Becker's asked C-suite executives from hospitals and health systems across the U.S. to share the most significant change they're making this year.
The 62 executives featured in this article are all speaking at the Becker's Healthcare 15th Annual Meeting on April 28 - May 1, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.
To learn more about this event, click here.
If you would like to join as a speaker or a reviewer, contact Mariah Muhammad at mmuhammad@beckershealthcare.com or agendateam@beckershealthcare.com.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities or vendor access-only badges, contact Jessica Cole at jcole@beckershealthcare.com.
As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who will speak at our conference. The following are answers from our speakers at the event.
Question: Tell us about the No. 1 organizational change you're making in 2025
Craig Kent, MD. CEO of UVA Health; Executive Vice President of Health Affairs at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville): In 2025, UVA Health’s top organizational priority is enhancing physician wellness through systemic and operational changes that reduce burnout and empower our providers to focus on the joy and purpose of medicine. Physician burnout is a critical challenge, leading to fatigue, diminished clinical outcomes, and erosion of the trust that defines the patient-physician relationship.
As we move through the year, we will consider any and all operational changes that address administrative burdens that detract from meaningful clinical care. Initiatives like our ongoing “Less is More” program allow faculty culture leads to identify ways we can streamline tasks, including reducing time spent on computer-based learnings.
Additionally, our 2025 phased rollout of a new AI-driven ambient documentation tool will significantly reduce time spent on patient visit notes, allowing providers to reclaim time for patients and personal well-being. These changes underscore our commitment at UVA Health to building a supportive culture that sustains our physicians and strengthens the delivery of exceptional care.
Cliff A. Megerian, MD,. CEO of University Hospitals (Cleveland); Jane and Henry Meyer CEO Distinguished Chair: In 2025, we are transforming how we think about who we are. We’re not just a system of hospitals — we’re destinations that embody hospitality. We are focusing on the relationship between a host and a guest, where goodwill and a genuine welcome define every interaction. This shift challenges us to see patients as guests to be cared for with warmth, respect, and personalized service.
Healthcare consumers today have abundant choices. People judge their experiences based on their last best service encounter, whether in healthcare or elsewhere. To stand out, we must create experiences that are as seamless and delightful as those offered by the world’s best service organizations, like Disney or Apple. By adopting this mindset, we’ll make it easy for people to choose University Hospitals, fostering trust, loyalty and advancing our reputation for exceptional care.
Marschall Runge, MD, PhD. Dean of the University of Michigan Medical School; Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs at the University of Michigan; CEO of Michigan Medicine (Ann Arbor): The highest priority for Michigan Medicine in 2025 is to prepare for the future by strengthening our foundation and embracing innovation. Central to this vision is the expansion of our digital health approaches and thoughtful implementation of AI in specific areas that foster unification of our network. Additionally, in an ever-evolving healthcare landscape, filled with uncertainties from emerging policy changes to the long-awaited implementation of key reforms, Michigan Medicine is poised to adapt. Critical issues like Medicare and Medicaid coverage rates, 340B program administration, and site-specific billing remain at the forefront. Our commitment is clear: to navigate these complexities with resilience and purpose, ensuring exceptional care for our patients and communities.
Darryl Elmouchi, MD. Chief Operating Officer of Providence (Renton, Wash.): After becoming Providence’s new chief operating officer this January, I’m currently learning more about the organization and identifying areas of change and investment that will help us deliver on our Mission now and in the future. To that end, Providence’s most significant organizational change in 2025 will be creating a new Office of Transformation focused on leveraging technology to improve patient health while reducing the administrative workload for medical staff and caregivers. This office will leverage existing resources, not increase overhead, to focus even more energy on transforming the way care is delivered. It’s something we’re excited about kicking off.
Peter Banko. President and CEO of Baystate Health (Springfield, Mass.): Millard Fuller, co-founder of Habitat for Humanity, said, "It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking, than it is to think yourself into a new way of acting." Baystate’s top organizational change in 2025 is the creation of a true clinically driven and physician-led health system. We re-structured our teams and streamlined our decision-making. We have been crafting our Baystate Health 2030 strategic plan and enabling our three-year core operations transformation. Now, in 2025, our challenging, compelling, and crucial work on structure and process must translate to behaviors that are visible each and every day to our 13,000 caregivers.
Ben Goodstein. Vice President and Chief Ambulatory Officer of Dayton Children's Hospital; President of Dayton Children's Specialty Physicians Inc. (Ohio): I would like to highlight our focus on enhancing operational efficiency and fostering a positive organizational culture. These two areas are crucial for us as we strive to improve our services and the experience for both our staff and the families we serve.
Carman Ciervo. Chief Physician Executive of Cooper Care Alliance (Camden, N.J.): This will be a year of great focus on the Cooper University Health Care and Cape regional merger details. The now Cooper Cape System in Cape May.
It is critical that the medical staff, clinical support staff and all associates feel included in the process and the importance of driving the Cooper University Health Care mission to serve, to heal, to educate and live our values of: One Team. One Purpose.
Mark D. Townsend, MD. Chief Clinical Digital Ventures Officer of Bon Secours Mercy Health (Cincinnati): The number one organizational change that we are making at Accrete Health Partners on behalf of Bon Secours Mercy Health is to implement a framework that allows us to accelerate our partnerships with emerging technologies. Having created a Digital Ventures Innovation fund, we are doubling down on collaborating with companies that are in our investment pipeline. Co-development opportunities that are sponsored by BSMH operators can be supported through this framework, and we are excited that we have been empowered to be more nimble in this work!
Christine Larson, RN, BSN. Vice President of Medical Group Operations, North Wisconsin Area at Advocate Health (Charlotte, N.C.): There’s a few high priority changes we are making in 2025 at Advocate Health Midwest.
- Expanded use of AI to facilitate clinician documentation requirements to promote clinician wellbeing/work-life balance strategies.
- Expanded use of telehealth services to include virtual primary care access and the hiring of our first “virtual-only” Primary Care Physician.
- Deeper evolution of our Value Based Care model journey to include tactics such as emphasis on reduced readmissions/unnecessary admissions, decreased length of stay, “hospital at home” models of care, and outpatient access to care using thorough visit closure tactics and appropriate site of service metrics.
Deb Kiser, RN. Heart Service Line Executive Lead and System Vice President Operations of Cardiovascular Service Line at The Christ Hospital (Cincinnati): Increased empowerment to front line managers, directors, and physician leaders through data, KPI’s and financial awareness. It is imperative that those that drive efficiency, implementation and care are provided key information to understand the business. Together we can deliver high quality care and ķ the bottom line.
Amber Campbell. Ambulatory CEO of Sutter Gould Medical Foundation, Greater Central Valley Division (Sacramento, Calif.): In 2025, the number one organizational change we are making is a refreshed commitment to listening. Setting organizational wide intention around active listening is how we plan to approach the ongoing improvement culture we value at Sutter Gould Medical Foundation. This is demonstrated in daily leader rounding on patients at all layers of the organization and our process improvement huddle taking place between 10:00-11:00am. We are committed to our mission of patients first and people always in order to learn what our patient and employee experience needs are so we can achieve our goals of best place to receive care, best place to practice medicine, and the best workplace to grow and develop.
Jay S. Grider, DO, PhD. Chief Quality Officer and CEO of Kentucky Medical Services Foundation at University of Kentucky (Lexington): While the concept of service lines is not new, executing the concepts as means to create high reliability in an organization is never a simple thing. We are refocusing on the service line concept to drive patient outcomes and access as well as advance the academic and research missions of our institution. This work all comes as part of our focus on being an academic medical center that serves Kentucky and our clinical partners as needed across the state.
Sean Fadale. President and CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home (Gloversville, N.Y.): The one major organizational change is we are going to institute a process of standard work that will allow our organization to repeat our successes and learn from our mistakes. Historically each leader ran a project or initiative based upon what worked in the past and that led to inconsistent results. We have gone through a series of training and initiatives to get our leadership team ready for this journey and I am excited to see the positive results as we head through 2025.
Margo Shoup, MD. President and Chief Medical Officer of MultiCare Cancer Institute at MultiCare Health System (Tacoma, Wash.): With the current and impending physician shortage, we are redesigning our oncology care teams and adding APP’s to have at least a 1:1 APP to physician model, and in many circumstances 2:1 or 3:1. The purpose is to allow access to as many new patients as possible while the APP’s see return patients and those on chemotherapy. Our developing platform will include APP run inpatient units, symptom management clinics and postoperative follow up.
Omar Hasan, MD. Chief Quality Officer of MaineHealth (Portland): Competitive forces and market changes in our region are having a tangible impact on patients' access to needed healthcare services. We are taking steps to ensure that our team members have the resources and skills needed to adapt to this evolving situation. We are also investing in upgrading our information systems, to gain needed insights and improve response time for unexpected changes.
Wayne Gillis. President and CEO of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services (Gallup, N.M.): One of the most significant organizational changes I’ll focus on is driving accountability in operational execution.
In 2025, we will work to ensure that every team member — regardless of role — understands how their daily efforts contribute to our hospital’s success. By building clear metrics, fostering transparency, and aligning goals across all levels, we aim to shift from reactive operations to proactive execution.
This approach is about creating a culture where excellence is not just a goal but a standard. It’s not only about holding others accountable but also about equipping leaders with the tools and data they need to execute effectively and consistently.
I’m excited to share more on this topic and explore how accountability can be the cornerstone of sustainable operational excellence in healthcare.
JohnRich R. Levine, DNP, MSN. Manager of Surgical Services at Bayshore Medical Center (Holmdel, N.J.): In 2025, our No. 1 organizational change interest focuses on building a culture of agility and predictive excellence through the integration of advanced AI-driven decision support systems in perioperative services. As healthcare faces increasing complexities — staffing shortages, rising patient expectations, and operational inefficiencies — we are implementing AI solutions to optimize scheduling, resource allocation, and real-time decision-making. This initiative is rooted in actionable data and aims to ensure efficiency while reducing clinician burnout.
