Board Development

For a hospital board to be effective, it must first be engaged. Specifically, board members must actively and productively participate in the work of governing. This is absolutely vital in today’s health care environment, which is full of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.
Whether a board’s starting point is average performance or mediocrity, the journey to the top echelon of governance effectiveness cannot be achieved with a few quick steps. Board development is more like a marathon than a sprint.
The tools that follow lay out a framework to assist you in that thinking and planning process with a focus on the competencies of individual trustees.
It would be hard to disagree with the notion that board development is essential to effective trusteeship. Anyone who has sat on the board of a hospital or health system knows that health care is recognized as one of the most complex sectors.
Are You Prepared to Meet Today’s Governance Challenges? Serving on a community hospital or health care system board in today’s challenging environment takes more than the desire to fulfill a fiduciary duty.
In some boardrooms, the topic of education for trustees elicits yawns, groans or even downright resistance. This may explain why findings from the AHA’s Center for Healthcare Governance 2014 National Health Care Governance Survey indicate a decline in every type of board education since the last…
A successful governance education process requires commitment, collaboration and consensus. Below is an outline of how a board of trustees may design a process that will ensure optimum development of leadership knowledge and effectiveness...
Great health care boards primarily focus on enabling their organizations to create innovative solutions that address community needs for improved health and well-being. They also address regulatory, competitive, resource and other challenges that sometimes may seem daunting, but these do not divert…
Much has been written about the resources that hospitals should provide their board members to develop their governance expertise. Generally, a good orientation to the board’s work, educational sessions at board meetings, an annual retreat, periodic attendance at outside educational programs and…
The AHA’s 2011 Governance Survey shows that good governance practices continue to take hold among hospitals and health systems. Driven by powerful economic pressures and stringent legal requirements to be visionary, strategic, diligent and independent, boards are applying various “good governance”…