When introducing change or new initiatives at hospitals and health systems, initial pushback is common.
Becker’s asked seven presidents and CEOs who have led their organizations for 10 or more years to share how their leadership has evolved and how they navigated internal resistance earlier in their tenures.
Here, they reflected on strategic initiatives that initially faced skepticism but ultimately aligned teams and delivered measurable results.
Editor’s note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Madeline Bell. CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia since 2015.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia launched its frontier programs initiative in 2015 to support efforts that translate research into cutting-edge clinical care. It took time for the leadership team to fully embrace the concept, Ms. Bell told Becker’s.
“Today, leaders and employees across CHOP embrace the initiative as an important part of our strategy for creating breakthroughs for children,” she said. “We currently have 25-plus frontier programs, with more added each year.”
Kimberly Cripe. President and CEO of Orange, Calif.-based Children’s Hospital of Orange County since 1997 and co-CEO of Rady Children’s Health since January.
One of Ms. Cripe’s key priorities during her tenure has been integrating pediatric mental healthcare, an initiative she described as both necessary and one initially met with hesitation.
“It wasn’t that long ago that people viewed mental health as something that lived outside of a healthcare system,” she told Becker’s. “There were a lot of understandable concerns about how to integrate and fund it.”
By partnering with community organizations such as schools and acknowledging the strong link between mental and physical health — particularly in children coping with chronic illnesses such as cancer — CHOC was able to move the effort forward.
“We came to recognize that you can’t have physical health without mental health,” she said.
Eric Dickson, MD. President and CEO of Worcester, Mass.-based UMass Memorial Health since 2013.
Dr. Dickson launched an internal idea-sharing platform shortly after becoming CEO — and met early skepticism. The online platform allows caregivers across the system to share ideas and suggestions to improve workflows, function and internal processes.
“At first, I think caregivers were skeptical about whether their voices would be heard,” he said. “But as we began to capture and implement caregiver ideas over time, we were able to reinforce our system-wide dedication to continuous improvement and show our employees that we took their input seriously. I also prioritized my own involvement in the process to further demonstrate its value to me and our organization.”
Since its rollout, UMass Memorial Health has implemented more than 200,000 caregiver ideas.
“I also meet annually with all system managers to maintain alignment on expectations and goals,” Dr. Dickson said. “This level of visibility and engagement is important to me as a leader, and each new idea implemented is a reminder that we are listening and taking steps to improve how we care for our patients and each other.”
Richard Hart, MD, DrPH. President of Loma Linda (Calif.) University Health since 2008.
About 15 years ago, Loma Linda University Health began moving toward an integrated system across its six hospitals, eight schools and more than 1,200 physicians in its faculty medical group.
“That initiative, which we call One Loma Linda, has been prescient as we have faced numerous financial challenges,” Dr. Hart said. “While not complete, we are far down the integration road with board representation and financial integration that has enabled a collective response to the pressures of today.”
Robert Meyer. President and CEO of Phoenix Children’s since 2003.
Mr. Meyer has overseen Phoenix Children’s transformation into a pediatric health system. The launch of new hospitals, including one in 2024 and a third underway, challenged the system’s paradigms and where and how children are treated.
“Our community hospitals are designed to meet family requests for access to care closer to home, but most of the tertiary and quaternary care we provide will happen at our largest campus in the heart of Phoenix,” Mr. Meyer told Becker’s. “This is due to the specialized staff, equipment and efficiency we have there. The process of designing the care delivery at each of our hospital campuses has been inclusive and collaborative among a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders, resulting in a well-defined, efficient care model.”
Jeff Sperring, MD. CEO of Seattle Children’s since 2015.
Dr. Sperring said ideas surrounding growth and partnerships often face internal resistance within the culture of children’s hospitals, which is rooted in outcomes and reputation of care, he told Becker’s.
“There is sometimes an inherent sense that growing or partnering with other health systems will put that well-deserved reputation at risk,” he said. “As leaders, it’s important to help everyone see the common goal of growth, which ultimately aligns with our mission and ability to expand access to care.”
Todd Suntrapak. President and CEO of Madera, Calif.-based Valley Children’s Healthcare since 2012.
One of the health system’s most significant initiatives — achieving zero patient harm — initially faced internal resistance, Mr. Suntrapak told Becker’s. While many did not believe it was possible, Valley Children’s recently went more than a year without a central line infection.
“The commitment from the board all the way down to the bedside was really important,” he said. Valley Children’s posts its quality indicators on every inpatient unit and displays performance data outside the main hospital’s Starbucks, a move that initially drew pushback but ultimately reinforced transparency.
“We also had to commit a lot of resources to figuring out how we were failing in the early days,” he said. “Was it the IV tubing that was not getting flushed properly? Was it our process? That’s a very resource-intensive undertaking, so it was a lot about aligning organizational strategies and goals to resource allocation.”
