Trends in Interim Healthcare Leadership 

Leadership in healthcare is important. Hospitals and medical facilities, although they may have a corporate structure, are much more than businesses – and the leaders who steer the ship are responsible for a lot more than money. The decisions they make have the potential to affect people’s lives in a very real way.  

Turnover in the healthcare field has been a problem hiring managers have faced for a long time. And the COVID-19 pandemic threw gasoline on the fire, as more and more healthcare professionals left the field as the pandemic wore on. This exodus extends beyond the nursing assistants and surgical techs all the way up the ladder to leadership positions – and that’s why interim healthcare leadership has become more important than ever.  

Let’s take a closer look at interim healthcare leadership and the way the pandemic affected it. We’ll also discuss current and future trends in this space, as well as what your organization can do to find top interim talent in today’s challenging labor market.  

What is Interim Healthcare Leadership? 

First, let’s take a moment to define what interim healthcare leadership is. It’s just what it sounds like: temporary supervisory or leadership within a healthcare organization. In most cases, a facility needs interim leadership help when it is undergoing a shortage or a change in leadership. Perhaps a manager has been terminated, or promoted to a new position. Or, a staff member could be out on maternity leave or another type of planned or unplanned absence.  

In today’s job market, interim healthcare leadership is used more and more because of staff shortages. Those shortages can be blamed in large part on the pandemic, but we’ll learn more about that in a moment.   

What Are the Benefits of Interim Healthcare Leadership? 

It’s easy to see the benefits of interim healthcare leadership. Healthcare organizations cannot function properly without the right leadership structure in place. If that structure is suddenly upended, either from staff shortages, terminations, or absences of some kind, things can start to go awry. Interim leaders are able to keep teams, departments, or entire organizations on-track for operational objectives and fiscal goals, ultimately improving patient outcomes and satisfaction.  

The best interim healthcare leaders are able to step in, quickly assess the needs of an organization especially in the face of staff shortages, and put action steps into place to resolve challenges and keep objectives on track. Medical facilities can also use interim healthcare leadership roles to evaluate individuals for permanent positions in the future. 

Another benefit of hiring an interim healthcare leader is keeping up staff morale throughout an organization. High turnover rates influence morale, and losing a leader is no exception. Bringing on an interim leader can help staff adjust, and it increases trust in the organization as a whole. 

How Did COVID-19 Affect Interim Healthcare Leadership? 

Healthcare leadership has long been a challenge for hospitals and healthcare systems. Filling critical vacancies has been difficult for some time, but the pandemic only exacerbated this. With record numbers of nurses and healthcare personnel leaving the profession because of burnout, filling vacancies became harder than ever. Not only did interim leaders have a big challenge on their plate, but organizations have also continued to have a difficult time finding qualified interim leaders themselves. 

Before the pandemic, C-suite leaders were focused primarily on problems like rising costs and financial challenges, government mandates, patient safety, and access to technology. Cybersecurity and data privacy issues also continued to be a big concern. All of those issues didn’t disappear when the pandemic started – they were compounded upon. Once COVID hit, the challenge became supporting and maintaining quality care teams and, on a larger level, improving profit margins during a challenging time. 

What Are Some Current Trends in Interim Healthcare Leadership? 

Now that vaccines have rolled out across the world and we are well past the lockdown stage of the pandemic, we can see some other trends emerging when it comes to interim healthcare leadership.  

Interim leaders need to be highly adaptable problem-solvers. 

If there’s one thing that the pandemic taught us, it’s that leaders of any type – including interim healthcare leaders – need to be able to adapt quickly and be expert problem-solvers. Leaders need to be able to not necessarily predict future uncertainties, but adapt to them when they come. We’re all navigating the post-pandemic world together, but someone at the top has to be the one making decisions and steering the organization in the proper direction. Interim healthcare leaders are in a unique position to do just that.  

Demand remains high. 

Interim healthcare recruiters continue to see a high demand for interim healthcare leaders as we continue to move past the pandemic. The effects of COVID-19 are still being felt in the healthcare world, not only in terms of case numbers but in burnout. Nurses and even healthcare leaders are leaving the profession in record numbers, or turning to things like travel nursing for better wages and more flexible schedules. So, for many facilities, there is still a gap in the leadership that needs to be filled. That’s especially true as elective surgeries come back and operating rooms reopen.  

Many interim leaders have taken permanent or long-term roles. 

Finding interim healthcare leaders that are qualified, available, and willing to take on the job is harder than ever. One reason for this is that many interim healthcare leaders who are interim leaders professionally – that is, they perform interim work as the sole focus of their career in order to implement change and deliver results for facilities – have settled down with one facility. Many interim leaders, whether due to the uncertainty of the healthcare climate or the demand, have chosen to take on long-term contract or permanent roles with facilities. This further drains the pool of qualified and available interim healthcare leaders.  

What Can We Expect in the Future? 

Clearly, COVID-19 had a big impact on the healthcare field in general, and the importance and demand for interim healthcare leaders. But as we continue to move past the pandemic and navigate a post-COVID world, what can we expect to see in this space as time goes on? 

Demand will remain high. 

There’s no doubt that demand for capable interim healthcare leaders will remain high. Remember: before the pandemic came around, healthcare leaders were dealing with a plethora of issues at their facilities, including lack of funding, technology difficulties, cybersecurity concerns, and more. Those things never went away – they’ll still be there once the pandemic is well and truly over. And the need for interim leaders to address these concerns will remain, too.  

We’ll see a continued focus on culture. 

Another trend the COVID-19 pandemic helped to bring upon us was the increased focus on organizational culture and diversity efforts. Expect this to continue as time goes on, even when the COVID-19 pandemic is a far-distant memory. The culture of any healthcare organization is of the utmost importance, and it’s up to leadership to see it through. Interim healthcare leaders will be responsible for making sure facilities are transparent with their employees, and push diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B) efforts to make sure everyone is welcomed and appreciated.  

Interim leaders may be younger. 

Demographics impact leadership in a big way. And we’re currently seeing the Baby Boomer generation retire at record rates, with nearly three million retiring in 2020 alone and more expected to retire in the coming years. This will undoubtedly affect healthcare leadership including interim leadership – the executives that organizations select to fill their leadership roles may not share the same values as their predecessors, and they may approach leadership itself slightly differently than the previous generation. It remains to be seen exactly how younger healthcare leaders affect change at their organizations, but it’s a safe bet that change will come. 

Turn to Merraine Group® for Your Interim Healthcare Leadership Needs 

Do you need a temporary or interim leader at your organization? Not every executive search recruitment firm specializes in this area, and you want to be sure you work with someone you can trust. That’s where Merraine Group® comes in. Rely on our interim healthcare recruiters for your hiring needs in the C-suite or for other leadership and management roles. We’re the proven leader in healthcare executive recruitment that your organization can trust.  

Get in touch with the recruiting experts at Merraine Group® to learn more about our services and get started.