smaller, local vendors, since larger organizations tend to want to deal with national vendors for massive discounts.
"I can't see this as offering anything for the local economies, patients, or consumers. I think at the end of the day, this is all about hospitals putting the squeeze on payers and extracting from them concessions in their contracts," he said.
"In the long term, what this means for patients is they can expect that Advocate Aurora will control the cost of care in their markets, which means that costs will rise, and quality will, at best, remain the same because they can," he added.
We won't know for certain what will happen with the merger until regulatory review brings approval or disapproval for the transaction. But Abrams said that what we do know is that this will be a milestone decision.
"If they let [the merger] go, then you can expect more of the same. Judging by [the FTCs] prior history, they've had this very narrow view of when they're going to step in. And this transaction, based on prior history, is going to fly through," he said.
A new analysis found that 36 hospital CEOs have made departures through the end of April.
CEO exits are continuing to climb across all industries, including healthcare, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.'s newest report released on Wednesday.
The analysis found that 36 hospital CEOs have made departures this year, with 7 exits happening in April. This is an 80% increase from the 20 hospital CEO exits announced through April 2021.
Additionally, healthcare firms experienced 46 CEOs make changes through April 2022, a drop from the 63 CEOs who exited through April 2021.
"Many companies are making changes at the top to address rising costs for both business and consumers," Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., said in the report.
"Inflation, staffing shortages, and possible recession concerns are giving more cause for companies to reevaluate leadership. This, after years of companies trying to figure out the right formula to attract and retain talent and create a culture of inclusion, issues that often start at the top," he added.
The report found that across industries, CEO exits are at the highest year to date on record. 518 CEOs have departed from their positions so far this year, which is the highest the firm has seen since it began tracking monthly CEO changes in 2022.
This is an 18% increase from the 440 CEO exits that were tracked between January and the end of April in 2021. The previous high of CEO exits across industries were tracked between January and April 2019, with a total of 513 departures happening within that four-month timeframe.
"Retirement and new opportunities are occurring at every level of organizations right now, and the CEO role is not immune," Challenger said.
Another recent report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. found that 29 hospital CEOs made their exits through the end of March 2022, up 48% from Q1 2021, which experienced 15 hospital CEO departures.
Christopher "Chris" Cornue plans to take a broader, deeper view when it comes to planning and executing strategic initiatives in his new role.
Greensboro, North Carolina-based Cone Health announced this week that it has hired a new chief strategy officer.
Christopher "Chris" Cornue will lead the nonprofit health system's strategic and innovative endeavors to ensure the organization has a strong future in the North Carolina region and national marketplace.
"Strategic plans are the pathways to where an organization wants to go. However, it is vital that an organization understands how and why to follow that path," Mary Jo Cagle, MD, president and CEO of Cone Health, said in a statement. "Chris has the experience to successfully pair strategy with execution."
Cornue has extensive experience driving strategy and innovation. He recently served as executive vice president at The Health Management Academy, where he led the Center of Innovation. Prior to that, he served as an executive leader at Sg2, where he led the "Center for the Future" and the consulting practice.
He also has an extensive healthcare leadership background, and previously served as CEO of McKee Medical Center, a 132-bed hospital in Loveland Colorado, that is part of the Banner Health system.
According to his LinkedIn, Cornue has also served as chief strategy and innovation officer for Atrium Health Navicent, vice president for Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center, and executive administrator for University of Chicago Medicine. He also has experience serving as an advisor on boards and for different organizations.
According to the press release, Cornue will take a broader, deeper view when it comes to planning and executing strategic initiatives.
His appointment comes almost one year after Cone and Norfolk, Virginia-based Sentara Healthcare ended their affiliation plans after "mutually" deciding that the organizations would best serve their communities by remaining independent, according to Terry Akin, the previous CEO of Cone.
Just this past week, Cone and Novant Health, a healthcare provider based out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, signed a letter of intent to allow Novant "to make an investment in HealthTeam Advantage, Cone's Medicare Advantage Plan.
