Health Care Leaders: Join Us for a Virtual Crisis Management Crash Course

Health care executives put out small fires every day: balancing budgets, handling staffing shortages, communicating with stakeholders from the break room to the board room. But even the most poised leader can feel overwhelmed in the face of an unforeseen challenge.

Today’s health systems are facing pressures on nearly every front, making crisis management skills in the C-suite more important now than ever.

That’s why Newsweek is convening a panel of experts for our upcoming webinar, Crisis Management: A Crash Course for Health Care Leaders. The conversation will be livestreamed on Thursday, February 13, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT via StreamYard. Health care leaders are invited to register for free at this link.

You’ll hear directly from some of the nation’s health care luminaries who can speak to the financial, digital and human aspects of crisis management at a provider organization.

Our expert panel includes Dr. Robert Pearl (former CEO of Kaiser Permanente, clinical professor of plastic surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business), Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips (chief physician executive at Press Ganey), Chris Berger (senior vice president, communications at Advocate Health) and Andy Puterbaugh (president of hospitals and health systems at Teladoc Health).

This panel will prepare top leaders for emergent situations, addressing what to look out for in the year ahead, and how to deal with disaster before and after it strikes. Following the moderated discussion, attendees can partake in a question-and-answer session with the panelists.

Many industries are returning to baseline after the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted operations. But health care executives remain in a constant state of adaptation. The pandemic exposed deep vulnerabilities in the health care system—and although that acute crisis has passed, new ones have continued to emerge.

Consider the past year alone. In February 2024, the Change Healthcare cyberattack disrupted payment processing for hospitals, clinics and pharmacies nationwide. The ransomware attack left health systems scrambling to maintain daily workflows and financial sustainability—forcing CEOs to navigate a digital security breach while reassuring patients and staff.

The HIPAA Journal reports that, last year, there were 725 health care data breaches of more than 500 records. Even well-resourced health care organizations, like Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Ascension Health, were vulnerable to breaches. These attacks are likely to continue wreaking havoc on health systems and their patients into 2025.

Natural disasters also tested executives’ crisis management skills over the past few months, from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the South to the record-breaking wildfires on the West Coast. Some hospital leaders were left with damaged facilities, and health systems will be important pillars as their communities begin to rebuild.

Beyond operational and digital crises, leaders have also had to manage the human cost of violence. The killing of Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare, shocked the industry in December 2024. His tragic death underscored the increasing security risks for health care executives amidst a rising tide of violence in hospitals. The incident also revealed deep-seated discontent in the American public, who took to social media to express their frustrations towards health insurance companies and the system at large.

Finally, health care is in the spotlight as President Donald Trump inks executive orders that will undoubtedly impact the sector. Leaders across the country are doing their best to prepare for the unexpected.

Crisis management is no longer an occasional necessity—it’s a daily reality. Newsweek‘s upcoming health care panel will provide invaluable insights to help executives navigate complex threats and lead with confidence in an unpredictable world.