On February 5, the College of Health (COH) hosted the fourth installment of the 2025-26 Population Health Colloquium Series, “Transforming Healthcare through Leadership.” Dr. Patricia Stephenson ’78, P’08, former medical officer, Cigna Healthcare, moderated a panel of distinguished regional healthcare leaders: Doug Hock ’82, executive vice president and system chief operating officer, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); Audrey Meyers, CEO emeritus, Valley Health System; and Richard A. Anderson ’77, president and CEO of St. Luke’s University Health Network. The Colloquium Series celebrates the first cohort of students in the Integrated Business and Health (IBH) program, a joint offering of the College of Health and the College of Business, which trains students to become leaders in the health industry.
Stephenson asked the panelists to describe their professional career journeys. After receiving her MBA, Meyers joined Valley Health System’s planning department, followed by roles in operations and management. She ultimately spent her entire 45-year career with the system, with 25 years as president and CEO. She said that strategic planning provided a great introduction to the system early in her career, as well as access to all levels of leadership, trustees and members of the medical staff.
Hock’s career path, on the other hand, was less straightforward. After graduating from Lehigh with an accounting degree, he worked in public accounting and found he enjoyed working with clients in healthcare. This interest led to an accounting role with Texas Children’s Hospital. A later opportunity to lead the business office, which managed billing and collection for patient services, offered exposure to the operations and mission of the hospital. Hock shifted his ambitions from being a chief financial officer to a chief operating officer; he received his MBA and landed the role at CHOP in his hometown of Philadelphia.
Offering advice to the students, Hock said, “Don’t always think about career growth as being a promotion. Sometimes it is a lateral assignment that helps broaden your experience. Be prepared to take a path that maybe wasn’t part of your plan because it might take you on a different journey, but one that can be just as rewarding as the one you thought you were going on.”
Anderson also did not have a straightforward start to his career. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in community health, Anderson pursued a career in healthcare at the recommendation of his professors. Despite having no professional experience, he was accepted into a Master of Public Health program with the University of Pittsburgh. Early in his career, he was told he was too young for leadership roles, and as a result, he “bumped around a few jobs, recognizing that you’ve got to take different jobs to move through the chairs of leadership,” he explained.
He worked for a small hospital in western Pennsylvania, took a job as the CEO of a small hospital in the Pittsburgh area, then moved to Staten Island for a new opportunity, before coming to Bethlehem in 1985. After two months in Bethlehem, when his hospital merged with St. Luke’s, he was offered the position of president. He is currently the longest tenured healthcare system CEO in the United States.
Stephenson described the healthcare landscape, noting U.S. healthcare expenditures approached $5 trillion last year, accounting for more than 18% of the country’s gross domestic product. She asked the panelists to describe their roles as CEO or COO of their healthcare network and how they are meeting current challenges.
Hock shared that because CHOP is a mission-based organization, they are constantly striving to be living up and moving towards their mission. Not only is he involved in the development of strategies that are designed to support that mission, but he is responsible for ensuring that that work moves forward appropriately as well.
“The key to this is having a great team working for you,” Hock explained. “In addition to having the team in place, it’s then creating the conditions, the culture and the approach to ensuring high quality services are being delivered, our care is safe, and a great patient and family experience.”
Anderson described the mix of organizational values, or ingredients, to mix into “your secret sauce” for success in this industry.
“You need talented and experienced leadership, a good organizational structure, financial stability and an appropriate use of resources,” he said. “You need momentum, and that’s built through success. And sometimes failures; your failures don’t define who you are. They help you become better. You have to have a good strategic plan. Then you have quality, cost and service. You’ve got to have some passion.”
Meyers shared that the role of the CEO is to set the strategic vision with the board and to ensure the organization’s operational and financial success. “You’re serving as the primary leader that engages in external and community relations. This is a very highly regulated industry, so you’re making sure that you’re compliant with all state, federal and CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) regulation. Being a leader is not done in isolation. It is working with and motivating people towards a common mission, vision and shared values.”
The panelists described ideal skills or competencies for healthcare leaders: authenticity, responsibility, an awareness of strengths and weaknesses and a willingness to take initiative. Meyers identified resiliency and the ability to navigate adversity as an especially important trait. They noted the incredible potential for AI to improve efficiencies within the industry. While the MBA degree is recommended for healthcare leaders, aspiring leaders can also be successful by first excelling in their fields early in their career, before moving up into management.
Offering closing thoughts on how to get to the C-suite, Anderson recommended joining an organization with good character and values. “Money is not the most important thing. It’s about being around good people, and then the monetary rewards will come.”
Hock added one final leadership competency that is necessary for today’s challenging healthcare environment: “Managing well-being is one of the things that we should keep in the forefront of our focus, because that’s essential for us to be able to lead.”
Join us on March 5 for the next installment of the Population Health Colloquium, “Understanding Healthcare Finance Today,” as we explore the economic forces influencing healthcare systems today and what they mean for access, quality and sustainability.
