Robin Singleton, executive vice president and practice leader for DHR International’s National Healthcare Practice, has worked with healthcare CEOs in the executive search process for 30 years. She’s noticed a few things in that time. “I can tell you where almost all of the CEOs I’ve placed stand politically,” she says. Executives disclose their political stance, along with many other nuances of their backgrounds to her as their trusted advisor, but most keep the information discrete. They are also more likely to be involved in regional — rather than national — politics. All healthcare is local, after all.
But whether their party politics have a national or regional focus, Ms. Singleton recommends executives take caution. “They have to be really careful about whether they might be alienating someone by making this information public. That is real,” she says. “As systems become larger, their overall impact to healthcare becomes more significant. This is especially the case for health systems seeking deep relationships with employers and payers in their local and regional markets. Many of these businesses have different interests at stake depending on who is elected.”
Executives in for-profit or big, prestigious health systems might afford to express themselves a bit more freely without repercussions from the board or local stakeholders. Comb through the FEC database and you’ll find many hospital and health system CEOs — including those at some of the most recognizable and largest nonprofit systems in the country — who aren’t shy about their Democratic or Republican leanings. Executives have nuanced reasons for supporting one candidate over another, but such rationale doesn’t appear in databases. We only see the politician’s name, the year the pledge was made and the dollar.
“Those individuals may be a a bit more protected in that their organizations are extremely large and carry much clout,” says Ms. Singleton. “It’s just like anything in politics. The bigger and stronger you are, the more you can come out and play a little more safely.”
The universal rule of not bringing up politics will likely fall by the wayside during the executive search process. CEOs considering a career move might see their political agenda come into question. It’s naive to think board members aren’t cognizant of politics when searching for a new chief, especially if the CEO candidate and hospital are from a red state and blue state — or vice versa.
Depending on their status, demographics, local economics and more, hospitals can thrive or close in the next decade based on politicians. For some, that means the questions of, “Do you like this law?” or “Do you want to see this thing repealed?” are hardly irrelevant. These are million-dollar questions, quite literally. These conversations might not happen in the boardroom, but they likely happen elsewhere in private, be it on the golf course or over dinner with one or two influential board members.
Healthcare is a fixture atop political agendas and campaign platforms. And despite my mixed feelings about 2016, I am interested to see how healthcare executives show their cards or play them closer to the vest.
Much like political candidates, they have their own negotiations to make, including those with themselves.
