White Papers

Top Nine Reasons to Engage a Skilled Interim Leader
by Doug Smith, MBA, MHA
The second in a series of Interim Leadership white papers. Interim leadership is a proven solution for many challenging situations in the healthcare setting. This white paper will cover the most common reasons a healthcare organization hires an interim leader, as well as the considerable return on investment such a leader can deliver. 

Interim Leadership Services
by Doug Smith, MBA, MHA
In spite of the challenges it presents, a leadership void doesn’t have to be a liability. Rather, it is an ideal opportunity to leverage a skilled interim leader who will take the organization to the next level.

Risk-Proof Your Interim Leadership Hiring Process
by Ilah Stolz, RN, MS and Terri Mujica, MA
Interim leadership and consulting is a growing trend in healthcare leadership staffing. Healthcare organizations are increasingly turning to contracted professionals to fill short and long-term gaps in key leadership positions. What many healthcare executives do not realize is that if an interim leadership or consulting arrangement is structured improperly, it can expose a healthcare organization to considerable financial, legal and organizational risks.

Hospital Leverages Interim Leader to Fill Critical Gap
by Colleen Chapp, RN, MHA, MSN, FACHE
For Harris Regional Hospital, the unexpected resignation of the Emergency Department manager came at a critical time. The department was gearing up for a renovation that would add six exam rooms. At the same time, staff were making a concerted effort to maintain recent gains in ED patient satisfaction. An interim leader stepped in to address the major issues confronting this department and put a plan into action that would place the group on a path to success.

No Need for Short-term Pain to Achieve Long-term Gain
by Tim Morgan, BSN, MBA
Faced with a major workforce shift as the result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Slidell Memorial Hospital needed an OR director who could step in and help maintain Slidell's record as one of Louisiana's top hospitals for patient safety, as well as develop a strategic plan for the long-term. Based on a recommendation, Slidell looked into an alternative it had never tried: interim leadership. The goal was to stabilize its respected OR while also moving it forward during a careful search for a permanent OR director. 

Interim Leaders Are a Stabilizing Force
by Julee Thompson, RN, MSN, MBA
Stability in leadership is key to delivering solid performance and measurable outcomes in operating margin, market growth, employee satisfaction, and patient satisfaction at any hospital. William Beaumont Hospital in Troy, Michigan, wanted to preserve its stellar reputation for healthcare after two directors with 50 years' experience between them left key leadership positions in the Emergency Department and Surgical Services.

Effective Leadership through Changing Times
by Julee Thompson, RN, MSN, MBA
Leaving nurse leadership positions open for too long can create serious morale and productivity consequences for the entire organization. In this white paper you will learn how a major healthcare organization, Sutter Medical Center, solved their leadership challenges with the use of an innovative interim leadership program as part of an overall management strategy.

How to Survive Your Next Hospital Leadership Crisis
by Doug Smith, MBA, MHA
Hospitals have been struggling with staffing shortages for quite some time now. Even major media outlets have focused on this crisis in our healthcare system. At the same time, however, a related problem has been simmering that has not received the attention it deserves. The growing shortage of hospital leadership talent is an erupting crisis for our nation’s hospitals and will be a significant challenge for many years.

Maintaining Full Magnet “Force” Through a Leadership Vacancy
by Ilah Stolz, RN, MS
One of the marks of a top nursing organization is a strong belief in the importance of leadership, especially in hospitals that have achieved or are seeking Magnet™ status. Because leadership is so important to the Magnet vision, leadership gaps caused by exits or retirements can pose a real threat. When faced with a leadership gap, most hospitals focus exclusively on finding a permanent replacement. Recently, however, many Magnet-level hospitals have discovered a successful alternative strategy—Interim Executive Consulting.

Stand in the Gap
by VHA Alliance
It’s no secret that healthcare faces a critical staffing crisis, but what doesn’t get a lot of press is that it has become increasingly difficult to fill executive-level roles, quickly. As a result, leadership vacancies have become more and more difficult for hospitals to fill by themselves, and extended gaps in filling those open positions can lead to big problems.

The Right Fit, Temporarily
by Ilah Stolz, RN, MS
Many hospitals and healthcare systems are faced with an increasingly common staffing dilemma: They need to fill a key management position as quickly as possible with the best candidate available. In the past, options for filling a position were narrow. Today, executives have an additional strategy at their disposal, which buys them the time they need to find the right person for the job: hiring experienced Interim Executives Consultant to give leaders some breathing room as they go through the hiring process.