Like Chief Executive Officers of any large corporation, hospital CEOs are responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the hospital. They’re also responsible for developing strategic policies for the hospital, communicating the hospital’s vision to the public, and working with other members of the hospital’s executive management team to ensure the overall success of the hospital.
Specifically, hospital CEOs are responsible for:
– Maintaining and promoting financial health and stability of the hospital organization
– Maintaining and promoting Patient Satisfaction
– Conducting regular meetings with other senior executives
– Creating an atmosphere that fosters the optimum environment for recruiting quality healthcare professionals
How to Become a Hospital CEO
Unlike CEOs of most large corporations, hospital CEOs generally come from a medical background and almost always have prior experience in hospital administration. As a rule, hospital CEOs possess a minimum of a Master’s degree. In many cases, the CEO of a hospital possesses a doctorate’s or Ph.D. The specific educational requirements vary from hospital to hospital.
One of the most common career paths to becoming a hospital CEO is by first becoming a hospital COO. The COO, or Chief Operating Officer, reports directly to the CEO and is responsible for delegating the responsibilities of day-to-day operations. Even those who didn’t previously hold a position as hospital COO typically held other high-level administrative or management positions in healthcare in the past. Most hospital CEOs worked in healthcare for at least 15 years before they became CEO.
The most common degrees held by hospital CEOs include:
– Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA)
– Master of Business Administration (MBA)
– Master of Medical Management (MMM)
The biggest quality that a hospital CEO must possess is excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. You have to be able to communicate effectively with other members of the executive management team and with employees. Additionally, you have to be an effective leader. These are qualities that will help advance anyone’s career but they are especially important to an individual interested in becoming the CEO of a hospital organization.
How Much do Hospital CEOs Make?
According to this fact sheet published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Chief Executive Officers of any corporation, including hospitals, earned a median annual salary of $176,840 as of May 2012. Since this is an average of all Chief executive officers in the US regardless of industry, however, the salary of hospital CEOs may be closer to the top 10%, which is $210,120.
Of course, the salary depends in part on the number of years an individual has held the position of CEO and the individual hospital employing the CEO. According to this news article from Bloomberg News, at least one hospital CEO makes $600,000 annually.
While the median salary of a hospital CEO may seem high, it’s important to remember that the hospital CEO is the highest ranking official in the organization and, as such, has the most responsibility of anyone employed by a hospital.
