The largest health system in the country is seeking leaders for numerous roles at the top of its hospitals. 

Becker's asked healthcare presidents and CEOs to describe 2023 in the context of their respective organizations using one word. None of them used the same word, but all their responses carried the theme of adeptly navigating the post-pandemic era. 

Health systems have overcome many challenges in the last three years, and rapid transformation will continue for the next three driven by thinning margins, workforce shortages and technological advancements, according to executives at top health systems.

While they serve at organizations of varying sizes in different markets, more than 100 healthcare executives who spoke with Becker's Hospital Review in 2023 shared one theme in common: Leadership — in all its forms and facets — requires constant adaptation. 

Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic has been on the leading edge of innovation in healthcare delivery and operations for years, incorporating artificial intelligence and digital transformation into all areas of the system.

The Biden administration is ramping up efforts to stop what it calls anticompetitive practices by healthcare entities.

As director of mission integration at California Hospital Medical Center, Samuel Scriven — also a trained chaplain — is like a physical conscience at the tables where decisions are made. 

While the candidates' commentary and critiques on healthcare were generalized in the fourth Republican presidential primary debate Dec. 6, mentions of the topic suggest its return as an issue for the 2024 election. 

Some health systems cut positions from their C-suites in 2023; others added to them, creating new positions that reflect the industry's shifting priorities.

The healthcare C-suite is changing, as many hospitals and health systems shake up their leadership structures in an attempt to ensure lasting success and support organizational transformation. Top priorities facing today's healthcare leaders range from delivering patient-centered care to promoting workforce well-being, optimizing new technologies like artificial intelligence, intelligent automation and analytics, and more.

At a time when the health industry is facing some of the roughest currents in history, we have an opportunity to rethink how we collectively steer the ship. When it comes to staying healthy and navigating the nation's current fee-for-service healthcare system, our industry is collectively sending a clear message to our patients and communities: You're on your own. 

A November article in Fortune shed light on the demand for softer CEOs. The crux of the article, which focuses on companies across various industries, is that in a post-pandemic world, recruiters are focusing less on administrative, financial and technical hard skills in CEO searches and more on empathy, humility and self-awareness. This raises the question: What does a "softer" CEO look like in healthcare? 

Charles Holland, CEO of St. Bernard Hospital in Chicago, is the recipient of this year's Steven Schroeder Award for Outstanding Healthcare CEO — an award created by The Leapfrog Group and Costs of Care to recognize hospital and health system leaders who have addressed quality and healthcare affordability for the communities they serve. 

At the Winter 2023 Transform Infusion Center Operations Virtual Summit, Ashley Joseph, an expert in using AI solutions to optimize infusion center operations, discussed the recent “impossible” accomplishments centers have made in adapting their resources to do more and the potential for transforming how infusion care is delivered in the future.

LeanTaaS experiences 170% revenue growth year to date over the last three years, including over 50% growth year over year for iQueue for Operating Rooms. Customer base grows to 185 health systems with 54% of its customers on Epic Systems’ EHR and 20% on Oracle Cerner’s EHR. 

Consumerism is reshaping healthcare. With greater access to information, patients are becoming increasingly active and empowered in their healthcare decisions, as well as selective in where and how they receive care. This shift is prompting health systems to use proactive, intentional and data-driven programs that foster patient engagement and loyalty.

Newark, Del.-based ChristianaCare has selected Marcin Jankowski, DO, as its new vice chair of surgery, according to a Dec. 4 news release.

Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and others are challenging the traditional healthcare system by designing new ways to coordinate and deliver patient care. But disruption doesn't have to come from outside the industry.

New leaders who join a hospital or health system not only navigate a new role, but also a new organizational culture. In today's challenging healthcare climate, culture — and smoothly integrating new leaders into it  —  is becoming even more crucial in terms of talent management and ensuring a robust workforce to ensure high-quality care. Integrating new leadership is too important to leave to chance. 

Several health policy leaders will retire from Congress in the near future, taking with them decades of experience, according to Politico.