Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1489485
14 CEO / STRATEGY Duke Health CEO to depart in 2023 By Molly Gamble A . Eugene Washington, MD, president and CEO of Duke University Health System and chancellor for health affairs at Duke University, will step down from the roles in 2023. Dr. Washington will leave his positions on June 30, 2023. e Durham, N.C.-based university will announce plans to conduct a national search for his successor in the coming weeks, according to a Duke news release. Dr. Washington stepped into the leadership roles with Duke in 2015. Before then, he served as CEO of UCLA Health System and dean and vice chancellor of health sciences for UCLA's School of Medicine for five years. Earlier in his career, Dr. Washington was executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California, San Francisco, where he also co-founded UCSF's Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations and was chair of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences. Under Dr. Washington's leadership, Duke established the Population Health Management Office within Duke University Health System, the Department of Population Health Sciences in the School of Medicine, and the Center for Nursing Research in the School of Nursing. e conclusion of his tenure will coincide with the creation of the Duke Health Integrated Practice, a provider-led organization within the health system. "Gene Washington's tenure will be remembered as among the most consequential periods in the history of Duke Health, both in its achievement and for its exemplary demonstration of leadership in moments of challenge," said Duke University President Vincent Price, PhD. "At no time was this more apparent than with the rapid mobilization of our research, education, patient care and community health missions to equitably treat thousands of COVID-19 patients and safeguard public health locally and globally." n Ascension creates foundation to address health inequities By Kelly Gooch A scension, a 143-hospital nonprofit system based in St. Louis, has created a national philanthropic organization that will develop, support and promote health equity initiatives. The Ascension Foundation will initially focus on programs that address generational poverty and help create economic stability for people, according to a Nov. 17 news release. The organization will also work on creating a diverse future healthcare workforce. As part of this work, the Ascension Foundation has established multiyear collaborations with Marian Middle School in St. Louis; Meharry Medical College, a private, independent historically Black academic health sciences center in Nashville, Tenn.; and Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. The Ascension Foundation is providing several offerings through these collaborations, including annual scholarships for middle schoolers, annual scholarships for new college graduates as they pursue healthcare careers, and tuition support for students in the Wayne Med-Direct and Post Baccalaureate programs, according to the release. n Hospital CEO exits slow By Kelly Gooch E ighty-five hospital CEOs exited their roles in the first 10 months of 2022, down 10.5 percent from the 95 chiefs who stepped down from their positions in the same period of 2021, according to a Nov. 17 report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an executive outplacement and coaching firm. Hospitals announced three CEO changes in October, five in September and 16 in October 2021. Across all industries, 71 CEOs exited their roles in October, down 50 percent from the 142 chiefs who stepped down from their positions in the same month of 2021. U.S. companies announced 74 CEO exits in September. "Job cut announcements are rising and hiring plans have slowed as we conclude 2022," said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "The technology sector is seeing the bulk of these layoffs, and it is also where we are seeing a lot of CEO changes, but generally speaking, companies are holding onto their leaders." Across all industries, the number of women ascending to the CEO role through October 2022 is also slightly less than the same period of 2021, according to Challenger. A total of 26.1 percent of new CEOs were women or nonbinary through October 2022, compared to 26.87 percent of new CEOs who were women through the same period of 2021. n