Dive Brief:
- Hospital CEO turnover rose to 20% last year, the highest rate since the American College of Healthcare Executives began tracking turnover in 1981.
- Annual turnover rates have fluctuated between 14% and 18% in the decade prior to 2013; rates hit 17% in 2012 and 16% in 2011.
- "The increase in the turnover rate may be indicative of a combination of factors including an increased number of baby boomers seeking retirement, the emergent trend towards consolidation in our industry and the complexity and amount of change going on in healthcare today," according to Deborah Bowen, FACHE, CAE, president and CEO of the ACHE.
Dive Insight:
Among all the factors cited by Ms. Bowen, I'd argue that complexity and amount of change going on the industry today -- which, arguably, affects more sectors of hospital business than it it has in decades -- is the strongest candidate for explaining why CEOs are getting fired or bailing out. It takes a different kind of leader to guide an organization through a hailstorm than it does to keep a steady hand on the wheel, and my guess is some of the CEOs who leave organizations are skilled managers but not as good at dealing with the constant state of crisis facing many hospitals today.