The health system C-suite continues to evolve as organizations navigate today's changing healthcare environment and focus on key areas to ensure long-term success. This evolution has involved adding new roles to executive teams, as well as eliminating or opting not to fill a certain position. Some organizations have also combined roles.
Health systems that have added new roles are looking to these leaders to help tackle an array of issues, from data analytics to infection control.
For example, Cleveland Clinic named Albert Marinez as its first chief analytics officer. Mr. Marinez began the new role Aug. 28 and is tasked with overseeing data strategies. Other roles added by systems have included chief of infection control, chief physician executive, chief technology officer and chief external affairs officer. These and other new roles are added so organizations can tackle issues such as lowering costs, improving patient care, and strengthening relationships with medical group and community physicians.
"As Cleveland Clinic works to responsibly expand our use of healthcare technology and data, we need a leader who will ensure the consistent gathering and application of analytics across our enterprise," Rohit Chandra, PhD, chief digital officer for Cleveland Clinic, said in an Aug. 7 news release shared with Becker's. "Albert has a history of success in driving the analytics strategy for healthcare organizations and is the ideal choice to guide the efforts that will benefit Cleveland Clinic's patients and caregivers."
While some organizations have added roles to their C-suite, some have also eliminated or opted not to fill certain positions, including the COO role, amid financial and other challenges. Both Confluence Health in Wenatchee, Wash., and Sovah Health in Danville and Martinsville, Va., cut the COO role earlier in 2023. However, this isn't happening across the board, and many hospitals and health systems have named new COOs. Overall, Becker's has reported on more than 100 COO moves this year. And in some instances, systems have evolved the COO role.
For example, ThedaCare in Neenah, Wis., combined the CFO and COO roles this year, and Chesapeake (Va.) Regional Healthcare created a hybrid COO and chief nursing officer role.
Additionally, Cary Medical Center in Caribou, Maine, combined the CFO and COO roles into one position. Chelsea Reynolds Desrosiers assumed the new role Aug. 21. The promotion came with the departure of COO Leslie Anderson. Ms. Desrosiers has served as CFO since 2018.
"I think it's a great decision for the organization as well as next steps in the ever-changing healthcare industry," Ms. Desrosiers told Becker's. "I think it provides a bridge between financial and operations."
The COO role is not the only role evolving. While some big health systems have appointed their inaugural chief AI, analytics or data officers, others have eliminated or opted not to fill the chief digital officer position. Some major systems don't have that position.
"Digital is still the broadest term that encapsulates what I do (by example, IT, AI, innovation, analytics, and consumer experience)," Jeffrey Sturman, senior vice president and chief digital officer at Hollywood, Fla.-based Memorial Healthcare System, told Becker's. "The industry is certainly grappling with how to define AI and digital still. I think this largely depends on the unique needs of a health system as to what roles are believed to be needed and what they are called."
Another note regarding the C-suite: Chief diversity, equity and inclusion positions are dwindling in many industries, but the role and its evolution are more complex in healthcare specifically.
Yolanda Wimberly, MD, senior vice president and chief health equity officer at Atlanta-based Grady Health System, and Lois Greene, DHA, BSN, RN, senior vice president of wellness, diversity, equity and inclusion at Newark, N.J.-based University Hospital, spoke with Becker's about this evolution earlier this year. They concurred that the role is largely reliant on conversations among leadership: fleshing out how equity aligns with the strategic mission, can be beneficial financially, and can be infused into other parts of the organization. Dr. Greene also noted that even amid the role's evolution, it's not going away.
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the health system C-suite, and many factors drive decisions related to adding or evolving roles, including organizational size and strategy. However, as organizations assess their own needs and strategies, it's likely the new C-suite era will continue.