The timing and approach to filling hospital and health system CEO positions vary widely across organizations and individuals.
Here are 10 things to know about the path to and from the role.
1. COO and president were the most common backgrounds for CEOs in 2024, according to a Crist Kolder Associates study in which 10% of organizations were in healthcare.
2. Internal promotion was also a common path, with 43.7% of CEOs being promoted from COO or president.
3. Hospitals reported 66 CEO exits in the first half of 2024. This is down 19.5% from 82 exits in the first half of 2023.
4. The average age of newly hired CEOs is decreasing, but it is still higher than it was in 2014. The average age was 51.8 in 2014 and 53.5 in 2024.
5. Female CEO appointments have nearly doubled in the past decade among Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies. Among the healthcare organizations, there was one female CEO appointment in 2014 and five in 2024.
6. Hospital and health system CEOs starting their careers in other industries is not unprecedented.
"This is still more the exception than the rule, but it's indicative of healthcare organizations getting creative around leadership and hiring to ensure success in a more challenging environment," Michelle Johnson, senior partner at executive search firm WittKieffer, told Becker's.
7. Retirement remains the most common reason for hospital and health system CEOs resigning, among the CEO exits recently reported by Becker's.
8. Joining a new system, switching hospitals within the same system or taking on non-CEO roles were other common paths out of the position.
9. Some CEOs choose to stay involved with their organization after exiting the role, such as Joseph Chirichella, who was named president emeritus of Brown Mills, N.J.-based Deborah Heart and Lung Center.
10. Succession planning strategies such as flexible timelines, committing to project completion and aligning stakeholders are valued by retiring healthcare CEOs.