Josh Kooistra, DO, became the permanent president of Corewell Health in West Michigan in May after serving on an interim basis since December.
Prior to his current role, Dr. Kooistra served as senior vice president and chief medical officer of Corewell Health in West Michigan, a regional division of Corewell Health, a 21-hospital health system based in Grand Rapids and Southfield, Mich.
He told Becker’s he brings his emergency medicine experience to his leadership role and shared what he believes is the “secret sauce” to leading through constant change. He also discussed his perspectives on strategic investments and priorities.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: You’ve spent over two decades on the clinical front lines and now lead Corewell’s West Michigan region. How are you drawing on that clinical experience to shape leadership strategy or innovation in your new role?
Dr. Josh Kooistra: I started 24 years ago as a resident physician in the emergency department, and I’ve worked well over 20 years as an emergency physician, which has given me a unique lens into my leadership role, which is shaped by my experience in the emergency department. In the emergency department, every decision is made under pressure, across multiple disciplines and often with incomplete information. And that’s helped me shape a leadership lens of urgency, collaboration and systems thinking. At the core of that is adaptability and trust, which are the principles I now use to lead our organization through change.
We’ve really started to recognize the complexity of healthcare, and our team is really focusing on the principles outlined in Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, co-authored by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman and Chris Fussell. And really, that’s creating a shared consciousness for the organization, which then allows empowered execution — which we think is the secret sauce to navigating this complexity.
Q: Corewell Health has a strong emphasis on reimagining care to be more equitable and exceptional. What is one strategic initiative you’re prioritizing this year to make that vision a reality for patients in West Michigan?
JK: Simplicity, and one of the most powerful ways for kind of reimagining that, is to make it easier for everybody to navigate. Healthcare has become far too complex — especially for those already facing barriers like language differences, financial hardships or chronic illnesses — and we believe that care should be easier for everyone to access and navigate. People come to us at some of their darkest and hardest moments, and it’s our responsibility to help them get the care that they need at those times, which is seamless and with compassion.
Q: How do you approach developing future healthcare leaders within a large system like Corewell?
JK: One of my approaches to this is creating conditions for others to thrive, adapt and lead through the complexity. We are in a state of constant change, and the stakes are high, so I focus on developing leaders who can operate with clarity and agility, and grounded in that shared consciousness and common goals that align teams and accelerate action across the organization. This requires a culture where people feel connected to the mission and those at the front lines developing a sense of purpose for everybody on the team.
Q: In a challenging financial and workforce climate, where do you believe hospitals can make the most high-impact investment today to avoid disruption five years from now?
JK: The most strategic investment that we can make is those that support and empower our workforce. One example of us doing that recently is our implementation of Abridge, which is an ambient listening tool that captures and structures clinical conversations in real time. We’ve seen this technology dramatically reduce documentation time, which allows clinicians to focus more on patients and less on the keyboard. And it’s not just productivity-focused — it’s also a recruitment and retention strategy. Clinicians are telling us that they want to work in environments where they can practice at the top of their license, connect with patients meaningfully and feel supported by the system around them, and tools like Abridge help us create that environment. People will seek out workplaces where the system is making investments in them in this fashion.
Beyond that, we’re investing in artificial intelligence and data platforms that streamline operations and reduce unnecessary complexity across the system. And the goal is to create a workplace where our teams can thrive, because if we take care of our people, they’ll take care of our patients, and we’ll be positioned to not just survive the next five years, but to lead through them.
