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 physician-executive search really demands
- Clinical credibility and executive leadership in the same person, the rare combination
- Physician engagement and medical-staff leadership that actually holds
- Command of quality, patient safety, and regulatory and accreditation oversight
- Value-based-care and clinical-operations fluency
- Service-line and academic-medicine depth where the role calls for it
- The judgment to tell a strong clinician from a leader who can run the enterprise
Representative engagements
Representative, anonymized examples. Details and locations changed to protect client and candidate confidentiality.
- A multi-hospital system had tried for a year to unify clinical operations across its sites. We placed the Chief Clinical Officer who finally pulled it together.
- A fast-growing hospice and post-acute organization was outrunning its physician leadership. We placed a Chief Medical Officer who caught it up.
- A de novo behavioral health program needed psychiatry and medical-director leadership from day one. We found and placed it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a CMO and a Chief Clinical Officer?
A Chief Medical Officer typically leads medical staff, quality, and physician strategy, while a Chief Clinical Officer often carries a broader mandate across all clinical operations, including nursing and allied health. The titles vary by organization, and we scope the real mandate before the search.
How do you find physician executives who are not actively looking?
Most exceptional physician leaders are in seat and not on the market. We reach them confidentially through the leaders who have worked with them, not through job postings.
How long does a physician executive search take?
A retained physician-executive search typically runs 30 to 90 days, depending on the specialty and the confidentiality required.
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