Dr. Holly Boyer: Executive Leadership in Health Care

Congratulations to Dr. Holly Boyer, who recently completed the Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH) program. ELH is a prestigious, year-long fellowship intended for women in mid-career to senior-level leadership positions in U.S. and Canadian health systems to enable women leaders to bring their full potential to health care organizations. 

Dr. Boyer had previously applied to the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program when its leaders contacted her to consider the new ELH program. The ELH program emerged in response to the increasing number of female academic faculty entering leadership positions in hospitals and clinical practice.  

The ELH program curriculum shares many critical aspects with ELAM but is intended for people on a more clinically-focused leadership path. About 75% of the curriculum focuses on honing leadership skills needed to solve problems in both academic and health care settings. The remaining 25% is geared toward health care finance and the specific nature of practice optimization, contracting and hospital-related issues. 

“Some of the simulations around health care finance were just fantastic,” shared Dr. Boyer. “We were asking so many questions, and we were all hungry to learn how other health systems were doing it. Where were their successes?” The focus was incredibly timely, given that COVID continues to impact so many institutions financially.

“The quality of the breadth of the training is exceptional,” shared Dr. Boyer. She added that the program provided an excellent opportunity to learn from successful leaders and underscored that there are different pathways to leadership. ELH is also a tremendous networking opportunity for participants to develop and sustain beneficial professional relationships. Dr. Boyer expressed her gratitude to the Dean’s office for sponsoring her and to Dr. Bevan Yueh for his ongoing support.  

Learn more about the ELH program here.