Depending on who you ask, there are plenty of skills a great hospital leader needs in their toolbox to be successful. To be a leader others respect and look to in good times and bad, it helps to focus on the finish line, but also know your raison d'etre: "Patients always come first." 

Identifying the obstacles to achieving healthcare system goals — including positive outcomes and patient satisfaction, sourcing and retaining quality talent, and getting payers to stay current on reimbursements — is the first step to organizations moving the needle toward success.

In the wake of shootings across the U.S., about 50 leaders of some of the nation's largest health systems and hospitals are pledging efforts to address gun violence.

Lynda Young, MD, and  Elvira Guardiola were named chair and vice chair of Worcester, Mass.-based UMass Memorial Health's board of trustees, respectively. 

William Peck, MD, the former dean and executive vice chancellor of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, passed away on Feb. 22 at age 89. 

Hospital C-suite leaders have a lot of balls to juggle daily, but they should know that while they are keeping their eyes on their priority responsibilities, everyone else in the organization is looking to them for leadership. This is especially true in difficult times when employee frustration is high and access to high-quality healthcare workers is low.

Ten days before releasing his budget proposal, President Joe Biden contrasted his administration's efforts to lower healthcare costs with what he anticipates will be Republicans' preliminary plans to cut federal healthcare programs. 

St. Louis-based Ascension is the fourth-largest health system in the United States, operating 139 hospitals across 17 states — from New York to Texas. 

President Joe Biden intends to name Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS Health, to his Export Council. 

Hospital CEO exits hit a high in January, with 23 departures announced being the highest CEO turnover across 29 industries, according to one new analysis. 

Physicians and other health experts are emphasizing the need to focus on preventing the next disease outbreak and eliminate politics from science in response to the U.S. Energy Department's new conclusion that a mishap at a Chinese laboratory was the most likely cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Federal officials said Feb. 27 they are creating new divisions within the HHS Office for Civil Rights as part of efforts to shrink a growing backlog of healthcare investigations.

Forget about layers of administration and siloed departments. When it comes to the skills needed to be a great hospital leader, Frank Beaman, CEO of Faith Community Health System in Jacksboro, Texas, says the key is to create a culture that allows all employees to step up and make hard decisions.

After 18 years as the CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, based in Oakland, Calif., overseeing 22 Kaiser Permanente hospitals, Robert Pearl, MD, knows a thing or two about what business skills hospital C-suite leaders need to excel in their positions.

Healthcare’s shortage of providers, nurses and staff is no longer an acute crisis, but an ongoing reality.

Strong leadership is essential for the success of any organization, but there isn't a one-size-fits-all leadership style perfect for health systems. Many top executives are most effective as leadership chameleons, shifting between styles based on the situation.

If incoming CEOs are not on the same side of the political aisle as the directors on their new boards, exits might ensue, according to a recent study from the University of Notre Dame (Ind.). 

Hackensack Meridian Health, based in Edison, N.J., has provided aid to hundreds of people affected by gun violence through an initiative called "Project HEAL." 

Healthcare organizations annually commit considerable portions of their budgets to leadership development programs, but little, if any, to actively manage the leadership resources they’ve trained. To maximize the value of the development, a leadership resources management strategy is required to improve retention of an organization’s best leaders, attract additional high potential leaders and assign the right leader to the right opportunity at the right time.

One of the most expensive assets in the hospital, the operating room (OR), is also one of the most challenging to utilize efficiently.