Health care is undergoing substantial transformation and board governance is transforming to embrace that reality. The American Hospital Association offers longitudinal data that paints a vivid picture of hospital governance covering crucial areas such as board composition, structure, selection, orientation, evaluation, performance oversight, culture and more.
AHA’s latest governance survey data covers:
- Board Composition and the Community: Insights into member demographics
- Board Structure: Examination of term limits, compensation and committee structures
- Board Selection: Understanding board member competencies and recruitment processes
- Board Orientation and Education: Best practices in onboarding and ongoing education
- Board Evaluation: Methods for assessing performance and utilizing evaluation results
- Performance Oversight: Strategies for executive oversight and accountability
- Board Culture: Examination of meeting dynamics and time commitments
Governance dataset years available
Survey methodology
AHA’s latest Governance Survey, conducted between August and December 2024, gathered data from 1155 hospital and health system CEOs. As it did in previous surveys, the report examined findings across all respondents and by system, system subsidiary hospital, and freestanding hospital boards.
The 2024 survey, designed for completion by hospital and health system chief executive officers (CEOs), was sent via electronic mail to the CEOs of 5955 nonfederal community hospitals and health systems in the U.S. Specialty hospitals, such as eye-and-ear and psychiatric hospitals, were not included. Survey responses were collected and closed out in December 2024. A total of 1155 CEOs responded to the survey (a 19.4% response rate), up from previous years.
Figure 1.1 Survey Respondents Compared to All Hospitals
| System | ||
| Responders | Universe | |
| System | 58% | 68% |
| Non-System | 42% | 32% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
| Location | ||
| Responders | Universe | |
| Urban | 75% | 68% |
| Rural | 25% | 32% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
| Bed Size | ||
| Responders | Universe | |
| <100 | 58% | 57% |
| 100-299 | 24% | 14% |
| >299 | 18% | 29% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
| Ownership | ||
| Responders | Universe | |
| Public | 28% | 23% |
| Not for Profit | 61% | 51% |
| Investor Owned | 11% | 27% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
| Region | ||
| Responders | Universe | |
| Territories | 1% | 1% |
| Midwest | 33% | 27% |
| Northeast | 13% | 13% |
| South | 31% | 40% |
| West | 22% | 20% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |