LHC Board Spotlight: Josh Hopson
At the Nashville Health Care Council we are honored to have a diverse community of healthcare leaders of every level. As healthcare evolves and grows, so does our Council membership. One way we support building and growing the healthcare talent pipeline is the Leadership Health Care (LHC) program. Leadership Health Care fosters the next generation of healthcare leaders by creating educational and networking opportunities for members. We look to our Leadership Health Care Board of Directors to share their experience and spotlight their achievements to provide lessons and examples of success for the full Nashville Health Care Community.
Meet Incoming LHC Board Chair, Josh Hospson
As a program of the Nashville Health Care Council, what is the LHC Board planning this year to fulfill the Council’s mission to strengthen and elevate Nashville as the Healthcare City?
To be the Healthcare City requires careful consideration and understanding of where you are today—and where you must be in the future. This is where Leadership Health Care, and those of us privileged to guide it, step in.
The LHC Board thoughtfully considers how LHC and the Nashville Health Care Council should be a home for Nashville’s healthcare leaders of tomorrow. We create opportunities for future healthcare leaders to meet others like themselves and foster ideas that lead to innovation in existing organizations and startups that become new industry leaders in a few years.
As the incoming LHC Board Chair, how do you plan to build on last year's successes?
Innovation, engagement, and education are critical components for LHC’s success. Our continuous focus on these areas ensures we are growing the number of LHC members we serve and relentlessly expanding engagement opportunities our members want. The LHC Board will continue its review of foundational elements of what makes LHC what it is today – our Charter, our leadership structure, our committees, etc. – to ensure these reflect our members and where they hope to see LHC in the future.
Last year’s rapid LHC growth, with our total number of members the highest in five years, including new members up 44% year over year, was a testament to the focus the entire LHC Board places on finding ways to strengthen how we support our members and the role our members see LHC playing to rebuild their professional network now that COVID-19 is firmly – ANY FINALLY! – in the rearview mirror. This year we aim to have at least five LHC members from every Council-member organization. To achieve this ambitious goal, we will need the help of Council members and those within their organizations encouraging employees to join LHC.
On engagement, this fall, three cohorts will begin for the first time that broach a variety of topics, including two new focuses on value-based care and cybersecurity. I’m also excited to share that in early 2025 will launch be a new Healthcare 101 course for LHC members new to healthcare or those adept in a specific area but looking to broaden their understanding of other areas that make up the healthcare delivery system.
How has Leadership Health Care impacted your career thus far?
It’s not a hyperbole to say that I am largely where I am today in my professional career due to LHC and the mentors who encouraged my increasing involvement with the Council. I joined LHC shortly after moving to Nashville and found an amazing group focused on helping one another grow their career, sharing a mutual drive toward making healthcare better, and companies part of the Council who saw LHC as an investment in their up-and-coming leaders. The Council and LHC advocate for career growth, deep relationship and connections, and professional success for every member.
What is has been your favorite part about participating in the Council's Leadership Health Care program?
This is easy—it’s the people who make up LHC. The connections I have made through LHC transcend work
many of these connections I call close, personal friends and are a sounding board for professional advice and when I need a push to make a career leap. It’s rare in today’s professional space where an organization seeks to create true connection and investment in you, and the people who make it up reinforce those connections.
From a program perspective, I have always loved the D.C. Delegation. Understanding how public policy and business objectives reinforce one another is key to understanding healthcare and the people who influence its future.