Celebrating Women’s History Month: Women in Executive Healthcare Leadership
Although women outnumber men in the healthcare sector, that contrast shifts in executive leadership positions. According to a McKinsey & Co. report, “Women in healthcare: Moving from the frontlines to the top rung,” women represent about 66% of entry-level healthcare positions. Yet, the percentage of women in executive-level positions, including the c-suite, hovers around one-third.
Women face some of the same challenges that BIPOC professionals have when they get a seat at the table: not being taken seriously, the pressure to overcompensate to prove their competence, and trying to network among predominately male peers.
We were proud to have two amazing women on our 2022 Perioperative Power List: Claudine Hoppen and Terri Freguletti. In addition to talking about the challenges of leading massive health systems during a global pandemic, they shared their journey as they rose to one of the highest levels in healthcare leadership.
Claudine Hoppen, Vice President of Surgical Services, Henry Ford Health System
Is there an event or opportunity that launched your career in executive leadership?
I can’t pinpoint a single event, but my driving force was a desire to contribute from both a clinical and operations perspective. It was also about not seeing a reasonable representation of clinical-focused female leaders at the healthcare industry’s top levels. This seems to be improving, but we’re not quite there yet.
How has the pandemic changed your leadership style?
I have learned how to step back and start to think of how I can take a problem or situation and become more productive with it. How do I engage different skill sets that I didn’t know I had before the pandemic? It’s all been a learning process, and I think we’re all the better for it. Something positive always emerges out of adversity, and the situation we’re in right now is no different. All leaders have had to learn how to leverage different staffing models or use space creatively to care for COVID patients. It’s been tiring, but this experience has bred better leaders.
Have you found that women in your position must change their leadership methods after becoming executives?
Absolutely. We’re not at the parity level yet. There is a brilliant quote from Chamath Palihapitiya where he says, “Half the population of the entire world is women, and people are somehow shocked that this entire half is just as capable as the other half.” Up and coming female leaders have to quickly learn the balance of leaning in and speaking up with the ability to step back and listen to their staff. I think female leaders tend to do a better job listening because we’ve had to do that to keep rising through the ranks.
What do you love about your job?
The ability to identify a problem, followed by the ability to effectuate change.
Terri Freguletti, Vice President of Perioperative Services, Hackensack Meridian Health
Is there an event or opportunity that launched your career in executive leadership?
I tried several areas of nursing and didn’t feel anything was a match for me until I got into the OR. I loved the teamwork, and I had a very good mentor that enabled me to climb up the ladder.
How has the pandemic changed your leadership style?
I think it’s required a lot more energy and effort. Zoom meetings go late into the evenings and sometimes happen on weekends. I like to do one-on-ones, rounds, and hear what people think so I can come up with solutions that work. Keeping that up requires extra hours, but making that people connection is part of my success as a leader.
Have you found that women in your position must change their leadership methods when they become executives?
There is still some sexism in the medical industry. Most of the frontline workers are women, yet the highest senior executives and physicians are mostly men as you go up the chain. As a woman, I think you have to know how to read the room and get your point across, sometimes in a softer manner. That direct, in-your-face approach isn’t going to work depending on who is in the room. As you become known for being honest, have data to support what you’re saying, and your ideas have worked in the past, your latitude gets a little better.
What do you love about your job?
I love that it is teamwork to the max, on steroids. You are never by yourself when you work in an OR. You are surrounded by a team, which really led me to the OR. It’s an amazing place to work.
Carisa Brewster
- Optimizing Perioperative Precision: Integrating Skills, Training, and Best Practices
- Adapting and Thriving: Talent Retention in the Post-Pandemic Workplace
- Perioperative Power List 2024: Lou Bottoms - Patient Care Director for Perioperative and Procedural Areas, Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA
