Resource Library

New positions are being created in and outside of health care that are dedicated to the care and management of boards. These positions report to the office of the president and often have a dual-reporting relationship to the chief executive and another member of senior management, such as the chief of staff.

A board that engages 100% of its membership results in effective governance.

While continuing to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, hospital and health system boards can use this experience to strengthen leadership, engagement and trust.

Up-to-date, clearly written and concisely constructed bylaws can support oversight of current performance and enable an organization to nimbly confront challenges to its viability.

The governance challenges raised in the post-Enron environment are motivating many boards and their general counsels to draft new board policies and tighten up existing ones.

This is a sample committee charter: people and culture committee.

In most professions, there are clear and relatively consistent pathways along one’s career continuum, as well as clearly defined experiential and educational requirements. Not so with health care governance staffing, which ranges from board support provided by a CEO’s assistant all the way to a comprehensive governance support staff led by a senior vice president/chief governance officer.

Some 66 percent of U.S. hospitals are now part of health systems, according to 2016 survey data from the American Hospital Association. As systems continue to grow in scope and complexity, their governance often follows suit.

The role of the board is to govern, not manage, the organization. To that end, the board carries out four roles.

From time to time as provided in the bylaws, the Board may designate the Vice Chairperson as a Chair-Elect. In such cases, the Chair-Elect’s responsibilities go beyond the usual role of a Vice Chair to lead the board in the Chairperson’s absence. The responsibilities of a Chair Elect include...