Who we place
Why boards and PE partners choose us
- We reach the leaders who aren't looking. The best executive for your seat is running someone else's right now. We bring them to you, confidentially.
- A senior specialist runs your search. Your seat is handled by a senior consultant who focuses on exactly this specialty, under our US healthcare Sector Head. Not a junior associate and a database.
- Healthcare is all we do. We know the difference between a clinician with a title and a leader who can run a P&L and a medical staff.
- Retained means all-in. We commit the full team to one search and stay until the right person signs. Most of ours close in 30 to 90 days.
- A global bench behind a local search. ISG runs in 50-plus countries with 1,200-plus partners, so no leader is out of reach.
What a health-system CHRO search really demands
- Workforce strategy and labor planning at board level
- Executive leadership development and succession
- Physician and clinician engagement, not just corporate HR
- Culture transformation and employee experience
- Compensation, executive rewards, and labor relations
- Direct healthcare operating experience, which boards now insist on
Representative engagements
Representative, anonymized examples. Details and locations changed to protect client and candidate confidentiality.
- A health system in the middle of a major affiliation needed an HR leader who could design the combined organization. We placed the CHRO who led it.
- A board needed to replace its CHRO quietly, without unsettling the workforce. We ran a confidential succession and placed a strategic partner for the CEO.
Frequently asked questions
What does a health system look for in a CHRO today?
Today's health-system CHRO is a strategic partner on workforce, culture, and cost, not an administrative HR lead. Boards want a leader who can shape labor strategy and executive talent.
How do you handle a confidential CHRO succession?
We run the search blind while the incumbent is still in seat, sharing candidates on an anonymized basis until the timing is right.
Do you support leadership integration after a merger?
Yes. Much of our CHRO work is tied to affiliations and mergers, where leadership design and integration are as important as the hire itself.
Meet your search partner
Lee Fossey leads the US Healthcare Executive Search practice for ISG Americas, with a team of senior consultants each focused on a specialty, so your search is run by someone who lives in that corner of the market. Across nearly three decades in search, the practice has helped hospitals, health systems, and private-equity-backed platforms place the leaders who change their trajectory, and on the global ISG platform that reach extends to more than 50 countries. Lee would rather have one honest conversation about your search than send you a proposal.
Book a confidential call with Lee →Have a seat open?
Every week a leadership seat sits empty, it costs you momentum, money, and the board's confidence. One confidential call, and you will know quickly whether we are the firm for your search.
Book a confidential call