Hospital boards' lack of diversity, succession planning revealed in AHA survey
Skip to main content
MDHC_Logotype_white
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • This Week's News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition
    • merrill goozner
      Healthcare groups should end all political donations—permanently
      Sticking to Mediterranean diet is good for the brain
      Joe Biden
      Revamp of the nation's vaccination effort may not be enough
      A man in a room with servers.
      Momentum grows to outsource hospital tech functions in 2021
    • COVID-19 hastens hospitals' revenue cycle outsourcing moves
      Operation Warp Speed Dr. Moncef Slaoui, Pfizer Group President Angela Hwang, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, CVS Health Executive Vice President Karen Lynch and McKesson CEO Brian Tyler participate in a panel discussion on the COVID-19 vaccine.
      Hospitals, drug companies strive to stand out virtually at JPM
      Dr. Bruce Siegel
      By protecting the healthcare safety net, Biden can put us on the path to a stronger country
      Joe Biden
      Revamp of the nation's vaccination effort may not be enough
    • Trenda Ray
      Q&A: Arkansas nursing leader looking for creative staffing solutions as COVID cases surge
      The Check Up: Trenda Ray
      The Check Up: Trenda Ray of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
      Cook Lydia 4x6_i.jpg
      Northeast Ohio health systems increase community benefit values in 2019
      Vaccine rollout hits snag as health workers balk at shots
    • CMS approves rule forcing insurers to ease prior authorization
      COVID-19 still a big uncertainty for insurers in 2021
      Health insurers' outlook boosted after Dems' Georgia win
      humana_i.jpg
      Humana supports Ohio not-for-profits with $500,000
    • Joe Biden
      Revamp of the nation's vaccination effort may not be enough
      CMS will raise Medicare Advantage plan payments by 4.08% in 2022
      CMS approves rule forcing insurers to ease prior authorization
    • Operation Warp Speed Dr. Moncef Slaoui, Pfizer Group President Angela Hwang, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, CVS Health Executive Vice President Karen Lynch and McKesson CEO Brian Tyler participate in a panel discussion on the COVID-19 vaccine.
      Hospitals, drug companies strive to stand out virtually at JPM
      Intermountain, Trinity, Memorial Hermann behind $300M private equity fund
      Operation Warp Speed to bump up McKesson's stock price
      Reporter's notebook: J.P. Morgan's 2021 health conference
    • A man in a room with servers.
      Momentum grows to outsource hospital tech functions in 2021
      5 things to know about Google's $2.1B Fitbit acquisition
      Providence bets on machine-learning, consolidating data centers
      Mental health treatment was most common telehealth service during COVID
    • Sticking to Mediterranean diet is good for the brain
      Chance of COVID-19 triage care looms over Arizona hospitals
      U.S. ramps up vaccinations to get doses to more Americans
      367146427.jpg
      Should businesses mandate that staff get the COVID vaccine?
    • Cone Health CEO, CFO to depart amid pending Sentara merger
      Tower Health's finance chief resigning after years of steep losses
      AHRQ director Gopal Khanna resigns in response to Capitol riot
      Brigham president stepping down after Moderna controversy
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • InDepth Special Reports
    • Innovations
    • The Affordable Care Act after 10 years
    • New care model helps primary-care practices treat obesity
      doctor with patient
      COVID-19 treatment protocol developed in the field helps patients recover
      Rachel Wyatt
      Project to curb pressure injuries in hospitals shows promise
      Yale New Haven's COVID-19 nurse-staffing model has long-term benefits
    • Modern Healthcare InDepth: Breaking the bias that impedes better healthcare
      Videos: Healthcare industry executives describe their encounters with racism
      Michellene Davis
      Healthcare leadership lacks the racial diversity needed to reduce health disparities
      Dr. James Hildreth
      How medical education can help fight racism
      Quotes from rebadged employees
      Outsourcing IT, revenue cycle takes toll on internal culture
    • A woman with a wearable sensor talking to her provider.
      Wearable sensors help diagnose heart rhythm problems in West Virginia
      self service station
      COVID-19 pushes patient expectations toward self-service
      Targeting high-risk cancer patients with genetics
      A nurse holds up a phone with a message to a family member saying surgery has started.
      Texting, tablets help hospitals keep family updated on patient care
  • Transformation
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Highmark Health inks six-year cloud, tech deal with Google
      Study: 1 in 5 patients report discrimination when getting healthcare
      HHS proposes changing HIPAA privacy rules
      Android health records app launches at 230 health systems
    • California hospitals prepare ethical protocol to prioritize lifesaving care
      Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway disband Haven
      Digital pathways poised to reshape healthcare continuum in 2021
      Healthcare was the hardest hit by supply shortages across all U.S. industries
    • A woman with a wearable sensor talking to her provider.
      Wearable sensors help diagnose heart rhythm problems in West Virginia
      New care model helps primary-care practices treat obesity
      How hospitals are building on COVID-19 telehealth momentum
      Researchers: Hospital price variation exacerbates health inequities
    • MedPAC votes to boost hospital payments, freeze or cut other providers
      Most Next Gen ACOs achieved bonuses in 2019
      Congress recalibrates Medicare Physician Fee Schedule after lobbying
      CMS approves rule to encourage value-based drug pricing
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
    • Health Systems Financials
      Executive Compensation
      Physician Compensation
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
    • Wellstar CEO calls adapting for the pandemic her bold move
      Howard P. Kern
      Recognizing the value of telehealth in its infancy
      Dr. Stephen Markovich
      A bold move helped take him from family doctor to OhioHealth CEO
      Dr. Bruce Siegel
      Why taking a hospital not-for-profit was Dr. Bruce Siegel’s boldest move
    • Barry Ostrowsky
      Ending racism is a journey taken together; the starting point must be now
      Laura Lee Hall and Gary Puckrein
      Increased flu vaccination has never been more important for communities of color
      John Daniels Jr.
      Health equity: Making the journey from buzzword to reality
      Mark C. Clement and David Cook
      We all need to 'do something' to fight inequities and get healthcare right, for every patient, every time
    • Dr. Bruce Siegel
      By protecting the healthcare safety net, Biden can put us on the path to a stronger country
      Healing healthcare: some ideas for triage by the new Congress, administration
      Dr. Sachin H. Jain
      Medicare for All? The better route to universal coverage would be Medicare Advantage for All
      Connectivity: a social determinant of health that can exacerbate all the others
    • Letters: Eliminating bias in healthcare needs to be ‘deliberate and organic’
      Letters: Maybe dropping out of ACOs is a good thing for patients
      Letters: White House and Congress share blame for lack of national COVID strategy
      Letters: VA making strides to improve state veterans home inspections
    • Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      How blockchain could ease frustration with the payment process
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Three steps to better data-sharing for payer and provider CIOs
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Reduce total cost of care: 6 reasons why providers and payers should tackle the challenge together
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Why CIOs went from back-office operators to mission-critical innovators
  • Awards
    • Award Programs
    • Nominate
    • Previous Award Programs
    • Other Award Programs
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare Logo for Navigation
      Nominations Open - Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      Nominations Open - Health Care Hall of Fame
      Nominations Open - 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Top 25 Minority Leaders
    • Top 25 Women Leaders
    • Excellence in Nursing Awards
    • Design Awards
    • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
    • 100 Top Hospitals
    • ACHE Awards
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Webinars
    • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Healthcare Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Workplace of the Future Conference
    • Strategic Marketing Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala (2022)
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Carter Dredge
      Next Up Podcast: Ready, set, innovate! Innovation and disruption in healthcare
      Next Up Podcast: COVID-19, social determinants highlight health inequities — what next?
      Ceci Connolly
      Next Up Podcast: How to navigate the murky post-election waters
      Next Up Podcast: Saving Rural Health
    • An older man wearing a mask receiving a vaccine.
      Beyond the Byline: Verifying information on the chaotic COVID-19 vaccine rollout
      doctor burnout
      Beyond the Byline: How healthcare supply chain struggles contribute to employee burnout
      Beyond the Byline: Covering race and diversity in the healthcare industry
      Beyond the Byline: How telehealth utilization has impacted investor-owned company earnings
    • Leading intention promote diversity and inclusion
      Introducing Healthcare Insider Podcast
    • The Check Up: Trenda Ray
      The Check Up: Trenda Ray of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
      The Check Up: Dr. Kenneth Davis
      The Check Up: Dr. Kenneth Davis of Mount Sinai Health System
      The Check Up: Dr. Thomas McGinn
      The Check Up: Dr. Thomas McGinn of CommonSpirit Health
      The Check Up: Mark Ganz
      The Check Up: Mark Ganz of Cambia Health Solutions
    • Video: Ivana Naeymi Rad of Intelligent Medical Objects
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Providers
May 29, 2019 10:00 AM

Lack of diversity, succession planning revealed in AHA survey

Harris Meyer
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Nearly half of hospital boards lack a formal CEO succession plan, according to an American Hospital Association's governance survey, a finding that shocked governance experts.

    Developing a CEO succession plan is considered a core function of boards. Yet 24% of hospital system boards, 50% of free-standing hospital boards, and 59% of subsidiary boards had no succession plan, according to the comprehensive survey of 1,316 hospital CEOs who responded in the spring of 2018, the AHA's first such survey in five years.

    "That's absolutely staggering," said James Orlikoff, a governance consultant who served as a commentator on the AHA's survey. "That reflects a fundamental abrogation of responsibility. There's no excuse for that."

    Experts also noted slow or no progress in recruiting minorities, women and younger people for hospital boards. System boards were 83% Caucasian in 2018 compared with 86% in 2014, while free-standing boards were 91% Caucasian last year versus 90% in 2014.

    Men made up 72% of system board members and 70% of free-standing board members last year, compared with 76% and 72%, respectively, in 2014.

    On age diversity, people older than 51 made up 84% of system board members and 75% of free-standing board members in 2018, versus 88% of system board members and 83% of free-standing board members in 2014.

    Boards overall had a higher percentage of members age 71 or older in 2018 than they did in 2005—12% versus 9%—while they had a lower percentage of members age 50 or younger—22% versus 29%.

    "The data are very clear that the demographics of boards is clearly one of the ongoing challenges hospital boards need to address," said Debra Stock, AHA vice president of trustee services. She said the AHA recently formed partnerships with the National Urban League and UnidosUS to increase participation of African-Americans and Latinos on hospital boards.

    Overall, the survey showed that hospital boards are making some progress in implementing state-of-the-art practices such as restructuring to improve governance. But industry leaders question whether boards are moving fast enough to keep up with rapid changes in the healthcare system and U.S. society.

    In a commentary included in the AHA report, Nicholas Tejeda, market CEO of the Tenet Healthcare Corp.-owned Hospitals of Providence in El Paso, Texas, said the increase since 2005 in female membership on hospital boards from 23% to 30% isn't good enough.

    "It seems we can do better to ensure our boards better represent patients who come through our doors," he wrote. "Considering that the majority of a hospital's workforce is female, we must focus our efforts to identify and develop women leaders for roles in governance."

    And despite the aging of board membership, only 27% of survey respondents said their organizations are making focused efforts to engage the millennial generation—people born between 1982 and 2000—in governance.

    "Succession planning is key to the long-term success of any organization, and governance is certainly no exception," Tejeda wrote. His organization formed a Young Leader Advisory Group that already has produced new board members including a board chair-elect.

    Orlikoff said that failure to implement generational change in governance could threaten hospital survival. "Boards are disproportionately composed of baby boomers who are retiring, dying or becoming mentally incompetent," he said. "That poses a serious risk to healthcare organizations."

    A more encouraging finding from the survey is that nearly two-thirds of hospital boards have engaged in restructuring to improve governance over the past three years. They sought new board member skills and competencies, added or reduced committees, redefined authority among system and subsidiary boards, and reduced or expanded membership size.

    Stock said boards are carefully balancing the need to keep experienced members with unique skills and knowledge with the need to bring in new members who are younger and have different skill sets.

    Despite the move toward restructuring, a significant share of hospital boards retain a structure of powerful executive committees that some experts consider perilous. The survey found that 30% of all hospital boards, including 52% of system boards, give their executive committee broad authority to make decisions on behalf of the full board.

    Orlikoff said that giving executive committees that kind of authority creates a board-within-a-board structure, and can lead to disastrous decisions, as in the Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation bankruptcy in the late 1990s.

    "That's not good governance," he said. "You can have insider and outsider groups, and there are many cases where the dominant executive committee has made decisions throwing an organization into turmoil."

    He and other experts said the survey shows that while some hospital governance trends are moving in the right direction, bad habits persist.

    "Survey findings suggest that in some areas, boards may be changing their practices more slowly than is optimal for a sector facing rapid, transformational change," wrote Mary Totten, president of governance consulting firm Totten & Associates and a commentator for the survey.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    The Check Up: Trenda Ray of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
    The Check Up: Trenda Ray of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
    Q&A: Arkansas nursing leader looking for creative staffing solutions as COVID cases surge
    Q&A: Arkansas nursing leader looking for creative staffing solutions as COVID cases surge
    Sponsored Content
    Get Free Newsletters

    Sign up for free enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today

    The weekly magazine, websites, research and databases provide a powerful and all-encompassing industry presence. We help you make informed business decisions and lead your organizations to success.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Instagram

    Stay Connected

    Join the conversation with Modern Healthcare through our social media pages

    MDHC_Logotype_white
    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • This Week's News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • InDepth Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Transformation
      • Patients
      • Operations
      • Care Delivery
      • Payment
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Award Programs
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Top 25 Minority Leaders
        • Top 25 Women Leaders
      • Nominate
      • Previous Award Programs
        • Excellence in Nursing Awards
        • Design Awards
        • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
      • Other Award Programs
        • 100 Top Hospitals
        • ACHE Awards
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Healthcare Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Workplace of the Future Conference
        • Strategic Marketing Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala (2022)
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Webinars
      • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing