Across U.S. hospitals and health systems, Becker’s has reported on 23 chief human resources officer moves in 2026 — including a total of 10 in June and July.
Of the 23 moves, 10 involved an exit, and only three of those were retirements. The other seven exits involved leaders departing to join a new organization or not specifying where they were headed next.
Healthcare CHRO turnover has been significant in recent years, according to a 2025 report from executive search firm WittKieffer, which found that nearly 46% of current health system CHROs had assumed their roles within the previous three years, compared with 30% of CEOs at the same organizations.
WittKieffer’s report also found the job has expanded well past traditional HR administration. Today’s CHROs are increasingly responsible for workforce strategy, organizational transformation, culture, succession planning, change management and board engagement, with 9 in 10 reporting directly to the CEO.
That expanded scope is playing out against a workforce environment health system leaders describe as increasingly strained. Asked about their top 2026 workforce challenge, executives pointed most often to sustaining engagement and retention, physician shortages, workplace safety, generational shifts and the disruption of folding AI into daily operations without adding to burnout. HR leaders told Becker’s in June some of their hardest calls this year involved restructuring leadership teams, delaying new positions amid financial pressure, and making market-based pay adjustments to stay competitive on wages — all while trying to preserve staff trust and transparency through the process.
Underlying much of that pressure is the cost of labor itself. Workforce spending remained hospitals’ largest expense category in 2025 — 60% of total costs, up 5.6% that year, according to the American Hospital Association — and the trend carried into 2026, with labor costs rising year over year at nearly every health system that reported first-quarter results.
Here are the CHRO and chief people officer moves Becker’s has reported since Jan. 14:
1. Ekta Vyas, PhD, exited her role as CHRO of Los Angeles-based Keck Medicine of USC.
2. Heather Gallagher was named interim CHRO of Erie County Medical Center Corp. in Buffalo, N.Y.
3. Amy Reigner was named CHRO of Penn Medicine Lancaster (Pa.) General Health.
4. Michelle Mahaffey stepped down as CHRO of Indianapolis-based Community Health Network.
5. Janene John was named CHRO of Brattleboro (Vt.) Memorial Hospital.
6. Michelle Wimes, chief people officer of Kansas City, Mo.-based Children’s Mercy, took part in its voluntary early retirement program.
7. Jason Fisher was appointed chief people officer of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health.
8. Pam Teufel stepped down from her role as CHRO of Radnor, Pa.-based Main Line Health.
9. Laura Starks was appointed CHRO of Oklahoma City-based Integris Health, effective July 27.
10. Susan Toadvine was named CHRO of Orlando (Fla.) Health’s Midwest region.
11. Lisa Joins was named CHRO of Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, Calif.
12. Mark “Mo” Moir, PhD, was named senior vice president and chief people officer of Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy.
13. Catherine Codispoti exited her role as chief people officer of Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy.
14. Brooke Thrasher exited her role as CHRO of Boise, Idaho-based Saint Alphonsus Health System and was named CHRO of Des Moines, Iowa-based MercyOne.
15. David Atkinson exited his role as chief people officer of Cincinnati-based TriHealth.
16. Ginger Madden was named chief people officer of Cincinnati-based TriHealth.
17. Neil Teatsorth plans to retire as CHRO of San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, N.M.
18. Angela Anderson was appointed CHRO of Hocking Valley Community Hospital in Logan, Ohio.
19. Tracey Crandall was named CHRO of Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla.
20. Traci Nordberg exited her role as chief people officer of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Healthcare and was named CHRO of the University of Texas at Austin’s academic health system.
21. Carolyn Schneider retired as CHRO of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Ardent Health.
22. Clara Blitch was named CHRO of Birmingham-based Children’s of Alabama.
23. Amanda Maggard was named chief people officer of the multi-state division at Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth.
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