Women in Healthcare Leadership: Inclusion Starts at the Top

Executive search plays a key role in ensuring diversity

Only 8 of the top 100 hospitals in the U.S. have a woman CEO, according to a 2016 survey conducted by Rock Health, a venture fund dedicated to supporting “companies improving the quality, safety, and accessibility of our healthcare system”. While the lack of senior female leadership is not unique to healthcare (fewer than 6% of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women), it is notable that the vast majority of medical and health service managers are women. Nurses, who are predominantly women, make up the largest part of the workforce in hospitals; and women make most healthcare decisions – so why are women not equally represented in CEO profiles?

Diversity drives productivity, loyalty and motivation, yet many organizations fail to create corporate cultures that embrace diversity and inclusion as a priority. Recent developments indicate the growing recognition of companies who value and promote diversity. To read more about the topic, download the whole document here.