Internal promotion to CEO was the most common result of COO turnover this year, according to a Crist Kolder Associates report.
The report measures C-suite executive turnover from Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies and contains data through Aug. 1. Of the 671 companies studied, there were 37 COO turnovers. Of those, 5.4% were in the healthcare space.
External promotion to CEO from COO accounted for 2.7% of the turnover results, compared to 40.5% for internal CEO promotion.
Fifteen companies internally promoted their COOs to CEO so far in 2024. Among those, 87% of the COO positions are not filled, according to the report.
Retirement was the next most common result of COO departures, at 29.7%. Further, 16.2% have "yet to land," according to the report.
External movement to another COO role and internal movement to a CFO role both accounted for 2.7% of turnovers.
Both promotion to CEO roles and transitions to external COO roles have been seen in hospital and health system COO turnovers recently.
After serving as COO at St. David's Georgetown (Texas) Hospital, Janie Thompson headed to Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, Kan., both part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare.
Alistair Machoka was recently named CEO of Corona (Calif.) Regional Medical Center. He had previously served as COO of the hospital from 2018 to 2021.