Hospital Administrator/CEO

What is a Hospital Administrator?

A hospital administrator oversees all of the operations necessary to run a hospital. The hospital administrator will manage the financial aspects of the hospital as well as a staff of anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand people.

Day to Day Tasks

• • Liaise with external entities such as regulatory bodies, the press, the community and scientists
• • Direct and coordinate departments to formulate specific goals and to reach organization-wide goals
• • Set budget goals, costs for service and direct fundraising¹

These tasks may vary depending on the company or type of facility that you work for:

TeamHealth in Nashville, TN: you would assist in solving problems related to physician complaints and hospital/physician contracts, financial issues, coding and billing issues, operational issues and recruiting issues²

Surgical Care Affiliates in Flower Mound, TX: you would effectively recruit new physicians and physician groups to the center as both owners and utilizers ³

Catered Manor Nursing Center in Long Beach, CA: you would develop and supervise all department heads to ensure that they develop and execute, quarterly business and performance plans to achieve department business goals⁴

Becoming a Hospital Administrator/CEO

Since this is a management position, many years of experience in the healthcare field may be required. Usually a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree is necessary. This job involves working with outside parties, and it may be necessary to work directly with customers. Therefore, strong customer service skills are important. Computer proficiency is important, in order to be able to communicate, create reports and perform various types of research.¹

Career Outlook

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), hospital administration is projected to grow 23 percent by 2022. The average annual salary for health services managers such as hospital administrators was $103,680, with the top 10% of professionals earning at least $161,150 a year.⁵ Payscale.com found that earnings for hospital administrators in the United States come in at around $96K per year on average. Pay generally varies between $48K and $177K per year; the largest paychecks include approximately $25K from bonuses and almost $12K from profit sharing.¹

In 2015, CNN Money named hospital administrator as number 5 of the top 100 careers with big growth, great pay and satisfying work.⁶

Learn More

If you are interested in pursuing a career as a hospital administrator, you should learn more about degrees in healthcare administration.

Resources

1. What am I worth? (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2016, from http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Hospital_Administrator/Salary
2. Hospital Program Administrator. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2016, from http://www.careerbuilder.com/job/J8Q27G73RSKJ4BXZN56?ipath=JRG1
3. Administrator (Texas Health Orthopedic Surgery Center). (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2016, from http://www.careerbuilder.com/job/J3H38G6QC933WTHDK91?ipath=JRG28
4. Administrator/Executive Director - Catered Manor Nursing Center. (2016, July 14). Retrieved July 18, 2016, from http://www.careerbuilder.com/job/J3K7B36L20N5PNB9SN8?ipath=JRG48&searchid=5f40cafa-e3ca-4bd0-a7f8-674a778120b8&siteid=cbnsv
5. HospitalAdministration.org. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2016, from http://hospitaladministration.org/average-salary-for-hospital-administrators/
6. Hospital Administrator. (n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2016, from http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/2015/01/27/best-jobs-2015/5.html