Throughout 2026, hospitals and health systems have continued to look inward when searching for a new CEO, with internal promotions spanning operations, finance and clinical leadership. The COO remains a common steppingstone to the top job, consistent with trends Becker’s…

The chief financial officers featured on this list are the strategic architects of their organizations’ fiscal health. They are responsible not only for balancing the books, but also for building the financial foundations that allow great care to flourish.  From…

When Eduardo Conrado became president of St. Louis-based Ascension in 2023, the health system was coming off a $1.8 billion operating loss. By the time he added the CEO title Jan. 1, the financial trajectory had shifted substantially, and a…

Healthcare organizations spend millions of dollars investigating adverse events, near misses, and patient harm. We review charts, analyze processes, and search for technical failures. Yet some of the greatest threats to patient safety are not found in an operating room,…

John Duval, who retired in 2016 as CEO and vice president for clinical affairs at VCU Hospitals and Clinics in Richmond, Va., died June 9. He was 73. Mr. Duval led VCU Health from 2003 to 2016 and oversaw significant…

St. Louis-based Ascension appointed Elizabeth Fowler, PhD, JD, to its board of directors, effective June 3. Dr. Fowler most recently served as deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at CMS, where she led value-based…

James Varnum, who served as president of what is now Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth Health’s flagship medical center for nearly three decades, died May 26 after several years of battling Parkinson’s disease, according to his obituary. He was 85. Mr. Varnum…

About a month after Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health and Robbinsdale, Minn.-based North Memorial Health signed a definitive agreement to combine, the organizations’ CEOs told Becker’s the timing reflects a broader reality facing healthcare: For many regional systems, long-term sustainability…

David Zaas, MD, spent nearly two decades at Duke Health early in his career before leaving in 2020. This spring, he returned as CEO of Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System. In a recent episode of the “Becker’s Healthcare Podcast,”…

Most healthcare conference sessions focus on success stories. John Couris, president and CEO of the Florida Health Sciences Center at Tampa General Hospital, believes healthcare leaders should spend more time talking about failure. “We don’t talk enough about failure in…