The busy lives of hospital and health system CEOs are full of time constraints. Therefore, when these leaders do find the time to sit down and read, a discerning choice is key. In 2016, four CEOs told Becker's Hospital Review about the last memorable thing they read.
Below are their responses.
Patrick Battey, MD, CEO of Piedmont Atlanta Hospital:I read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It's a story about a young, blind French girl and an orphaned German boy who are sort of running parallel tracks dealing with the horrendous conditions during World War II, and their paths come together on the coast of Nazi-occupied France. And in spite of all the things that happen to them, they wind up trying to help each other, which is reflective of people trying to help each other throughout these horrible times. Just a very moving story. The imagery is incredible through the eyes of a young girl who went blind when she was maybe 3 or 4 [years old]. She still remembers some of her old environment and has to become accustomed to a new environment in another city.
Marna Borgstrom, CEO of Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Health System: My fun read was Sweet Bitter by Stephanie Danler. I also enjoyed Bryce Hoffman's American Icon, which is about former Ford CEO Alan Mulally.
Akram Boutros, MD, president and CEO of The MetroHealth System (Cleveland): [The last memorable thing I read is] The Story of Ferdinand. I just have it here in my office, and I was trying to explain to someone the difference between kindness and weakness. As an executive, some folks believe they can't show kindness because it will be misinterpreted as weakness. I believe you should always be kind.
Michael Young, president and CEO of PinnacleHealth System (Harrisburg, Pa.): I like to read about other leaders' strengths and weaknesses. One of the last things I read was Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General. It has interesting biographical vignettes of the major players from the end of the war, and it's a good general overview of the greater-than-life [George S.] Patton.