As health care reform continues to dominate the national debate, one concern from patient advocates arose recently when it was revealed that a Senate health care “working group” didn’t include any women. Sadly, it’s not unusual for a group of health care leaders to be dominated by men. With significant policy changes headed our way, there is no better time to leverage the unique capabilities of our female colleagues to help guide the health care industry in this new era.
Solving that stubborn challenge in our industry — one that long predates the current policy debate — will require a sustained and concerted effort from players across our industry. Despite some progress in recent years, women hold only 26 percent of hospital CEO positions and 21 percent of executive positions at Fortune 500 health care companies even though they make up 78 percent of the health care work force.
This issue is deeply personal for me. When I started my career in health care more than 20 years ago, senior leadership wasn’t on my mind. Women wanting to break into the field were encouraged to pursue nursing, or perhaps social work. I was lucky to be part of organizations that nurtured women leaders — and now lead a system that has made this a major priority.
When I talk with my grandchildren and their friends, I am proud to tell them that health care has made big strides since I began my career, that they really can follow their dreams — whether that takes them to a doctor’s office or a C-suite. But the reality is more complicated and we still have a long way to go. It’s a challenge that requires a commitment from all of us in every part of the health care system.
Study after study has demonstrated that organizations with gender-balanced leadership are more successful than their homogenous counterparts. At a time of significant change for the American health care system, it is particularly important to have a range of perspectives and experiences at the helm. Without a doubt, a leadership team that is representative of the patient populations it serves is better suited to determine the most effective ways to deliver care in its community.
Many people forget — or never knew in the first place — that women have led the way in bringing care to our communities. Many of the first hospitals were founded by Catholic nuns more than 150 years ago. They did everything from administration and operations to clinical work and public health outreach. These women were the first leaders in health care and laid the foundation for the American health care system. Their accomplishments forged a natural path and place for women in the workplace.
So why is progress in the field still limited for women? Like many societal challenges, the root of this problem is multifaceted and nearly impossible to pin on one factor. Gender stereotypes still play a role, along with balancing family responsibilities and work schedules, parental leave policies, and access to professional networks, contacts and sponsoring structures that are vital channels for promotions. And sometimes women themselves temper their own aspirations, believing their upward mobility may be limited.
I recognize that some of these factors are beyond individuals’ control. Nevertheless, I believe that we owe it to our patients, our employees, and the communities we serve to do everything we can to increase the number of women in leadership roles.
At Providence St. Joseph Health, where I work, we’ve committed to developing the leadership potential of our female colleagues. This is an important part of how we live our commitment to all our caregivers and uphold our values of quality, service, excellence, and justice. Several members of our executive team and seven of our 15 board members are women. And we’re currently doing many things — and looking at new steps we can take — to support women leaders in our organization. We encourage other health care organizations to join us.
Some of the steps we’ve taken include:
- Flexible work arrangements
- Training opportunities for women to build leadership skills
- Increased visibility of female role models
- Connecting junior employees with female senior-level mentors
- Transparent advancement opportunities and clearly charted pathways to leadership
- Shining a light on the challenges of balancing family and work needs
- Support for community programs that promote opportunities for women in our service areas
- Emphasizing STEM and academic programs for women, something we’re doing at our new School of Health Professions in Great Falls, Mont.
Furthermore, we’re exploring how a dedicated team or task force can examine these issues regularly, so our system can continuously increase opportunities for women leaders.
More than anything, we must continue to acknowledge this issue, even as other health care challenges demand our attention. As an industry, we can institutionalize these tactics and adopt policies that foster the growth of our women leaders.
Annette Walker is president of strategy at Providence St. Joseph Health and chief executive officer for St. Joseph Health. In 2017, she was named one of the 25 top women in health care by Modern Healthcare magazine.
Thank you Ms Walker for this timely and important article. You addressed a critical issue in healthcare administration. The lack of diversity in senior executive roles in the healthcare industry is signficant. Yes, women and minorities must be better represented in senior leadership roles to move our industry forward and be more responsive to all the healthcare needs of the communities we serve.
All Americans, including Annette Walker, should be educated about the enormous gender-based institutional inequities that afflict our healthcare system, growing disease incidence and mortality disparities like a metastasizing cancer and relegating men and boys to the status of second class human beings and second class citizens. Federal dollars spent for women’s health (in addition to pregnancy-related healthcare) greatly exceeds federal dollars spent for men’s health. Today, in 2017: there is a federally runwomenshealth.gov Web site, but no corresponding Web site for male Americans; there is a federally run Women’s Health Information Center, but no federally run Men’s Health Information Center to provide men with information to promote their health and protect their lives; there is a federally run Girl Power Campaign, but no federally run Boy Power Campaign to help educate boys about their health and well-being; there is a White House Council on Women and Girls, but no White House Council on Men and Boys; there still is no office on men’s health anywhere in the federal government, including NIH, the FDA, the CDC and HHS, all of which have well-funded offices promoting and advocating for women’s health; and there is no Wiseman Program for free cancer and heart disease screening for uninsured men like the Wisewoman Program for uninsured women. Also, the ACA denies men COST-SHARE FREE healthcare benefits, including certain cost-share free non-gender specific health screenings, on the same basis they are made available to female Americans. All this despite the fact that male Americans, compared to female Americans, have a significantly higher cancer mortality rate, are far more likely to die young from heart disease and have a more than five-year shorter life expectancy. It’s time to end the de jure sex discrimination that is costing male Americans their lives. BTW, Annette Walker’s article conveniently fails to note that female healthcare professionals comprise the majority of the USPSTF, which, among other transgressions, recommended against any gender-specific routine cancer screening for men.