Dual Gender Mix Strengthens Community Trust
If a board of directors is supposed to reflect the diversity of the community it serves, the healthcare industry is leading the way, maintaining a higher percentage of female board members than any other industry.
Women comprise 13 percent of healthcare boards. Among boards of all industries, the average number of female members is 9 percent, according to a new study by Korn/Ferry International, a Los Angeles-based international executive search firm.
Healthcare organization boards are expected to maintain their lead, as 27 percent of healthcare respondents say they plan to add women to their boards, according to the study of 903 Fortune-listed companies, including 30 of the nation's largest healthcare organizations.
Female representation on boards is increasingly essential to the image of healthcare organizations as the community, government agencies and legislators place them under greater scrutiny to deliver balanced medical services.
Having a healthy gender mix at the board level also communicates the right top-down message to employees, particularly at hospitals, where women comprise a significant percentage of the work force, says Jim Gosky, director of media relations at The MetroHealth System in Cleveland.
Throughout its 162-year history as the only public hospital in the Cleveland area, women have commanded a significant presence on MetroHealth's board, usually comprising half of the seats. Currently, three of MetroHealth's 10-member governing board are women.
There is no mandate, however, to maintain a certain gender mix, says Donna A Kelly Rego, who joined the board last year.
Kelly, who is a nurse and health educator, contends that while no board can afford to be blind to issues of diversity, its higher responsibility is to cultivate relationships with different pockets of the community which will produce balanced board leadership. MetroHealth achieves this through the board's Community Partners program, reaching out to community leaders including educators, attorneys and politicians.
A Matter of Perspective
On the managed care front, where women are not as firmly established on boards as they are at hospitals, the female perspective is key, especially in designing coverage benefits. At Regence Blue Shield of Idaho, women have eked out a presence in the last three years, taking two of the 13 board seats. Since women are considered primary healthcare decision-makers, it's important that they have a governing board role, says Mary McFarland, a Regence's board member. The board has strategic responsibilities for increasing the health plan's enrollment growth, customer satisfaction and accessibility, so participation by women ensures that dual perspectives are considered.
This is particularly important when board members have to make decisions on controversial medical issues where a gender bias exists. A current case in point is the ongoing legislative push to mandate insurance coverage for the impotence drug Viagra, while no similar mandate requires insurance coverage of contraception for women. It's critical that women be a part of the health plan's decision-making process about such policies, says Georganne Benjamin, assistant VP of communications at Regence.
Community Accountability
When two hospitals merge, board diversity that reflects gender and minority involvement can go a long way toward earning public confidence. This became the board goal for the newly created Palmetto Health Alliance in Columbia, S.C., formed last year from the merger of Richland Memorial Hospital and Baptist Hospital.
Before the merger, the two boards were not on the same diversity page. Richland, as a county hospital, always had women on its board, but at Baptist, where board members were appointed by the local Baptist Convention, all board members were white men.
During pre-merger meetings, the two boards agreed that their merged identity needed to include women and minorities, says Kester S. Freeman, Richland's CEO. The 15-member board now includes two women and four African-Americans.
"We wouldn't have been able to get community support [as a merged entity] without showing a diverse face," says Judy Cotchett Smith, Palmetto's VP of corporate communications.
(Korn/Ferry, Ed Mullen, 310/556-8531; MetroHealth, Jim Gosky, Palmetto Health Alliance, Judy Cotchett Smith, 803/435-6512; Regence Blue Shield of Idaho, Georganne Benjamin, 208/798-2280)
Wanted: Female Executives
Demand for female board members far exceeds the availability of qualified executives because of the limited number of women in CEO or other top-ranking positions, reports a new study by Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm in Miami. Healthcare organizations that make a conscious effort to have women on their boards reap huge image dividends, including:
- Increased community trust and credibility;
- Strong philanthropic and religious ties; and
- An ability to articulate women's and children's health needs.
(Spencer Stuart, Shawn Robinson, 305/448-7450)