President and Chief Executive Officer

Position Profile

President and Chief Executive Officer | Mat-Su Health Foundation | Wasilla, Alaska

Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) seeks an experienced, relationship-based, and visionary leader to serve as its next President and CEO. The next leader has the opportunity to build upon a significant period of growth with expanded infrastructure and resources to deliver the next level of community impact and systems improvement.

The President and CEO will join a thriving, complex organization that is recognized at the local, state, and national levels for its innovative community partnerships and impact. They will lead MSHF’s systemic work that balances three primary areas of investment: staff expertise/capacity, grantmaking/community benefit, and hospital governance.

The successful candidate will join and continue to foster a cohesive and highly skilled team, balance long-term investments with immediate community needs, and enhance communication while deepening collaboration amongst all stakeholders. They will also have an opportunity to foster understanding and connection to MSHF strategic goals, stories of impact, and overall mission that improves the health and wellness of Alaskans living in the Matanuska Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough.

The ideal candidate for this role will be a proven leader with a strong ability to build trust and inspire others in pursuit of a shared vision while living and working in the communities served.

MSHF shares ownership in and governance of Mat-Su Regional Medical Center (MSRMC), the cornerstone of Mat-Su’s healthcare system. The Foundation is funded by profits from its share of ownership in the hospital, in addition to revenue from its long-term investments. This positions MSHF to focus on systems improvements and ensure that the healthcare system yields meaningful social and health returns for Mat-Su residents. Importantly, this model includes consistent connection with the community through a membership structure that promotes overall dialog and feedback.

Currently, the foundation’s programmatic bodies of work include five philanthropic focus areas and two initiatives. The focus areas are Healthy Minds, Healthy Families, Healthy Futures, Healthy Aging, and Healthy Foundations and the two initiatives are R.O.C.K. Mat-Su (Raising Our Children with Kindness) and Connect Mat-Su (a comprehensive health and social services information and referral hub).

MSHF has experienced steady and substantial growth since 2008. The organization grew exponentially starting in 2016 when it increased its ownership percentage in the LLC, which jointly owns Mat-Su Regional Medical Center from 25% to 35%, ensuring a greater percentage of hospital profits remain in Mat-Su. Additionally, MSHF grew its balance sheet by more than 400% since 2008, increased its community benefit payout from $2M to $30M, and increased the staff from four to thirty-nine. The Foundation has leveraged millions in investments from state and national funders to Mat-Su, resulting in significant economic impact in jobs and wages and increased capital investment from its LLC partner to add more licensed beds and services, including behavioral health. MSHF has established itself as a credible source of Mat-Su health data, analysis, and recommendations. Through community partnerships, it has achieved significant population level health outcomes for Mat-Su residents and strengthened the continuum of care for behavioral health, child welfare, crisis response, transportation, senior services, and prevention.

Mat-Su Health Foundation’s service area resides on the traditional lands of the Ahtna and Dena’ina peoples, where the Knik and Chickaloon Tribes still thrive and have helped to develop a world class healthcare delivery system with Southcentral Foundation. This service area aligns to the Mat-Su Borough which is designated because it contains the entire Matanuska and Susitna Rivers. Convenient to both Anchorage and Denali National Park, the Mat-Su is easily reached by car or the Alaska Railroad. The borough covers over 25,000 square miles and according to the 2020 census has a population of over 107,000. Mat-Su contains one of the few large scale land agricultural farm areas of the state and has the fastest growing population in Alaska.

MSHF produced a 10-year strategic plan in 2020 with a long-term goal of making the Mat-Su the healthiest borough in Alaska by 2030 through the “Quadruple Aim” of better care, healthier people, lower healthcare costs, and happier providers. The plan seeks to align hospital ownership with philanthropic objectives, public policy advocacy, and internal and external program and strategy for maximum impact. This outcome also invites opportunities to strengthen the Mat-Su community by growing the local economy, increasing living wage jobs, and ensuring that borough residents live, work, and play in healthy environments.

Organizational Priorities for the next 12-18 Months

• Communications: Strengthen MSHF’s internal and external narratives through consistent communication and engagement of the community; share MSHF vision, goals, stories of impact, along with its commitment and accountability to improving community health.
• Relationships: Steward existing and cultivate new relationships that build trust and encourage community collaboration across all sectors to broaden impact and lay a path to systems change; focus on membership dynamics to support mission.
• Joint venture (JV): Ensure the JV is reaching its full potential, delicately balancing income, healthcare cost containment, alignment to values and goals, while also mitigating risk.
• Change Management: Lead the organization’s recent and significant growth.
  • Continue to coalesce a newly established Executive Leadership Team (ELT), expanded staff, programs, and operational infrastructure to ensure ongoing collaboration and seamless function.
  • Partner, nurture, and support a cohesive and high-performing MSHF Board; maximize the Board’s strategic voice and influence; ensure efficacy and efficiency by thoughtfully onboarding new Board members and weaving them into governance and strategy while also supporting the graceful exit of those members fulfilling their terms.
  • Ensure leadership continuity by partnering with the Governance Committee to develop a succession plan for Category A members and the LLC Board Chair role.
• Strategic Priorities: MSHF is five years into a 10-year plan. Steward the existing priorities through 2025 and steward the refinement of the priorities for 2026 and beyond.
  • Refine the priorities using the organization’s commitment to health equity, its diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts, and the 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).
  • Ensure “equity in health outcomes for populations with the lowest levels of health” remains at the core of the plan and that MSHF programs, operations, investment strategies, advocacy, communications, and joint venture partnerships are in alignment and function synergistically.

The President and CEO is responsible for the effective day-to-day leadership and management of all affairs of the Mat-Su Health Foundation. Taking direction from its Board of Directors, this person will also lead MSHF’s joint venture (JV) with MSRMC and participate in hospital governance on the Mat-Su Valley Medical Center (MSVMC) LLC Board. Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Leadership

• Foster a culture of collaboration; steward and cultivate relationships internally and externally to encourage innovative problem-solving and holistic approaches to community health challenges.
• Provide leadership to MSHF staff; encourage and set tone for healthy workplace culture and staff development that enriches engagement; encourage feedback mechanisms to foster data-driven decisions for continued improvement; ensure that the mission and core values of MSHF are put into practice.
• Hire, lead, support, coach, and elevate C-Suite in their respective roles and collectively in developing JV strategy, MSHF strategy and operational infrastructure to support strategic goals.
• Integrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging principles into all aspects of MSHF’s work, from internal operations to community partnerships and grantmaking, ensuring alignment with programs, operations, and with the Board’s health equity goals.
• Serve as the organization’s primary spokesperson; foster open, transparent, and regular communication channels internally and externally deepening trust, alignment, and a shared sense of purpose at all levels of engagement.
• Lead on legislative and regulatory advocacy in pursuit of policies, statutes, and regulations that improve health and wellbeing outcomes.
• Ensure robust fiduciary oversight through structures and staffing; ensure operating budget reflects organizational values and connects to strategic priorities; ensure JV capital investments meet community needs and uphold MSHF values.
• Lead C-Suite in charting a path through challenging legal, risk, and compliance matters and preservation of MSHF’s 501(c)(3) status; improve and refine necessary structures to manage risk, including risk inherent to MSHF’s JV governance model.
• Partner with key stakeholders at the local, state, and national levels to leverage outside resources and investments into the Mat-Su community.
• Serve as the primary liaison with MSRMC CEO and with the officers of JV’s third-party manager, Community Health Systems (CHS).
• Ensure evaluation of MSHF’s participation in JV and of third-party manager; ensure hospital compliance with 501R and ACA; ensure compliance with Operating Agreement.

Boards of Directors (MSHF and MSVMC)

• Collaborate with MSHF Board to set strategic vision; draft and implement approved strategic plan(s).
• Support MSHF’s high-performing Board and Committees by ensuring they are informed on strategic, political, and operational issues along with strategies for mission advancement.
• Adhere to bylaws, implement policies, and manage risk and compliance for the Board.
• Support development of the MSHF Board and Category A directors; aiding recruitment, ongoing coaching, and education on trends in hospital industry, governance, and compliance.
• Represent MSHF and serve as a fiduciary on the MSVMC Board and other ancillary boards; ensure united voice and accountability to meet the acute healthcare needs of the community while meeting fiduciary duties to both organizations.
• Ensure MSHF and LLC Boards sign off on CHNA and the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) and MSRMC and CHS support the plan forward.

While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

Attributes

• A bridge-builder with a diplomatic communication style; able to engage in healthy discourse, break down barriers, and build consensus in challenging public environments.
• A strategic systems thinker with the ability to grasp complex subjects and data and communicate information in ways that promote understanding and engagement.
• A grounded, principled, and resilient person; able to learn quickly, adapt, and appropriately engage strategically, politically, and programmatically in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated emphasis on being an inclusive and empathetic leader who fosters a culture of belonging, empowers diverse voices, elevates others, encourages innovative thinking, and establishes trust at all levels.
• A leader who energizes lasting commitment to people and projects with personal accountability and responsibility.
• A lifelong learner; continuously studying, experimenting, and evolving as a means to advancing oneself and the larger work.
• A personal commitment to living and working in the Mat-Su full-time.
• Ability to hold the envisioned future for the organization over the long-term while making incremental progress and seizing new opportunities as they arise.

Skills and Expertise

• A minimum of 8 years of experience of executive leadership, ideally in both nonprofit and for-profit environments.
• Knowledge and experience in hospital or health systems operations and governance.
• Background and passion for community-driven, place-based strategies for population health.
• Demonstrated experience in leading organizational diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts and equity-focused strategies among key stakeholders (e.g., staff and Board).
• Strong commitment to civic engagement evidenced by significant board and community service.
• Superior written and verbal communication, sensitive to confidentiality and diplomacy required in communicating with broad and diverse audiences.
• Proven ability to nurture and sustain relationships with employees, board members, elected officials, and nonprofit leaders to collaborate more effectively for shared outcomes.
• Data-driven; able to use data and information as a catalyst for action with the team and in the community to advance new ideas that are built to last.
• Alaska and Mat-Su knowledge and experience is strongly preferred.

Education

• Master’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience preferred. Relevant areas of study include public administration, nonprofit and philanthropy leadership, healthcare administration, and business administration.

The target salary range is $275,000 to $308,000 annually, commensurate with qualifications and experience. Mat-Su Health Foundation offers a comprehensive benefits package and is an at-will employer.

To apply, email your credentials to MSHFCEOsearch@forakergroup.org. Applicants should include a resume and cover letter describing interest and qualifications. For questions, contact Ryan Smith, lead recruiter, at MSHFCEOsearch@forakergroup.org. Communications will be treated in confidence.

The deadline for application submission is January 27, 2025. Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Resume reviews begin immediately. The search process will include a multi-step interview process.

Mat-Su Health Foundation is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. MSHF is especially interested in candidates whose background and experience have prepared them to grow our commitment to engagement and inclusion with culturally diverse audiences.