"Health systems need to understand the importance of leveraging new insights, ensuring all stakeholders have a voice, and seeking valuable strategic partnerships that allow them to more effectively address their missions and their strategic direction," Cornue said in a statement.
The retiring CEO shares his career journey, Baptist Health's growth and success, and the organization's culture.
Baptist Health South Florida, a nonprofit health system headquartered in Coral Gable, Florida, is experiencing leadership transitions for its CEO and COO this year.
Brian Keeley, who has served as CEO of the organization since 1995, is retiring at the end of the fiscal year, which is September 2022 for Baptist Health.
Albert "Bo" Boulenger, who has been with the organization for over 35 years and most recently serves as COO and president, will succeed Keeley as CEO in October. A search for the next COO is currently underway.
Keeley's leaving ends a 50-year tenure with the organization, which he originally joined in 1969 as an administrative resident. He was instrumental in the growth of the 300-bed Baptist Health hospital to the now 12-hospital, 2,800-bed health system.
Recently, he spoke with HealthLeaders about his career journey, Baptist Health's growth and success, and the organization's culture.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
HealthLeaders: Last summer, you announced your plans to retire in 2022. How did you and the organization come to that decision?
Brian Keeley: We started that dialogue about three years ago. Our chairman of the board, James Carr, said, 'I want to establish a task force' in terms of the board dealing with my retirement and other executives. We called it the Transition Committee.
I was going to retire earlier but two things happened: Baptist acquired several hospitals in Palm Beach: Boca Raton Community Hospital and Bethesda Health. We were just putting those online and the board decided it was not a good time for me to leave until we got them under our belt. We were going into high gear with that spurt of growth in Palm Beach and then the pandemic hit.
The Transition Committee did a quiet search with some consultants on the outside. We did a national search and we interviewed people either remotely or we flew up to their offices, unbeknownst to anybody other than the five members of the board. That process started about two and a half years ago and it ended with our announcement that I was going to retire this September, at the end of the fiscal year.
We've been in this transition stage with Bo Boulenger, his position is president and COO. When I leave, he will be the CEO and the president. We currently have a search underway for a new COO.
I told the board, 'You don't have to worry about Brian Keeley leaving because you're in the best of hands.' Bo Boulenger is the best candidate for this position in my estimation. He's smart, he's articulate, he's been there more than 30 years. The senior executives are the best in the business. This is the best management team I've had in my 50 years.
Baptist Health is in a strong strategic position. We are the most preferred healthcare organization in South Florida, the largest in South Florida, and we'll continue our success.
HL: What will you be focusing on between now and September and how are you working with Bo Boulenger for a smooth leadership transition?
Keeley: I gave up my position as president and kept my position as CEO. Bo absorbed all other responsibilities like legal, managed care, finance, all the major functions within the organization.
My job is to focus on long-term strategic planning; long-term for us is three to five years out.
We're involved in several mergers and acquisitions, which is going to be a responsibility I hold onto.
Another one is philanthropy. We've put philanthropy into high gear right now. We've had our best year in philanthropy and we're seeing major gifts that are coming in right now.
We opened up an innovation center about three years ago, and we're going to be spending a lot more money on innovation. That's important as part of our national mission.
Also, I will be involved in board education, board development, and recruitment. What we found is that we had a board that was not representative of the community in terms of diversity and inclusion. We've expanded the board to bring more women and people of color in, and the board right now is exceptional, and that was one of my responsibilities.
Other than that, Bo assumed full responsibility for day-to-day operations. He and I have a great relationship; we meet and talk once a day or so. I give him advice, but I don't tell him what to do because he's smarter than I am. We enjoy a good relationship and we're in a transition stage right now. I'm going to gradually back away from some more responsibilities, and he'll be absorbing this. When it happens, no one will even know. It'll be a smooth transition, which you don't normally see, especially when you bring in people from the outside. So that's something that we have planned, which is important for not only the community, but also important for our doctors and our employees.
