About the Position of Chief Executive Officer and Associate Vice President

Reporting to the university’s vice president for medical affairs/dean of the Carver College of Medicine, the next CEO will serve as a key member of UI Health Care’s executive leadership team.

The CEO will establish a vision for UI Hospitals & Clinics and will lead and navigate the complexities of the $2 billion clinical enterprise in support of all aspects of the tripartite mission. The CEO will also be responsible for developing a strategy for regional and state-wide growth to best serve their patients and communities. The CEO will build a strong internal leadership team that will be focused on efficiency and performance excellence in quality, finance, physician alignment and patient satisfaction.

The CEO will work collegially and collaboratively with all health care stakeholders including collegiate Deans and department chairs, UI Physician (UIP) faculty practice plan leadership, University of Iowa leaders, and other key stakeholders. The CEO will develop and maintain strong working relationships with the UI Health Care governing board, the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, and their teams.

The successful candidate will bring broad executive leadership experience within an academic health system or major teaching hospital and a commitment to academic medicine. They will have well-established strategic, fiscal, management, and communication skills along with a genuine passion for outstanding, progressive patient care, education, research, and public health.

Key Relationships

Reports to: Denise Jamieson, MD, vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean, Carver College of Medicine

Direct reports

Christine Bacharach, chief compliance officer

Emily Blomberg, chief operating officer

Theresa Brennan, chief medical officer

Joseph Clamon, UI Health Care associate vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, interim chief strategy officer

Kimberly Hunter, chief nurse executive'

Rachel Maassen, medical chief of staff

Amy O'Deen, senior associate director

Christine Thiriet, chief marketing and communications officer

Melissa Whisler, interim chief administrative officer, UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital, and administrative chief of staff, UI Hospitals & Clinics

Mark Wilson, associate hospital director for graduate medical education

Other Key Relationships

Clinical Department Chairs
Capital Management and Facilities Planning
Compliance and Privacy
Finance
Health Care Information Systems
Health Parity
Human Resources
Legal
Marketing and Communications
Affiliated hospital leaders
Community partners, government leaders, alumni, and donors

Key Responsibilities

Ensure the mission and vision are directly reflected in a meaningful and practical strategic plan that contains measurable goals and operational objectives.
Cultivate an ethical and transparent working environment, such that the system operates in compliance with the Joint Commission, ACGME, state and federal law, and business partnerships.
Optimize operational efficiencies to provide the highest quality of safe and appropriate care.
In conjunction with the executive leadership team, establish and oversee an organizational structure that provides guidance and oversight to meet the strategic goals of the organization.
Work with the Dean/VPMA and other senior leaders to establish an effective communication strategy throughout the organization.
Create and support a culture of collaboration and integration that ensures excellent patient care, improved patient satisfaction, a safe employee and patient environment, and fosters innovation and creativity.
Collaborate with the faculty of the UI Carver College of Medicine and other health sciences to enhance the clinical research and education environments while maintaining alignment with patient care initiatives.
Control expenditures (in accordance with the budget plan) and report status periodically to the VPMA, university leadership, and the Board of Regents.
Openly support policies and practices that recognize the importance of recruitment and retention, development, diversity, and talent management to ensure the leadership required for a successful organization.
Create and support a system that is highly focused on population health, quality/safety, education, research, and patient/consumer satisfaction.
Serve as Co-Chair of the Clinical Systems Committee and participate on the UIP Board.
Ensure financial strategies are in place that take into consideration the market and fiscal forces at the state, regional and federal levels to achieve and maintain strong financial health.
Study the market—from traditional and non-traditional competition, risk-based contracting, health care reform, Medicaid/Medicare issues—and inform the appropriate constituents of the effects, as well as the plans to respond to potential threats and seize opportunities.
Sustain an environment of continuous quality improvement for clinical, service, financial, operational, management, and patient satisfaction.

Desired Outcomes

The CEO is responsible for exceptional performance and outcomes of the clinical enterprise. A representative list of high priority desired outcomes is presented below:

In collaboration with the Dean/VPMA and leaders across the organization, define a dynamic vision for the future of UI Health Care by propelling strategic growth in key service lines at all sites of care in a way that enhances patient care.
Provide an astute financial perspective. Create accountability for the clinical enterprise; build a team that is financially rigorous and growth oriented.
Drive strategic growth and define what the clinical footprint and populations served looks like, including addressing rural health needs.
Bring a systems mindset. Ideally, this candidate will bring ideas and best practices from another organization that has been innovative and thriving in terms of its evolution to one to two sites of care to a multi-site system of care.
Build collaborative and effective relationships with key leaders across the University of Iowa. Actively recruit top-tier talent for key clinical and lay leadership positions.
Identify opportunities for partnerships, joint ventures, alliances, and other creative approaches to meeting the health needs of the population in Iowa to further the growth of UI Health Care's clinical networks.

Candidate Profile

The CEO position requires an individual with exceptional leadership skills and experience who can direct a large and complex medical, academic, and business enterprise. This leader must have the ability to work effectively with a broad range of stakeholders, including local and state officials, Iowa’s congressional delegation, university leaders, and faculty and staff.

Ideal Experiences

Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible leadership roles in academic health care
- Experience as a successful senior executive in a large, sophisticated, and complex academic health system with a regional and/or national reputation for excellence.
Demonstrated commitment to delivering health care to a broad group
- Record of commitment to and successful impact cultivating a culture of inclusive health care.
Demonstrated experience with enterprise growth and expansion
- Ideally through joint ventures and community partnerships.
Excellent financial and operational track record
- Proven ability to understand and influence the key factors within the management of a complex health care organization.
Experience in a metrics-driven culture
- Resulting in sustained improvement in financial performance, patient satisfaction, and quality.
Experience in unionized environments preferred

Educational Requirement

An appropriate undergraduate degree with an advanced professional or terminal degree or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

Critical Leadership Capabilities

Acting Strategically

Committed to a vision for health system transformation in Iowa as a model for the country
Leverages the existing and developing assets of UI Health Care to advance all elements of the mission
Demonstrates strong mentorship and supporting teams that leverage individual skills for collective outcomes
Establishes teams with whom delegation and accountability result in the successful achievement of superior patient care, efficient and innovative operations, and strong financial results.
Relentlessly pursues excellence

Collaborative Leadership

Fosters collegial relationships with faculty providers, nationally prominent academic figures and physician leaders, diverse management teams, community organizations, state and local government, unionized staff, and residents
Partners effectively and productively with other Iowa leaders, health system representatives, existing and potential internal and external collaborators, faculty, staff, students, trainees, and other supporters
Builds trust and respect at all levels of the medical school and health system and being viewed as a balanced, fair, and supportive leader able to articulate and implement a broad, inclusive, and aspirational vision
Can navigate and lead in a highly matrixed environment
Recognizes the power of being a part of a larger university

Leading People

Develops the capabilities of under-represented team members
Mentors staff and leaders to support their career development
Gives employees access to stretch assignments to develop them
Leads the transition to value-based health care through interactions with clinicians, payors, and other health care stakeholders
Motivates individuals, empowering them to initiate projects or strategic objectives on their own, and supporting them in ad hoc and formal leadership roles

Other Personal Characteristics

Excellent communication skills and demonstrated interpersonal skills that allow for openness, effective problem resolution, and ethical decision making
Deep understanding of the tripartite missions of an academic medical center, and the importance of each
Comfortable working in a transparent, public entity, setting, and communicating well with governing boards and university leaders
A proactive relationship-builder with strong diplomatic skills and dynamism
Relationship-driven, collaborative, and a unifier
Strong emotional intelligence, empathy, and equanimity
Entrepreneurial and creative spirit; can make tough decisions that balance the tri-partite mission UI Health Care
Clear and concise communicator
Patient, flexible, and resilient
Leads by example (humanity, integrity, fairness, kindness)