Across U.S. hospitals and health systems, Becker’s has reported on 39 chief human resources and people officer moves in 2026 — including a total of 14 in August and September.
Of the 39 moves, 20 involved an exit, and only four of those were retirements. The other 16 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. Wanda Shoer was named senior vice president and chief people officer at Phoenix Children’s.
2. Alyson Szczuka was named interim CHRO at Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger.
3. Opal Howard was appointed senior vice president and CHRO of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Adventist HealthCare, exiting her role as chief people officer for AdventHealth’s East Florida Division.
4. Myra Gregorian exited her role as chief people and transformation officer at Seattle Children’s Hospital and was named chief people officer of Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System.
5. Tonya Richards was named CHRO of University Hospital in Newark, N.J.
6. Elisabeth Klar, PhD, was named executive vice president and chief people officer of Indianapolis-based Community Health Network, exiting her role as CHRO of Springfield, Ill.-based Memorial Health.
7. Michelle Adamolekun exited her role as chief people and culture officer for Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health.
8. Ellen Pancoast was named interim chief people and culture officer for Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health.
9. Shaun Smith exited his role as chief people and culture officer of New York City-based NewYork-Presbyterian and was named chief people officer of Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente.
10. Jeremy Stephens exited his role as CHRO of Murrells Inlet, S.C.-based Tidelands Health and was named chief people officer of Pinehurst, N.C.-based FirstHealth of the Carolinas.
11. Tracy Howard was named CHRO of Penn Medicine Princeton (N.J.) Health.
12. Pam Teufel exited her role as CHRO of Radnor, Pa.-based Main Line Health and was named chief people officer of New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery.
13. Gina Cronin exited her role as chief people officer of Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and was named CHRO of University of Chicago Medicine.
14. Dennis Fisher exited his role as CHRO of Columbia, Tenn.-based Maury Regional Health and was named CHRO of Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based DCH Health System.
15. Denver Mitchell exited her role as CHRO of Fayetteville, N.C.-based Cape Fear Valley Health and was named CHRO of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Baptist Health.
16. Michael Pulido was appointed CHRO of Baltimore-based GBMC HealthCare.
17. Anna-Maria Gonzalez Palmer retired as CHRO of Baltimore-based GBMC HealthCare.
18. Ekta Vyas, PhD, exited her role as CHRO of Los Angeles-based Keck Medicine of USC.
19. Heather Gallagher was named interim CHRO of Erie County Medical Center Corp. in Buffalo, N.Y.
20. Amy Reigner was named CHRO of Penn Medicine Lancaster (Pa.) General Health.
21. Michelle Mahaffey stepped down as CHRO of Indianapolis-based Community Health Network.
22. Janene John was named CHRO of Brattleboro (Vt.) Memorial Hospital.
23. Michelle Wimes, chief people officer of Kansas City, Mo.-based Children’s Mercy, took part in its voluntary early retirement program.
24. Jason Fisher was appointed chief people officer of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health.
25. Laura Starks was appointed CHRO of Oklahoma City-based Integris Health, effective July 27.
26. Susan Toadvine was named CHRO of Orlando (Fla.) Health’s Midwest region.
27. Lisa Joins was named CHRO of Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, Calif.
28. Mark “Mo” Moir, PhD, was named senior vice president and chief people officer of Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy.
29. Catherine Codispoti exited her role as chief people officer of Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy.
30. 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.
31. David Atkinson exited his role as chief people officer of Cincinnati-based TriHealth.
32. Ginger Madden was named chief people officer of Cincinnati-based TriHealth.
33. Neil Teatsorth plans to retire as CHRO of San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, N.M.
34. Angela Anderson was appointed CHRO of Hocking Valley Community Hospital in Logan, Ohio.
35. Tracey Crandall was named CHRO of Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla.
36. 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.
37. Carolyn Schneider retired as CHRO of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Ardent Health.
38. Clara Blitch was named CHRO of Birmingham-based Children’s of Alabama.
39. Amanda Maggard was named chief people officer of the multi-state division at Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth.
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