HL: What has made you stay with Baptist Health South Florida for 50 years, and what are you most proud of accomplishing?
Keeley: When I first came in 1969, I was here as an administrative fellow. I was in graduate school at George Washington University and that fellowship only lasted a year. After that, that was during the Vietnam War, and I spent time in the Medical Service Corps of the Navy. When I finished with the Navy, I decided to come back to Miami to Baptist.
When I came down here, I had no intention of staying any longer than three to five years. We didn't anticipate anywhere near the growth that we're experiencing right now. We never anticipated we were going to be a large integrated healthcare system. We never realized we were going to be from Palm Beach down to the Keys.
How I stayed so long as we kept on growing, I was promoted and promoted again. The CEO left in 1986 and I was promoted to the CEO position of Baptist Hospital. During the M&A period in the 1990s, we made the decision that we were going to either be bought or we were going to start buying. The rationale behind that was very simple— that we were too small in terms of capturing the economies of scale or having a critical mass, so we wanted to be larger. We merged with South Miami Hospital, and then we merged with Homestead Hospital, and then we merged with some hospitals down south.
That took us through 2010, then we started accelerating. We increased and expanded our service area from greater Miami to go all the way down to the Keys on all the way up to Palm Beach.
Our goal and our mission is to be the most preferred health system in South Florida, and we define South Florida from Palm Beach to the Keys. So that's where we are today. I think we've achieved our goal right now, but we have a lot more work to do. We're building more hospitals and more outpatient centers. We don't want to be the biggest, we just want to be the best.
I'm proud of being involved with the amazing culture of Baptist, which is all about people; that's the defining characteristic of the organization.
That's the reason we won the Fortune100 Best Companies to Work For® 22 years in a row. That reconfirms my strong belief that if you treat your people well, they'll treat your patients well. And that's what this is all about; having the highest level of patient engagement and satisfaction, which is the reason that we've been so successful. When you walk in, you can sense it's part of the culture of Baptist Health. The culture is the glue that holds us all together.
HL: What do you hope your legacy as a healthcare leader will be?
Keeley: Leaving an organization that continues to be the very best at what we do. We are a nonprofit, mission-driven organization. We don't have shareholders, we have stakeholders. Those stakeholders are our patients, our doctors, our nurses, our employees, our board members, and everybody in our community. Our goal is to provide them healthcare and our aspirational goal is to be the best at what we do, and to provide world class healthcare so you never have to leave South Florida.
We made a conclusion a number of years ago that we can't be the best of everything. We decided to focus on four centers of excellence, we call them institutes:
Cancer
Cardiovascular
Neuroscience
Orthopedics and sports medicine
The reason we chose those four is that as the population grows older, those are the areas that are growing the fastest, and those are going to be where the biggest demand is for the future. We're going to start with hiring luminary physicians to lead those endeavors, we're going to recruit from the best health systems and the best academic medical centers in the country to staff those areas, and we're going to have the best technology in the world.
We want to make sure that we can tell people that if you live in South Florida, there's no reason you have to leave South Florida because we have the best. And that's a legacy I think we're leaving with the people behind us.
HL: What parting advice do you have for other healthcare organizations CEOs and C-suite executives?
Keeley: Stay focused on your mission and your vision.
That is the reason we expanded our service area from greater Miami only to Palm Beach. We asked, 'Do we want to be great? Or do we want to be big?' And we said, 'we want to be great,' and that's how we ended up choosing that.
In terms of personal advice, when you get to a point where you're talking about being a world class institution, you have to be humble. You can't brag about how good of a CEO you are. That's the advice I tell people; our success has nothing with Brian Keeley. Our success has everything to do with 25,000 caring and compassionate employees, world-class doctors, great nurses, and everybody in the organization. That's what makes Baptist Health so great.