The Fall issue of Great Boards ( at www.GreatBoards.org ) looks at two corporate governance trends that are now emerging on boards of not-for-profit hospitals.
Chief Governance Officers. Many corporations are creating a Chief Governance Officer position, at an executive or managerial level, to plan and coordinate governance activities, monitor legal and regulatory requirements, and be sure that the board gets all the information it needs to fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities. Sparked by Sarbanes Oxley and other requirements for increased governance oversight, 75 percent of Global 500 companies will have a CGO by 2005, estimates one expert interviewed by Great Boards.
Some health systems are also creating high level positions to plan and coordinate governance work. Although not always called CGOs, these individuals go well beyond the traditional board support provided by the CEO's executive secretary.
Great Boards looks at Chief Governance Officers in both private companies and several health systems to learn what they do and why their work is becoming so valuable. We also examine how the practice could be misused to facilitate board meddling in operations.
Directors' Rounds. Home Depot's board members are required to make visits to stores to get first-hand feedback on company operations. Directors at Exempla Healthcare in Denver do the same at their facilities, shadowing a nurse and learning about the real-world problems facing the staff. CEO Jeffrey Selberg applauds the practice.
Great Boards looks at how these and other organizations have structured directors' rounds and visits to develop a better informed and engaged board.Thanks to the many Great Boards subscribers who contacted us with examples of how they have either created positions akin to the Chief Governance Officer or have instituted a practice of board rounds or visits. We couldn't use all the examples you volunteered, but your information helped convince us these trends are real and worthy of consideration.
Board-CEO Relationship. The Fall issue also includes a best practices checklist for building a sound relationship between the board and CEO. The practices address what both the board and the executive can do to promote a relationship of collaboration with accountability.
The summer issue of Great Boards looked at best practices for CEO selection and also at how Heritage Valley Health System in western Pennsylvania became a paperless board by implementing a secure Internet portal for trustees. Read this or other past issues of the Great Boards newsletter at www.GreatBoards.org. Just click on Newsletter and Past Issues, or use the Google search box to find a topic you want.
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Barry S. Bader, Bader & Associates
12225 Seline Way, Potomac MD 20854, 301-340-0903
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