Healthcare leadership is undergoing a fundamental restructuring. As health systems flatten organizational hierarchies, expand executive span of control and elevate accountability to enterprise and regional levels, the nature of senior leadership itself is being redefined. This isn't a temporary response to financial pressure, it's a structural transformation that will shape healthcare organizations for the next decade.

This session brings together a seasoned physician executive recruiter, a sitting hospital CEO and a health system board member and search firm president to examine what leadership at scale truly requires, and why many organizations and leaders are unprepared for this shift. Through candid discussion and real-world examples, panelists will explore why strong hospital leaders don't automatically succeed in enterprise roles, how expanded span of control magnifies leadership vulnerabilities and what capabilities distinguish leaders who thrive at scale from those who struggle.

Key themes include the new executive reality, organizational preparation, executive triad leadership and strategic recruitment considerations. Attendees will get perspective as to why leadership at scale demands fundamentally different capabilities than site-based leadership and how organizations can better assess enterprise readiness in candidates and current leaders. Panel will discuss what health systems must do now to redesign roles, clarify accountability structures and build sustainable leadership models before filling critical positions. This session will also address why collaborative leadership models are emerging as both an organizational solution to complexity and a strategic development pathway for future executives.

Faculty will review why executive search expertise becomes a strategic capability rather than a transactional staffing function as leadership roles become higher-impact and mis-hires more costly.

Participants will leave with practical insights on identifying and developing leaders capable of operating at enterprise scale, understanding governance implications when fewer leaders carry more organizational risk and recognizing the early warning signs when leadership structures are becoming unsustainable. This session is especially suited for board members, C-suite executives and senior leaders navigating the transition to next-generation healthcare leadership models.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key differences between site-based and enterprise-level leadership capabilities and why strong hospital leaders don't automatically succeed at scale.
• Evaluate when strategic recruitment expertise becomes essential for high-impact executive searches versus roles that can be managed internally.
• Recognize alternative leadership models such as executive triads that can distribute complexity and build organizational resilience.

Faculty:

Tony Stajduhar, Senior Advisor, Clinical and Workforce Solutions, Jackson Healthcare

Melissa A. Fitzpatrick, RN, FAAN, President, Kirby Bates Associates/Board Member, UNC Rex Hospital

Tom Rossi, Vice President, Executive Search, Jackson Physician Search

Ann Marie Creed, CMPE, FACHE, President, University of Michigan Health-Sparrow

ACHE Qualifying Education Credit 

This activity is eligible for 1 ACHE Qualifying Education credit toward earning or maintaining your FACHE credential. 

Credits must be self-reported at My ACHE upon completion of this activity. 

Thank you, Jackson Healthcare

This program is made possible in part by the support of Jackson Healthcare, an ACHE Premier Corporate Partner. ACHE would like to thank Jackson Healthcare for its commitment to ACHE and helping us advance healthcare management excellence.