The hospital C-suite in Minnesota last year was slightly less volatile than hospital executive offices across the country.
 
Some 14 percent of hospital CEO positions in the state turned over in 2016, according to the new data released by the American College of Healthcare Executives. The hospital CEO turnover rate nationally was 18 percent.
 
The national hospital CEO turnover rate of 18 percent matched that in both 2015 and 2014 and is down from a peak of 20 percent in 2013. The lowest hospital CEO turnover rate recorded by the ACHE was 13 percent, which occurred in both 1990 and 1983.
 
“Our data indicate that the elevated CEO turnover rates over the past several years have become the norm,” said Deborah Bowen, the ACHE’s president and CEO, in a prepared statement.
 
Bowen cited hospital consolidation, new models of care and retiring Baby Boomer executives as factors contributing to the elevated hospital CEO turnover rate.
 
“This rate of change in hospital and health system senior leadership teams underscores the importance of those organizations having succession plans to successfully managed C-suite changes,” Bowen said.
 
The 14 percent rate in Minnesota last year is down from 16 percent in 2015. It peaked at 19 percent in 2009, the first year the ACHE began releasing state-level hospital CEO turnover data.
 
The District of Columbia notched the highest hospital CEO turnover rate in 2016 at 67 percent. Delaware recorded the lowest with just 2 percent.
 
The ACHE adjusts its CEO turnover rate to account for the different number of hospitals operating in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Minnesota has 145 hospitals, according to the Minnesota Hospital Association.