Becker's Hospital Review

8 8 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP The stakes for health system CEOs are higher: CommonSpirit CEO Lloyd Dean explains how By Molly Gamble R etirement makes for a big transition in an executive's day-to-day life. is is especially the case when the executive has been work- ing since age 10, like CommonSpirit Health CEO Lloyd Dean. Mr. Dean, CEO of 140-hospital CommonSpirit Health, will retire from the Chicago-based organization in the summer of 2022. His tenure at the top of the nonprofit, Catholic health system spans 22 years, but his work life and commitment to service spans decades before he ever set foot in a health system. At 10, he began shoveling neighbors' snow and a third of his pay went to his father for rent. It was a defining moment when he learned the importance of making a contribution. Today, Mr. Dean's voice is one of the country's most influential in the fight for health equity, and he has worked with four presidential administrations to move the idea of healthcare for all closer to reality. Becker's sat down with Mr. Dean to learn what he's been reflecting upon since announcing his retirement, the expectation of health sys- tem CEOs today, how his leadership style evolved aer the formation of $30 billion CommonSpirit Health in 2019 and his persistence in rejecting superficial solutions to systemic problems. Editor's note: is interview was edited for length and clarity. Question: As you prepare for your next chapter, this is an interesting time to reflect on where the hospital or health system CEO fits into society today. Pre-pandemic, many Americans may have carried on with little awareness as to who, precisely, was at the top of their local hospital or health system. The pandemic challenged that status quo, throwing hospital leaders and executives into the limelight as many Americans sought leadership, expertise, scientific evidence and local voices to make sense of what, in many cases, felt unsensible. Have the stakes gotten higher for you and your colleagues? What is expected from this role today that leaders must be prepared to meet? Lloyd Dean: I think the role and expectations of CEOs have changed dramatically, and over the last couple of years in particular. ere's no question that you have to be able to articulate a vision for your organization in a way that you've never been called to do before. at vision can't be about products or services, or physically what you hope to accomplish. It has to have values in it, and you have to be able to articulate in a very concise way what it is you stand for. What is your relationship to communities and those you serve, what's the value set underlining the organization? You are called to be able to advocate for those things important not only for your company but for the community. ere's no question, too, that the social consciousness of what you do, why you do it and how you do it is something that consumers and oth- ers expect to hear about. You've got to be able to articulate that. It's not just about your organization solely, but what are you doing to make communities and our nation stronger, and how are you using resources you have to accomplish that goal? ere is a much greater expectation of how you use your voice and the pulpit you've been given. Q: When you participated in a Becker's Healthcare event about racism in June 2020, you voiced disappointment with the incremental solutions that are raised and accepted to solve a systemic, multifaceted and enduring problem. "We cannot accept as a nation Band-Aids being put on cancers," you said. A lot of people and companies out there are OK with Band-Aids, though. What's your advice for the lone voice in the room who isn't ready to accept superficial or short-term fixes? LD: I'm not willing to accept those. One of the things the pandemic has shown us is that we have to have sustainable, long-term solutions for many of the issues that have lingered for decades. ere is some immediacy to some. For some problems, you have to take immediate actions and crisis management. But if we have learned anything, it's that these systemic issues will continue to rise at different times if we don't address them in a comprehensive way. Short-term solutions for long-term issues are diametrically a plan for continued complex issues being in our face, day aer day aer day. Q: Not every executive will be closely involved in a merger that slingshots their organization from 100 hospitals to 140 as you were in the formation of CommonSpirit. That is sig- nificant growth, and there's an adage out there that "growth and comfort do not coexist." In what ways did you need to evolve or adapt as a leader to meet the needs of a merged $30 billion health system? LD: I think that with size and scale comes an enhanced set of ac- countabilities and expectations. Scale for the sake of scale — we've seen the problems with that. As you think about evolving to the foot- print we have in this nation — potentially positioned to serve 1 out of every 4 Americans — with that comes great accountability. We serve some of the most challenged and vulnerable in our society. When I think about scale and the journey to become a $30 billion or- ganization and the responsibilities that go with having 150,000 employ-

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