Hospitals and health systems are making more appointments to several core C-suite roles in 2026, according to a Becker’s analysis of its executive moves reporting.
The clearest increases were in people and operations leadership. Becker’s has tracked 25 chief human resources officer and chief people officer appointments so far in 2026, compared with 11 at the same point last year. COO appointments rose from 103 to 135.
The uptick comes during a turbulent year for health system leadership. At least 11 hospitals and health systems have cut leadership or management roles in 2026 amid financial pressures and realignments. Even so, systems are continuing to fill the roles most closely tied to operations, workforce and clinical care.
Appointments to some more specialized roles have moved the other way, particularly those overseeing revenue and quality. Chief revenue officer appointments fell from nine to two, and chief quality officer appointments fell from 12 to six.
That decline does not necessarily mean health systems are placing less weight on revenue cycle leadership. With nine chief revenue officer appointments in 2025 alone, many systems may have filled those seats recently and seen less turnover in the role in 2026.
Where appointments rose
CHRO and chief people officer appointments have doubled — recent appointees include leaders at Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health and Oklahoma City-based Integris Health — the role itself is expanding.
Health systems are increasingly hiring HR chiefs with experience leading HR at other systems, and those leaders are taking on wider responsibilities. Labor remains hospitals’ largest expense, at 60% of total costs in 2025, according to the American Hospital Association. That puts CHROs at the center of decisions on restructuring, pay and hiring. Titles are broadening as well, with roles such as chief people and culture officer, chief people strategy officer and chief caregiver officer appearing across the industry.
Operations leadership saw a similar rise. COO appointments increased from 103 in 2025 to 135 in 2026, a 31.1% increase.
On the clinical side, chief nursing officer appointments went from 106 in 2025 to 124 in 2026, a 17% increase.
CEO was by far the most frequently appointed role among those analyzed. Becker’s tracked 284 CEO appointments in 2026, up from 259 in 2025, a 9.7% increase. The rise comes as hospital CEO turnover accelerates. Some systems are using CEO vacancies to consolidate leadership, expanding an existing executive’s oversight to additional hospitals rather than filling the seat.
The expansion and contraction of executive roles tends to be cyclical, Peggy Loughery, MSN, RN, senior vice president of executive search at Kirby Bates Associates, told Becker’s in 2025. During challenging economic periods, some health systems have eliminated roles and later reinstated them.
Becker’s compared C-suite appointments in its weekly executive moves roundups from the start of each year through late September in 2025 and 2026. The counts include external hires, internal promotions and interim appointments, and exclude departures and retirements. The figures reflect executive moves tracked by Becker’s and are not a comprehensive count of hospital and health system leadership appointments nationwide.
