For Cesar Rivas-Sanchez, program manager at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the journey into healthcare leadership started long before any formal education or professional role. It began at home, witnessing firsthand the challenges his mother faced as a patient.
Mr. Rivas-Sanchez connected with Becker's to discuss his journey as an emerging healthcare leader. He said his story began when his mother was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, requiring frequent medical visits as he grew up in Riverside, Calif.
As a child, Mr. Rivas-Sanchez often served as his mother's interpreter, navigating complex medical conversations and helping with her healthcare plan. This early exposure to the healthcare system ignited his passion to make a difference, especially in underserved communities. His personal experiences laid the foundation for a career focused on improving healthcare access and equity.
Mr. Rivas-Sanchez's healthcare career took shape at the University of Southern California, where he pursued a degree in health promotion and disease prevention studies. Originally on a pre-med track, he quickly realized that his interests went beyond clinical care. Instead, he wanted to understand the broader, more complex healthcare system and its impact on underserved communities like his own. This realization led Mr. Rivas-Sanchez to minor in health policy at USC’s Price School of Public Policy.
"That was just an eye-opening experience to just how complex our healthcare system is," Mr. Rivas-Sanchez said.
He began working with USC’s vice dean for clinical trials and quickly saw the disparities in care between different patient populations, highlighting the stark realities of social determinants of health.
Mr. Rivas-Sanchez's work exposed him to the challenges faced by low-income, uninsured and Medi-Cal patients, many of whom experienced difficulty accessing care despite living in a system with world-class physicians. He called it the "tale of two cities," explaining that good healthcare outcomes often depended more on factors outside the healthcare system than on access to a doctor.
This experience motivated Mr. Rivas-Sanchez to pursue a master's degree in health administration at USC, further honing his understanding of health policy, operations and system management. Mr. Rivas-Sanchez's first operational role came through a 1,000-hour residency at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he worked in clinical services.
Mr. Rivas-Sanchez said that his residency opened his eyes to various behind-the-scenes operations and the inner workings of a health system, especially when it came to expanding access and meeting community needs.
From there, Mr. Rivas-Sanchez went on to work in strategic planning and business development at San Bernardino County Hospital before returning to pediatrics at CHLA, where he currently manages a performance excellence portfolio aimed at improving operational margins.
"I enjoyed looking at the big picture and helping the system grow in the need that we can meet the community needs," Mr. Rivas-Sanchez said.
With his breadth of experience, Mr. Rivas-Sanchez has developed an improved understanding of how healthcare systems can build effective talent pipelines to cultivate the next generation of leaders. He highlighted two key areas where health systems must focus: pre-employment exposure and ongoing employee development.
Mr. Rivas-Sanchez said exposure is critical for students and early careerists who may not have family members or mentors in healthcare. He credited his own entry into healthcare administration to his early exposure through research and internships.
"Exposure is key, not just to the administrative and clinical side of things, but also within the health system," he said.
Mr. Rivas-Sanchez emphasized the importance of skill development once employed by a health system. Programs that offer online education, such as Coursera or LinkedIn Learning, and initiatives like CHLA's Performance Improvement Academy help employees sharpen their day-to-day skills, he said.
"Digital has a good program where they identify a cohort of leaders that are nominated by their peers in the organization, and it's a two-year program that has a lot of leadership coaching embedded into it as well as good opportunities to break those silos and work in projects with other leaders," Mr. Rivas-Sanchez said.
He said that organizations should invest in internal leadership coaching and acceleration programs to prepare managers for executive roles, alongside casting a wider external net to identify and nurture future leaders. He listed organizations such as the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives and the American College of Healthcare Executives as potential partnerships to offer mentorship and professional development opportunities.
As president of NALHE’s southern California chapter, Mr. Rivas-Sanchez is actively involved in professional development and mentorship. He highlighted that partnerships with local health systems are effective ways to bridge gaps in healthcare leadership, especially for underrepresented groups.
Mr. Rivas-Sanchez also said partnerships can provide mentorship opportunities to both early-career professionals and senior leaders. Health systems can offer mentors the chance to give back while simultaneously providing young professionals with invaluable guidance.
Looking ahead, Mr. Rivas-Sanchez identified middle management as a key area for growth within health systems. He said organizations have become more intentional about implementing programs around creating opportunities for emerging leaders to receive executive coaching.
In turn, the programs offer more tools and resources for middle managers to grow within an organization, so he encouraged health systems to create more intentional programs such as leadership stretch assignments and executive coaching.
"It's a great tool. You get a lot of people that are engaged and committed to the mission, and if you're able to help them grow and provide them those tools, I've seen where that leads to good retention and just good employee engagement," Mr. Rivas-Sanchez said.
For early-career professionals eager to grow in healthcare, Mr. Rivas-Sanchez said individuals must know their purpose, get involved with professional organizations and obtain leadership roles within employee resource groups or local healthcare boards.
"Healthcare is a team sport," Mr. Rivas-Sanchez said. "The more you can showcase that and build your network and work with others, I think it does foster more innovation."