Becker's Hospital Review

24 CEO / STRATEGY More hospital CEOs exit as labor challenges persist By Ayla Ellison M ore than six dozen hospital CEOs have left their roles this year, according to a Sept. 21 Challenger, Gray & Christmas report. In the first eight months of this year, 895 CEOs across all industries left their posts, up slightly from the 888 chief executives who exited their roles in the same period last year, according to the executive outplacement and coaching firm. Six hospital CEOs left their positions in August, bringing the total number of departures to 77 for this year. Sixty- eight hospital CEOs left their roles in the first eight months of 2021. "Hospitals continue to be hammered on the labor front," said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "The staff shortages, access- to-care concerns, legal issues, and resource management issues continue to create challenges for hospital leadership, and leaders themselves are not immune from the burnout felt at all levels." n Health systems shrink executive teams as costs rise By Ayla Ellison H ospitals and health systems are facing financial challenges with many reporting rising expenses and significant invest- ment losses this year. is year is shaping up to be the worst year financially for hospitals and health systems since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals are reporting some of the worst margins since the pandemic began, and there isn't federal relief aid available to offset the damage, according to a report by Kaufman Hall. What are hospitals and health systems doing to improve their financial positions? Identifying ways to boost revenue cycle performance, scaling back services, and layoffs are a few ways healthcare organizations are trying to address financial challenges. A few health systems are streamlining their executive teams to cut costs. Providence, a 51-hospital system, announced in July that it is shrinking its leadership team and rolling out a new divisional structure. "Creating a more sustainable model of health care by 2025 has been a key part of our vision since before the pandemic," Providence CFO Greg Hoffman said in an Aug. 15 earnings release. "But it has become even more imperative today as health systems across the country face a new reality. Alongside our investments to simplify processes and modernize technology, streamlining our leadership and administrative structure is another way we will ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible, so that we can keep resources focused on direct patient care, especially for those who are most vulnerable." Providence, which has system offices in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif., ended the first two quarters of this year with an operating loss of $934 million, compared to an operating loss of $94 million in the same period a year earlier. Bend, Ore.-based St. Charles Health System eliminated two executive positions in July as part of a financial recovery plan. To cut costs, the system laid off its chief physician executive and senior vice president of improvement and strategy. e health system is also looking for other ways to reduce expenses and enhance revenue to improve operating performance, according to financial documents released in August. For the first six months of this year, St. Charles Health System reported an operating loss of $43.3 million, compared to operating income of $14.5 million in the same period a year earlier. n What does 'quiet quitting' look like at hospitals? By Kelly Gooch T he trend of "quiet quitting" has recently gained traction on social media, referring to a phenomenon in which workers to reduce their enthusiasm at work and stick to the minimum expectations of their role. Some professionals, including Generation Z workers, have embraced the concept as an increased form of work- life balance, and others see it as a lesser-version of actually quitting. Regardless of how an individual interprets the idea, the concept is not new among the U.S. workforce or in healthcare, according to Jeremy Sadlier, executive director of the American Society for Healthcare Hu- man Resources Administration. "Before the term quiet quitting was in vogue, we were talking about employees who would 'quit and stay,'" said Mr. Sadlier, who previously served as a market director of human resources and provided operational support at Advocate Aurora Health, an organization with dual headquarters in Downers Grove, Ill., and Milwaukee. "In essence, it's the same concept with a nearly identical motivation. No matter the term used, many disengaged employees will stick around long aer they're finding motivation and stimulation in their work." In healthcare, this phenomenon has only grown. An April Gallup poll found that 34 percent of U.S. employees were actively engaged at work in 2021, compared to only 32 percent this year. Healthcare professionals saw the largest dip in engagement, with their engagement scores dropping nine points year over year.

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