Succession Planning in Healthcare: Lighting the Way Forward Amid the Great Retirement and Great Resignation (151H)

More than ever, not-for-profit healthcare systems are navigating a fundamental shift. The balancing act of attracting and retaining executive, physician and nursing talent, while keeping bottom-line expenditures in check is increasingly challenging. These conditions are prompting healthcare systems to break with traditional practices and seek solutions that effectively address these issues, benefit all stakeholders and provide a competitive advantage. But is not-for-profit healthcare ready for the "great retirement" and the "great resignation"? Industry experts expect more than 80% of hospital CEOs will retire or turn over in the next five years. With healthcare systems already grappling with a shortage of nurses, and a looming physician shortage, the prospect of an onslaught of retirements within the most senior leadership ranks pushes the need for strategic sustainability and continuity in leadership—succession planning—to the level of mission critical. The potential for a "great resignation" to follow an increase in retirements is a real threat, as multiple prominent leadership positions simultaneously become available for the first time in years. A mass exodus from more than just the CEO is not sustainable, i.e., demand could outstrip qualified supply.

In an industry of vital importance to the communities within which it serves, healthcare system boards and senior leadership must mandate the prioritization of succession planning—planning that extends beyond the CEO, or a handful of senior leaders, and instead focuses on the development of a comprehensive, key strategic process for every critical position in the organization. From the perspectives of industry professionals in executive search, compensation consultancy, executive benefits and a current not-for-profit healthcare system CEO, this panel discussion will examine the importance of succession planning that is critical to continuity of intellectual, knowledge and corporate culture capital, and the solutions to help succession planning endeavors to be strategic, transparent and at the forefront of the not-for-profit healthcare industry's long-term viability and success.