by Christopher Cornue

Nick Jacobs recently wrote about what he will miss as a hospital CEO and, like most of you, I enjoyed reading about his final thoughts as he leaves his current role.

At the same time Nick is leaving his CEO role, I've had the opportunity, as some of you may know, to start a role as CEO. In September 2008, I started as the CEO of a hospital in Colorado. Now, I've read up on the "First 100 Days" literature, planned an approach to those first few days, and worked to identify what my leadership will look like. Still, while all of this has been done with the best intentions, no amount of preparation can adequately prepare one completely for assuming a CEO role.

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As I started the role, I had four things I wanted to accomplish:

1) Meet as many members of the hospital staff, medical staff and community as possible.
2) Understand and assess the strengths of the institution.
3) Complete my leadership team, and
4) Provide a framework about what the institution will be in the next 18-24 months, based upon my assessment, the market, and the feedback from as many employees and physicians as possible.

So far, I've held five town-hall style meetings that were open to the employees, spent time in the physician's lounge, rounded on all the units, met with key individuals in the community and talked to several folks who had an opinion (both positive and negative) about my hospital. The process has been extremely exciting, rewarding and informative! I also spent the first 45 to 60 days observing much of the ongoing operations of the hospital.

In retrospect, I think that was an excellent strategy to pursue. Still, not everything came up smelling like roses; there were some unexpected positive outcomes, as well as significant bumps in the road that impacted the overall process.

More to follow in my next posting.