We’re not just adopting technology; we’re embedding it into the fabric of leadership and team collaboration. This includes AI-powered forecasting to predict patient flow and surgical demands, as well as continuous training programs to empower staff to maximize the tools at their disposal. The ultimate goal aligns with Becker’s mission to foster innovation and excellence in healthcare: delivering value-based care that balances efficiency with humanity.
This transformation isn’t about replacing people but enhancing their ability to deliver care. By embracing predictive technologies while prioritizing team empowerment, we hope to model how innovation can support both clinical excellence and sustainable operations. I look forward to sharing more insights at the Annual Meeting!
Darrell Bodnar. CIO of North Country Healthcare (Whitefield, N.H.): The biggest change we’re making in 2025 is driving systemwide alignment by centralizing leadership and standardizing processes and workflows across all affiliate hospitals. This shift isn’t just about structure — it’s about creating consistency, improving efficiency, and ensuring we operate as one cohesive system. By streamlining how we work together, we’ll enhance patient care, strengthen our HRO commitment, and build a more sustainable, high-performing healthcare organization.
John Goodnow. CEO of Benefis Health System (Great Falls, Mont.): While we have long provided nursing home care, assisted living, and dementia care within our health system, all of which care for seniors when they can no longer live independently, this year we are building a freestanding healthy aging center focused on keeping seniors well and able to live independently. A companion 2025 project will be construction of independent senior living housing.
With the ever rising percentage of 65+ population and with our state being one of the top six states for 65+ percentage of population, we feel this is an important need and we look forward to adding this to our continuum.
Judd Hollander, MD. Senior Vice President of Healthcare Delivery Innovation at Thomas Jefferson University Health (Philadelphia): We are excited about leveraging all of the new tools to dramatically improve access to expertise. After years of re-imagining, the pieces now exist to re-create. We are re-creating the patient experience and enabling improved high quality access to care for our expanded community. A same day/next day cancer program to get newly diagnosed outpatients care today or tomorrow, a virtual check out program to coordinate care for patients leaving appointments, and a comprehensive inpatient telemedicine program bringing expertise into the hospital room, when experts are not physically present are just a few examples.
Mohammed Quadri, MD. Vice President of Strategy, Academics, Research and Innovation at Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.): In 2025, Hackensack Meridian Health is launching a transformative initiative fueled by over $500 million in research funding over the past five years and the expertise of 2,600-plus researchers, investigators, and staff, along with 800-plus residents and fellows: building a robust, interconnected ecosystem to accelerate the translation of cutting-edge research into impactful healthcare solutions.
Recognizing the global digital health market's projected growth to $500 billion by 2030, HMH is prioritizing disruptive, sustainable, and efficiency-driven innovations. This involves: 1) Empowering physician leaders through focused development programs — like our second cohort of electives launching January 2025, "The Future of Health: Trends and Innovation" — emphasizing AI, quantum computing, and data-driven decision-making. 2) Strategically investing in these emerging technologies to drive breakthroughs in now-mainstream precision and preventive medicine, from wearables to nearables. 3) Creating a dynamic support system for entrepreneurs, including mentorship, resources, and streamlined commercialization pathways to translate promising discoveries into impactful startups, capitalizing on the accelerated drug discovery and burgeoning clinical trial landscape. This integrated approach will foster a culture of innovation, accelerate research impact, and solidify HMH as a leader in next-generation healthcare.
Tom Vasko. CEO of Newman Memorial Hospital (Shattuck, Okla.): This year’s strategic plan encompasses expansion into maternity health. While many organizations are closing or moving away from maternity services we are storming towards it. In pedigree hospital operations the mentality is the opposite. Complex challenges create havoc but also opportunity. As regional hospitals close their maternity services, we see this as a volume and geographic expansion opportunity across service lines including primary care and surgical services. In addition, the local economic impact to local rural communities is profound.
We will inject a maternity model that has yet to be implemented in Oklahoma. In co-authoring an Oklahoma State Bill (SB-222) alongside Senator Casey Murdock (R) which will provide capital to implement our solution for other Oklahoma hospitals to emulate is set to be voted upon next month. Key to organizational shift is ensuring novel thought, approach, and a tactical plan that is executable, accountable and measurable day-to-day. The momentum, continuance of success, and cultural buy-in across the organization and supporting communities is very palpable and will drive positive results. 2025 looks bright for Newman.
Mark Coticchia. Corporate Vice President of Innovation at Baptist Health South Florida (Coral Gables, Fla.): Further enhance our data extraction and analysis capabilities so that enormous quantities of data can be put to expert and productive use.
Rawle "Tony" Seupaul, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive of Carilion Clinic (Roanoke, Va.): In terms of what our No. 1 organizational change in 2025 is – we are assessing and modifying our organizational structure to reflect market dynamics, creating and strengthening partnerships, and investing in the growth of our academic success.
Deb Potempa, MSN, RN. South Market President of Parkview Health (Fort Wayne, Ind.): As a market president for community-based rural hospitals within a larger health system, we look for opportunities to support the system goals of growth, excellence and lower cost of care. In 2025, we are focusing on identified areas of excellence at each facility in our market to enhance performance and increase volumes. We will also strengthen collaborations with our community partners, employers and county health departments to expand preventive care programs and reduce the cost of chronic disease management. When supported to do so, our rural hospitals have the ability to significantly impact the cost and quality of healthcare in our country.
Vi-Anne Antrum. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Cone Health (Greensboro, N.C): The No. 1 organizational change we will be making at Cone Health is our Cone Health Strategic Vision 2030 which will be supercharged by our integration into Risant Health. Our strategy has six value plays: Partnerships; Workforce Development; Value-Based Care Institute; Distributed Care; AI and Technology; and How We Work & Lead. These six pillars will guide our organization over the next six years as we transform healthcare for our markets, our region, and the nation.
Nicholas Nussbaum, MD. Director of Medical Affairs and Community Services, Adams Medical Group at Adams Health Network (Decatur, Ind.): We are moving forward with ACO participation. That in and of itself is not in any way unique. However, we are attempting to do so without adding a single FTE for administration of the program. That is not flippant in any way--it is a long-planned and strategic decision several years in the making. We have intentionally built into workflows and staffing models the various aspects of data collection, reporting, etc., in such a way that quality, tracking, and reporting should be EVERYONE'S job, not just one or a few.
Ambitious? Yes. Crazy? Maybe – but 2025 will be the year we find out. Moving from the planning to the execution phase of the project will definitely be a change though, likely our biggest for 2025.
JP Valin, MD. Chief Clinical Officer of Intermountain Health (Salt Lake City): The biggest organizational change Intermountain Health is making in 2025 is aligning our entire system to a single electronic health record system – Epic. Following our merger with SCL Health in 2022, one of our key priorities for a successful integration was to unify our care delivery across six states, 33 hospitals, 400 clinics and our telehealth service. Our ultimate goal is to provide the same excellent care and seamless experience for our patients, regardless of where or how they are being seen. Our Epic alignment project will help us deliver on that promise.
Laura C. Duncan. Vice President of Ambulatory and Primary Care at Children's Nebraska (Omaha): We are preparing to gain operational efficiencies through co-designing role charters and instilling compassionate workforce development strategies. We aim for faster decision-making capabilities and project planning through realignments. We are growing intentionally with a bias toward action!
David Verinder. President and CEO of Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Health Care System: Along with breaking ground on our third acute-care hospital and celebrating our 100-year anniversary in 2025, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is moving forward this year with a much-anticipated, multi-year plan to replace over 80 standalone IT applications with Epic's fully integrated electronic health records platform. We are looking forward to the challenge and benefits Epic's platform will provide for patients, providers and our staff as we transition from our custom system to Epic’s enterprise platform.
Stephanie Weatherly, DNP. Chief Clinical Officer of Psychiatric Medical Care (Brentwood, Tenn.): This year Psychiatric Medical Care will begin to scale our adolescent behavioral health program, Embrace U, in response to the nationwide need for intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs designed for children and teens aged 10 to 18 who experience symptoms of depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health challenges. We want to bring Embrace U to areas of the country in need of a mental health program that provides more intensive treatment than typical one-on-one therapy while serving as a step below residential treatment.
Mark Chang, MD. Senior Vice President of CV Strategy and Transformation at Ballad Health CVA Heart Institute (Johnson City, Tenn.): A key initiative in our ongoing journey as a high-functioning, fully integrated service line will focus on governance structure and culture. We will stand up and codify a new governing body whose charge will be to oversee our strategic direction, organizational tactics and operational performance to ensure clinical excellence and financial sustainability. Early focus will address cultural elements that have historically hindered top level performance. Priorities will include foundational concepts such as better-defined leadership roles, clarified ownership and accountability, more effective and efficient communication tactics and increased commitment to cross-functional success. Reduced duplication and variation across our system while aligning tightly with our entire organization's mission, vision and values will remain our guiding principles.
John Q. Young, MD, PhD. Chair and Senior Vice President of Behavioral Health at Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.): We are improving access and quality by building a continuum of care organized around key pillars. These pillars include digital resources for self-guided care, embedding behavioral health within primary care practices, schools, and houses of worship, promoting top-of-licsensure care models, building new clinics, and making our intermediate levels of care more robust. These are all great initiatives. The secret sauce is getting these different parts of the continuum to hum, to function as a whole, leveraging each part. This is our primary goal for 25 (and likely beyond).
Greg Chasson, PhD. Associate Professor, Psychologist and Director of Behavioral Interventions, OCD and Related Disorders Clinic, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago Medicine: As a practicing psychologist in the area of cognitive-behavioral therapy in an academic medical center, I’ve been working with my hospital leaders to apply evidence-based behavior change principles and strategies to improve system innovation, efficiency, and quality. One of the most encumbering issues I encounter in the medical center is perfectionism, and it strikes across industries and disciplines. For example, when surgeons have patients open on the table longer than recommended because of perfectionism (e.g., excessive checking and ‘fixing”), it’s exceptionally dangerous for patient care and causes legal counsel tremendous distress.
