For any organization to thrive and achieve its set goals, appropriate leadership strategies should be applied. Leadership principles are applicable in all organizations including healthcare institutions. In the healthcare industry, leaders work under pressure to implement certain changes to deliver the highest quality and cost-effective services (Roussel, Swansburg & Swansburg, 2006).
This paper compares some of the approaches that Catholic Healthcare partners and Trinity Health. Catholic Healthcare Partner (CHP) is one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the U.S. It is located in Ohio, and it is the leading institution within the state in terms of providing health services.
The institution ranks number four in providing employment within the state. It was formed through a series of mergers with local and regional healthcare providers. It has expanded and serves Ohio and neighboring states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and several others. At its formation, the organization had some of the most talented employees.
However, the new leaders were not familiar with the work processes and the bureaucracy created by mergers. The same problem applied to the top executives who could not learn the level of talents and abilities of the employees at the local level. The need for a systematic approach to the leadership of the institution, CHP, decided to establish a leadership academy.
The academy was established to harness prospective leaders and develop their skills, directing them to fit these abilities in a system-wide outlook. The CHP leadership model embraces certain basic elements (National Center for Healthcare Leadership 2010). Funds are continuously allocated to the program.
The strategy used is that all funds are provided from the central corporate office and not the regional subsidiaries, which may disenfranchise some of the regions. Secondly, selection of prospective leaders is very thorough such that only a few (28 every year) of the very best quality.
The twenty eight leaders are selected from a field of nearly a thousand individuals and are tested on communication and the capability to see what others overlook among other skills. Thirdly, the competency based curriculum is a system where CHP can assess the best skills that are needed by the organization. Fourth, focus is put on real-world, action-learning ventures.
This means that teams do not work on general topics, but rather in the areas that are of key concern to the health industry. Other strategies that are applied include periodic face to face encouragements and support even after graduation (National Center for Healthcare Leadership 2010).
The second organization is the Trinity Health. It is sponsored by the Catholic Health Ministries and is number four in the U.S. within the Catholic Health System. It is a large organization that employs over 47,000 employees and operates forty seven hospitals. To manage their workload and deliver quality services, the institution has sought to change the culture of the organization.
This has been done by implementing a set of development programs targeted at various levels of management. The key elements at Trinity Health include the fact that senior executive management is very committed to the program. This is done by highlighting the importance of leadership development in their communications to the stakeholders.
Secondly, just like at CHP, funding is intense and done through the central corporate office. Thirdly, there are certain programs tailored for leaders at each level. Fourthly, Trinity incorporates the training of physicians in their leadership academy. Managers and junior directors are allowed to participate in the program.
There is strategic leadership that is done by teaching leadership strategies that will suit a certain problem. Furthermore, just like CHP, the Trinity goes further to offer training even after training (National Center for Healthcare Leadership 2010).
To reform these health systems, the health care industry has no choice but to invest in good leadership. Some of the leaders in the industry have developed leadership academies that seek to impart the best practices. It is clear that the leadership models in the academies are pretty much similar.
References
National Center for Healthcare Leadership (2010). Best Practices in Healthcare Leadership Academies. White paper: National Center for Healthcare Leadership
Roussel, L., Swansburg, R. J., & Swansburg, R. C. (2006). Management and leadership for nurse administrators. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett.