The past year has had a fair share of healthcare CEOs decide to call it a career, particularly among the sector’s lobbying and advocacy groups.
Organizations' announcements, either shared earlier this year or in late 2024, pointed toward a range of reasons for those retirement decisions—most commonly a desire to spend time with loved ones or an acknowledgment that the time had come to pass the torch.
However, it’s hard to deny that the outbound executives closed their years with some unusual curveballs.
The early 2020s brought a global pandemic that upended operations, spiked costs and placed healthcare topics in the national spotlight. 2025 heralded a new political and policy landscape that many have said is difficult to predict. And on the horizon, organizations couldn’t waste any time in preparing for sweeping headwinds from the summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and an aging population that will test a healthcare system already stretched thin.
This year’s dozens of retiring healthcare CEOs oversaw these challenges while preparing their successors and organizations for the latter. Those at the multihospital system or organization level who have stepped down, or will step down with the start of 2026, include:
- José Almeida, Baxter
- Owen Bailey, University of South Alabama Health
- Mary Jo Cagle, M.D., Cone Health
- Ed Curtis, Memorial Health
- Gregory Deavens, Independence Health Group (parent company of Independence Blue Cross)
- Timothy Dentry, Northern Light Health
- Michael Dowling, Northwell Health
- Liz Dunne, PeaceHealth (effective Jan. 3)
- Pat Geraghty, Guidewell and Florida Blue
- Brian Gragnolati, Atlantic Health System
- Jeff Graham, Adena Health
- Robert Grossman, M.D., NYU Langone Health
- Tim Hingtgen, Community Health Systems
- Mike Hulefeld, Ochsner Health
- Joseph Impicciche, Ascension
- Tom Kleinhanzl, Frederick Health
- Richard Liekweg, BJC Health System
- Tom Miller, UofL Health
- Bryan Mills, Community Health Network
- John Murphy, M.D., Nuvance Health (now merged with Northwell Health)
- Steve Purves, Valleywise Health
- Robert Ritz, MercyOne (effective Jan. 2)
- Candice Saunders, Wellstar
- Michael Young, Temple Health (effective Jan. 2)
Of note, several major industry associations also had CEOs who have chosen to retire:
- Ann Mond Johnson, American Telemedicine Association (ATA)
- Charles “Chip” Kahn III, Federation of American Hospitals
- James Madara, M.D., American Medical Association
- Rick Pollack, American Hospital Association (announced)
- Bruce Siegel, M.D., America’s Essential Hospitals
Fierce Healthcare caught up with three of these association CEOs—Kahn, Mond Johnson and Siegel—to hear some final thoughts on their careers, leading a major advocacy organization and the lingering challenges facing healthcare.
Fierce Healthcare: What experience—education, mentorship, projects, conversations or otherwise—played the greatest role in shaping or advancing your career?
Charles "Chip" Kahn III: I was fortunate through my entire work life to have a number of mentors who really taught me the ropes on Capitol Hill, in the association business and about health policy generally. I think having that kind of guidance really enabled me to achieve a lot over the last 40 years.
Ann Mond Johnson: I was incredibly fortunate to work with Michael Sachs early in my career. Michael was a visionary, a smart risk taker, and generous. I learned the importance of these things: listening to your customers, focusing on client growth and retention, creating insights instead of providing data and working with smart folks to make their products impactful. Michael embraced the strategy of skating to where the puck was going, which led to smart decisions about changing a business model in anticipation of market changes. He believed that the next person he hired had to be smarter than the last person. Coming from Michael, that was a high bar, but it reflected his commitment to strong and capable colleagues. Michael died too young, but he taught me, and many others, the importance of making a difference.
Bruce Siegel: I took a chance in my last year of medical school and created my own elective working for Sen. Ted Kennedy. My classmates thought I was crazy. But suddenly I felt like I had discovered what I was looking for; I saw that policy could make a profound difference in people’s everyday lives.
FH: Could you share a particularly tough challenge you faced during your tenure, and the lesson you took away from it?
Kahn: I’ve had many challenges in my career, both in the associations I’ve worked for as well as on Capitol Hill. I think the greatest probably occurred in 1995 as staff director on the Health Subcommittee on [the House Ways and Means Committee], as I played a central staff role in the formulation of the Balanced Budget Act of 1995’s Medicare provisions and other healthcare provisions. I had to face double-digit grueling hours before the Ways and Means Committee defending the bill for the Republican majority, and that focus in the arena probably was at least the most stressful—if not the most difficult—couple of days in my entire professional life.
The key lessons I took away from that experience was you’ve got to prepare and be ready in the policy process to answer the unexpected as well as the expected when you’re challenged. And you’ve got to keep your cool under pressure because—it’s a cliché, but you never want them to see you sweat. As a staff person, describing a bill and responding to the members on both sides of the aisle, you’ve got to maintain that authoritative position and have the kind of credibility that the people you work for expect you to have.
Mond Johnson: I joined the ATA in 2018 and was a neophyte when it came to policy and regulation—and then the pandemic hit. It was an unprecedented time for all of us, and I was in deep, unchartered waters. Grant Chamberlain, one of our board members at the time, and who today remains a friend and colleague, counseled me to seize this unique moment in time. He posited that we could make telehealth a permanent modality of care if we advocated for specific waivers and flexibilities. Grant ensured that we didn’t let a serious crisis go to waste (paraphrasing Rahm Emanuel). Today, the ATA and ATA Action’s impact on policy and advocacy are the result of the lesson I learned from Grant.
Siegel: Standing up for the 340B program was a constant focus, especially as the idea of the discount was created at our organization. You have to keep telling your story again and again. Persistence can be painful, but it pays off.
FH: What do you think is the top issue facing healthcare today that the next wave of executive leadership needs to prioritize?
Kahn: Issues of coverage and cost go hand in hand. It’s critical path to ensure that all Americans have the kind of health coverage they need to make healthcare affordable, and to give them ready access to the services they require.
Mond Johnson: The issue we face—not just in healthcare—is the lack of trust and disinformation. Closely tied to that is an absence of civil discourse. We need to build skills to engage in civil discourse so we can overcome mistrust and disinformation.
Siegel: The erosion of trust in institutions and experts has already taken a huge toll on healthcare. Executive leaders cannot hide; they need to be visible and engaged. And that means actively listening and getting rid of corporate-speak.
FH: What's the practical management advice you’d give to your successor and others taking the reins at healthcare organizations across the country?
Kahn: Whether it’s a healthcare organization or any kind of trade association, the members and the member interests come first, and you’ve got to be focused on their agenda like a laser beam. That’s job one. Second, to best serve them, you have to be strategic and smart, but you also have to develop the kinds of relationships … so that when it comes time to form coalitions, to work with others to make things happen, you’re the kind of leader that has the right connections and is strategic to bring interest to bear.
Siegel: It’s going to be a bumpy road for you but also your teams. As a leader you need to be a shock absorber for them, not a shock creator.
FH: What should healthcare leaders be doing right now to plant the seeds of long-term success for their organization and the industry?
Kahn: There’s a lot right about healthcare in America as well as many challenges and issues. I think it’s incumbent upon those that represent American healthcare to focus policymaking on improvement—to make the public-private partnership we have in healthcare as good as it can be. There are many naysayers that talk about a system out of control. In my view, they’re missing the forest for the trees, and what we should be doing is thinking about how to improve and build on what we have, rather than take any turns—either to the right or the left—that could undermine the kind of care that Americans expect and deserve.
Siegel: Focus on efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. Our industry lags in productivity. Today’s care models won’t be sustainable in a leaner future unless we redesign and take full advantage of technology.
FH: If you could wave a magic wand to enact any piece of healthcare policy, what would it be and why?
Kahn: Well, in the short run, we need to extend the enhanced premium tax credits under our exchange system so that the [Affordable Care Act (ACA)] coverage can remain affordable for many Americans. And, in the longer run, we need to take that combination of public and private coverage that’s available through Medicare, Medicaid, the [ACA] exchanges, private employer coverage, and make sure that there is sufficient policy so that all Americans in the mixed system have the kind of comprehensive coverage they need to protect their health security.
Mond Johnson: If the magic wand could allow us to bypass the confusion and mistrust people have, then I’d immediately harmonize regulations with technology and close the gap between the two. We have an insufficient healthcare workforce, a crumbling physical infrastructure and growing demand for services. The only path forward is technology-enabled healthcare. Well intended but poorly crafted, outdated regulations, or a patchwork of regulations (that vary by country and by region and state) pose real threats to people everywhere.
Siegel: An official federal designation that defines what is an “essential hospital.” Without it, we simply do not know how to focus resources on those organizations that are living the mission. The lack of a designation leads to scattershot policies that don’t serve those who need help.
FH: What is your advice to healthcare leaders looking to make a real impact on health equity and access to care?
Kahn: I think we have a coverage framework that, when enabled, can meet the needs of access and [the needs of] those who suffer from health disparities. But to maintain that, there’s got to be a recognition that cost growth has to be curbed, and we’ve got to find ways to do that without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Mond Johnson: My advice is to embrace the technology we have, to reimagine how care is delivered. With the challenges noted in my previous response, stakeholders must better understand the digital readiness of communities they serve. This includes the digital skills of citizens as well as the digital infrastructure of the community itself. We know that the digital infrastructure is more than the presence of broadband. If we want to ensure the digital infrastructure can step in when the physical infrastructure is not available, we have to ensure that connectivity is available and citizens have the devices and the skills to engage in and improve their health.
Siegel: We are living through the backlash to a huge social justice movement that accelerated during the pandemic. This has happened many times in the history of a country that has always been diverse. Stay the course, because without equity we cannot regain trust or achieve quality breakthroughs.
FH: What book (or podcast, television show or other media) is at the top of your retirement reading list?
Kahn: I think that Daniel Kahneman, who won a Nobel Prize, is one of the most insightful thinkers around. I’ve been reading “Thinking, Fast and Slow” because it’s just given me tremendous insight. You’re never to old to learn new ways, and to try to gain a better perspective. That’s what I’ve been reading lately, and it’s given me a lot of food for thought.
Mond Johnson: My husband and I love to travel; our next trip is to SE Asia. In preparation, we’re reading several books and watching movies that give insights into the history of those countries. In our travels, we’ve learned that we were not aware of the full role the U.S. has played in many countries. Some of those details have been surprising. It’s an opportunity for us to get smarter about global history and dynamics.
Siegel: The third season of “Severance” of course. What will life be like after my “innie” is retired? Stay tuned!