Practitioners who get stuck procrastinating on note writing and closing encounters — because of needing to get the documentation “just right” or to avoid mistakes — cause substantial bottlenecks in third-party reimbursement and create liability for the hospital due to patients missing vital pieces of their medical record. Losing sight of the big picture, administrators who get lost in the details of budgeting and therefore miss deadlines cause substantial delays, disrupt cash availability, and ultimately cost the enterprise more money than whatever few dollars they were stuck trying to reconcile. Perfectionism is not your friend, and you can reduce its effect with evidence-based behavior change strategies that don’t disrupt the quality of work.
Cindy Russo. President of Insight Hospital & Medical Center Trumbull (Warren, Ohio): As our hospital was acquired by a new owner Nov 1, 2024, after having been given a notice of closure by our previous owner, the number one change we are making is transitioning to a new health system with a proven track record. There is much change still to be done, but we are thrilled that we can continue to provide care to the communities we serve and the individuals that need our care the most as we have for more than 115 years. We will use the lessons we have learned from the challenges we have gone through, and we will build upon the successes of our new company, Insight Health System, to ensure the health needs of the community are met. This will include closing the gap on needed services that had not been available before. We will also focus on prevention and wellness and eliminating the social determinants that are a barrier to these things. In 2025 we will “provide care that is second to none."
Cindy Bo, MBA. Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Boston Medical Center Health System: At Boston Medical Center Health System, we continue to optimize talent in different ways. It is not so much an organizational change as it is an organizational optimization. Our leadership team is constantly looking at how to optimize talent. For example, ensuring clinical team members are working at the top of their licenses. Another example is exposing talent to different areas so there is a cross-pollination of skills, competencies, ideas and learnings. The result is an optimized and engaged workforce. This optimization is a continuous evolution.
Matthew Ewend, MD. Chief Clinical Officer of UNC Health (Chapel Hill, N.C.): UNC Health is unique with its top-notch academic medical center, extensive faculty practice, and strong network of community physicians across North Carolina. Like many others, we're adapting to new patient expectations and a rapidly changing market. We aim to restructure our physician organization to better meet the needs of those we serve. Our goal for the next year is to create a unified physician group that combines both academic and community practices, making UNC Health the best place to give and receive care.
Stephanie Everett. Administrator of Mountrail Bethel Home; CEO of Mountrail County Medical Center (Stanley, Md.): The number one organizational change we will be making at the Mountrail County Health Center, is focusing on the external projects we have going within our teams. We will sit down together. Evaluate their worth and see if it is making a difference for us as a team, or more of busy work. We will then turn internally inside the walls and concentrate on Culture. Focusing on anything that needs to change for the embetterment of the campus and taking the steps to correct them. Growth is good, if it is done wisely and with character and integrity
Holly Lee. Vice President and Chief Audit Executive of Parkview Health (Fort Wayne, Ind.): As Parkview continues to grow and become more complex, the No. 1 change for the Internal Audit team is the focus on delivering strategic value through a holistic approach to risk management and by conducting fewer, more focused engagements. Given the numerous competing priorities facing healthcare leaders, Internal Audit must minimize inefficiencies and avoid unnecessary disruptions to operations. Achieving this requires meaningful collaboration with risk and compliance partners to understand how the various programs connect. This awareness will allow Internal Audit to identify key risk assurance gaps, opportunities, and areas of uncertainty that Internal Audit can bring value to. As we continue to evolve, Internal Audit must strive to be reliable, trusted, and collaborative partners, embodying the principles of servant leadership and delivering value-added, actionable insights that enhance the organization’s success.
Vernicka Sales. Chief of Population Health and Performance Services at Legacy Community Health (Houston): In 2025, we are committed to optimizing workflows and maximizing workforce efficiency to provide high-quality care to complex patient populations, even in the face of limited resources. Our focus is on leveraging Epic’s tools, such as Healthy Planet and Compass Rose, to integrate clinical pharmacist specialists, behavioral health experts, and social workers into care teams in a way that is both seamless and scalable.
By strategically using Epic technologies, we empower our teams to work smarter, ensuring their efforts are directed where they are most needed, while minimizing redundancies. These tools enable interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering better communication and coordination across care teams. This approach not only enhances team efficiency but also drives meaningful improvements in patient outcomes and overall organizational impact.
Jonathan Fialkow, MD. Chief Medical Executive of Value, Primary Care and Population Health at Baptist Health South Florida (Coral Gables): Our system is heavily predicated on inpatient , fee-for-service services and ambulatory transactional care such as urgent care centers, free standing ERs, imaging and infusion centers. All very much needed, of extremely high quality and very successful. I am leading efforts to coordinate and integrate the care delivery activities and designs in the ambulatory space, which is where patients spend much of their lives as opposed to in a hospital. IT requires a more holistic understanding of the ecosystem of healthcare delivery and the opportunity is to create understandings and identification of the multiple ways these actions/encounters can be leveraged by organizing and controlling them.
William Morice II, MD, PhD. President and CEO of Mayo Collaborative / Mayo Clinic Laboratories (Rochester, Minn.): The number one organizational change we are implementing is empowering our staff to make informed decisions aligned with our strategic priorities. It is essential that team members throughout our organization have a common understanding of what is most important for us to achieve our goals, feel confident in the decisions they can make to move us forward, and know that they will be supported in an environment of continuous learning. Keeping our patients at the center of all we do, and using this approach, which aligns with Mayo Clinic’s values, fosters a culture in which everyone feels like a vital part of the team.
Annie Thomas-Landrum, MSN, RN. Chairman of the Board of Sunshine Community Health Center (Talkeetna, Alaska): 2025 definitely holds a lot of opportunity for change in a variety of directions. Traditionally, our board has been very community-focused, and we have many amazing board members who reach out to the community on behalf of the health center on a regular basis. I absolutely love this focus. In becoming chairman of the board at the end of last year, I am excited to expand our focus as a board to include more state and national advocacy in 2025. As an organization, we are seeing some incredible outcomes. There is a real and urgent need to bring this success into arenas where our resources and interests can be protected and upheld. Our CEO has been doing an amazing job with this the last couple of years, and I am excited to add my voice to his in this effort. I think if our healthcare institutions are going to thrive going forward, we are going to have to look for new collaborations and new places to bring the needs of our patients and communities into the limelight.
Danielle Scheurer, MD. Chief Quality Officer of MUSC Health System (Charleston, S.C.): Our No.1 organizational change in 2025 is a substantial shift from fee for service to value based care. While our organization has been on an incremental journey for many years, we are strategically focusing on the people, processes, and technology that will accelerate the pace of change. This is for the good of our organization, and more importantly, for the good of our patients and their families.
Pranavi Sreeramoju, MD. Former Vice President and Chief Quality Officer: I see a lot of organizations reorienting themselves with respect to health equity and also embracing more artificial intelligence based technologies. In 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services required screening all patients for health-related social needs, and now the organizations have data on the needs of their patients that they have a responsibility to address using their own capabilities as well as by seeking out relevant community collaborations. Health systems are figuring out the best ways to approach the information generated by these data during a year of change in which the political climate is different from the years when the screening was implemented, and tuning themselves to the relative emphasis on health inequities and balancing them with their organizational values and priorities.
The increasing adoption of AI based technologies is expected and a result of natural evolution. More organizations are adopting AI based note writing technologies which are a game changer to reduce documentation burden on clinicians. Organizations are continuing to figure out how much and what components of AI to allow in their clinical practice, and increasingly accepting the tools while studying their impacts and potential blindspots. AI tools are also increasingly being used for data analysis and generating data summaries in many organizations.
James Newman. Vice President of Patient Logistics at Virtua Health System (Marlton, N.J.): In 2025, one of my biggest priorities is centered on implementing a comprehensive workforce planning strategy that bridges generational gaps and aligns talent development with our long-term goals. This includes tailoring recruitment, training, and retention efforts to meet the diverse needs of multigenerational teams, fostering collaboration and mutual respect. By leveraging technology and data-driven insights, we aim to create agile workforce solutions that anticipate future demands while empowering employees to thrive in their roles, regardless of their generational background. This approach will enhance both organizational resilience and our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes.
Thomas Maddox, MD. Vice President of Digital Products and Innovation at BJC HealthCare (St. Louis)/Washington University School of Medicine: At BJC, we serve every kind of community, from rural and suburban areas to large metro areas. In 2025, we are focused on our people and culture, clinical excellence, creating the ability to reinvest into our system, and finding new ways to broaden the value we bring to the markets we serve. In my role as the Innovation Lab leader, we will be focusing our innovation portfolio on testing how novel care delivery models, incorporating both technology and workflow redesign, can further these priorities.
Michael Prokopis. Vice President of Supply Chain at MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston): The University of MD Anderson Cancer Center's supply chain will continue to evolve, leveraging new technology to ensure efficient and effective inventory management. By deploying inventory management software paired with digital shelf technologies that combine computer vision with AI, we can achieve high accuracy. Adding consumption data to our projected, traditional inventory planning and allowing PARs and Perpetual Inventory locations, we can achieve unprecedented automation. Taking this approach, we can build a 12-18 month rolling demand plan, supported by real-time consumption data, enabling us to share purchase plans and shift the entire channel from manufacturer-driven to provider consumption.
Alexa Kimball. President and CEO of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston): The No. 1 organizational change we’re focusing on in 2025 is realizing the vision of our partnership with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Together, we are creating the region’s first dedicated cancer hospital, which will set a new standard for cancer care. This work begins with recruiting a significant number of physicians who will be essential in making our vision a reality. We’ve already developed multiple frameworks to streamline recruitment, onboarding, and integration across the network. These frameworks ensure departmental cohesion while enhancing physician support and well-being. Now, our focus is on efficiently executing this recruitment effort to meet the volume of hiring required, especially in today’s competitive talent landscape. To attract top talent and support workforce satisfaction, we’ll prioritize flexibility and autonomy for new physicians.
Nygel Williams. Executive Director of Physical Therapy Program at Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis): We’re leaning into our strengths and focusing on what we do well as an organization — it’s so easy with all the exciting innovations in healthcare from AI to the entry of tech companies into our space — to get excited and chase the “shiny ball.” We want to make sure that we’re keeping up with the trends, modernizing clinical operations and ensuring that we’re delivering the best possible care to our patients while not straying too far away from our mission and our value add. By delivering a clearly defined and quality product we can make sure we’re best reaching our community and delivering top notch care, all while continuing to grow and expand.
Ara Feinstein, MD. Physician Executive of Banner University Medical Group, Trauma Surgeon of Banner University Medical Center - Phoenix; Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix: In 2025, Banner Health is undertaking an enterprisewide commitment to becoming a High Reliability Organization by placing safety and quality at the forefront of our organizational culture. Through a collaborative partnership between clinical leadership, operations teams, and human resources, the organization has implemented a comprehensive HRO framework that touches every part of the health system.
A cornerstone of this initiative is Banner's dedication to continuous learning, exemplified by monthly enterprisewide educational sessions that reinforce HRO principles and provide opportunities for staff at all levels to engage with these concepts. These teaching sessions help create a cohesive understanding of safety practices and foster a culture where every employee feels empowered to speak up about potential safety concerns. The integration of clinical expertise with operational know-how and HR best practices ensures that HRO principles are woven into the fabric of daily operations, from bedside care to administrative functions.
Sandra Scott, MD. Interim CEO of One Brooklyn Health (N.Y.): A pivotal 2025 initiative to further system integration will focus on improving patient access by creating a centralized call center designed to simplify healthcare system navigation for scheduling and referrals. By providing a single point of contact for patients, we aim to reduce wait times, enhance care coordination, and streamline internal processes across our system. This initiative will remove barriers for both patients and staff, ensuring care is more accessible and efficient. The new centralized access center will lessen the burden on our emergency departments and provide the best healthcare outcomes for the communities we serve.
Kathy Kelly. Market CEO of Kindred Hospitals of Chicago: I am responsible for facilitating business growth by developing and maintaining contacts with current and prospective referring hospitals, community leaders and local organizations. Organizational changes I am leading to support growth are providing value-based care to include continuum of care with physician alignment with our referring hospitals in Chicago. With that comes a higher quality of care, increased outcomes and a positive patient experience and service excellence.
Expertise includes improving programs and services in this turnaround, restructuring and start-up of new operations through the building of strong leadership teams with a focus on service excellence, clinical quality/safety, physician alignment, open and direct communication and metric-based goals.
Daniel Hoody, MD. Chief Physician and Chief Medical Officer of Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota (Bemidji): Sanford Health has the bold strategy to become the premier rural health system in the country. The patients and communities we serve deserve nothing less, and our commitment is to deliver the best clinical outcomes, regardless of zip code. To achieve this strategy, in 2025 Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota is prioritizing speed to learning to improve clinical performance. The central strategy to accomplish this is through advancing high-reliability organizational principles, particularly through our SAFE program, which emphasizes relationship and reliability skills from frontline staff to leaders. Our goal is to advance a culture of "failing forward fast," encouraging teams to innovate and solve problems quickly. This approach will empower frontline staff to drive local change and contribute directly to strategic objectives, ensuring that every team member is involved in achieving the broader goals of the organization. Ultimately, the aim is to foster an environment where continuous improvement and innovation are at the core of Sanford Health’s operations.
Michele Szkolnicki, MEd, BSN, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (Hershey): In 2025, our primary organizational focus will be on fostering a resilient workforce as we continue to evolve into a more collaborative healthcare delivery system; fully maximizing the influence of our shared governance structure. We will enhance our staff's sense of purpose, mindset, and ownership through professional development initiatives that empower them to thrive in a dynamic environment. Alongside this, we will implement flexible methods to improve decision-making and encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration among clinicians, administrators, and support staff. We will enhance communication and feedback processes to improve patient engagement and satisfaction. By embracing this holistic approach, we are setting the stage for successful outcomes that will enable us to achieve our goal of providing exceptional care to our patients and maintain the highest standards of nursing excellence.
David Marcozzi, MD, MHS-CL. Chief Clinical Officer of the University of Maryland Medical Center; Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore): Dedicated to delivering safe, high-quality care, the University of Maryland Medical Center is embarking on an important journey to become a High-Reliability Organization, in alignment with the guidance of our University of Maryland Medical System. This comprehensive initiative includes: (1) a formal educational campaign focused on HRO principles and just culture, (2) the streamlining of complex, matrixed processes and committee reporting structures to enhance decision-making and efficiency, (3) conducting employee engagement surveys followed by actionable plans to address identified challenges, and (4) the assignment of dedicated HRO coaches to support unit-level adoption and drive cultural transformation. We are confident that these actions and others we have begun will enhance our efficiency and help us achieve UMMC’s primary goal of Zero Harm.
Patricia McClure-Chessier. Chief Healthcare Executive Leader of Streamwood (Ill.) Behavioral Healthcare Hospital: In 2025, the number one organizational change at SBHS will be the implementation of an electronic medical record. This technology will provide improvements in patient safety, treatment, accessibility, efficiency, equity, and hospital operations. Most importantly, the technology will enhance the overall patient-care experience.
Alon Weizer, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Mount Sinai Medical Center (Miami Beach, Fla.): At Mount Sinai Medical Center, in Miami Beach and throughout our 11 locations, we are continuing to transform the way we care for patients by leveraging our electronic medical record and incorporating new technology and artificial intelligence to promote standardization, patient engagement, patient safety, and optimal outcomes. As one of only 7 hospitals in Florida to be named to the 2025 Newsweek World’s Best Smart Hospitals, we continue on a journey to transform the care we provide by incorporating technology through careful evaluation and oversight. Our goal is to operationalize these tools to enhance the patient care experience while driving high-value care.
These center around three major themes:
- Patient Engagement: Patient engagement improves outcomes by ensuring timely access to healthcare. While patient portals have been around for a long time, we have leveraged our high adoption of the portal to promote timely and effective communication and information for our patients. This extends across the continuum of care in our organization from the clinic to the hospital and back. We are constantly evaluating additional technology to promote the engagement of our patients in their health and strengthen our relationship as a trusted partner.
- Supporting Our People: Often the incorporation of new technology adds to the burden of our physicians and staff as they must learn new systems and workflows in addition to the daily work that they continue to perform. A guiding principle in our organization for technology and incorporation of AI is how this addition will impact our people. Use of natural language processing and ambient listening have been implemented to decrease the administrative work of our people to allow them to focus their efforts on patient care. Implementation of central monitoring units and virtual nursing allow us to support our frontline teams to care for patients while ensuring that all the necessary processes and documentation are completed. At the same time, we review best practice alerts, order sets, and other documentation to eliminate what is no longer valuable and update tools to optimize their effectiveness.
- Improving Quality and Mitigating Risk: Our clinicians face an enormous challenge. They must juggle more patients who are increasingly more complex. Every day there are new devices, tools, and software that claim to improve care and outcomes. Given the constrained resources every hospital and health system face, we partner closely with our physicians/clinicians to evaluate each request balancing innovation with value. A critical component of this is monitoring metrics to evaluate the impact on quality, safety, and patient care of new technology. In addition, we have developed tools within our electronic medical record to allow clinicians to track incomplete or cancelled tests to ensure patients are getting the recommended care that they need.
Jeremiah Kirkland. President and Chief Operating Officer of Bethesda Butler Hospital and McCollough Hyde Hospital, TriHealth (Cincinnati): In 2025, the No. 1 organizational change that I'm focusing on is improving the patient experience through consistency in our leadership and frontline team member performance. Our work this year to hardwire the best practice elements of communication, rounding, patient safety, cleanliness and exceeding the expectations of our patients.
This organizational change will not only improve patient care but also position healthcare organizations as leaders in a rapidly evolving industry, ultimately leading to better health outcomes and increased patient satisfaction.
Sowmya Viswanathan, MD. Chief Physician Executive of BayCare Health System (Clearwater, Fla.): BayCare Health System’s physician enterprise is on a remarkable growth journey across our system. Our focus is on enterprise growth.
The population has expanded tremendously in our region (West Central Florida) over the past two to three years. We have to ensure we are recruiting and maintaining the absolute best physicians to care for our patients. Delving into various physician alignment strategies to match the healthcare demand in this region is our top priority. The strategies would include the following:
- Creating a physician recruitment pipeline - by exponentially growing our graduate medical education (residency) programs.
- Clinical institutes - Continuing our investments in brick-and-mortar footprint to expand patient access points while coordinating services through clinical institutes models.
- APP integration - recruiting primary care and specialists into our wide geographic region while integrating advanced practice providers into practices, where applicable.
- Innovation and technology – Leveraging AI powered tools and supportive technology to enhance operational efficiencies to optimize care delivery.
Todd Schaffer, MD. President and CEO at Sanford Bismarck (N.D.), Sanford Health: In 2025, Sanford Bismarck’s top priority is strengthening our culture of service to build on the patient experience improvements we’ve achieved over the past three years. Despite challenges like workforce and capital shortages in healthcare, we remain focused on providing exceptional, patient-centered care while upholding the highest standards of safety and quality. By prioritizing our patients’ needs and expectations, we aim to reduce barriers to access and foster trust. We are deeply grateful to our dedicated care teams, who fulfill our mission daily by delivering high-quality care in America’s heartland.
Jason S. Fish, MD. CEO of Yale Health (New Haven, Conn.); Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine, General Medicine at Yale School of Medicine: We are focusing on enhancing both patient and employee experiences. We understand that the well-being of our patients is deeply connected to the satisfaction and engagement of our employees. To this end, we are prioritizing the advancement of our technological infrastructure, specifically through the strategic integration of artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies. Our goal is to drive efficiencies that allow our staff to dedicate more time to delivering compassionate care and support. By fostering an environment where employees feel empowered and valued, we can ensure they provide the highest quality of service to our patients. Ultimately, our focus is to rekindle the passion for service, both to our colleagues and to those we care for.