Women hold only 15% of CEO roles in healthcare, a 2021 JAMA Network Open study finds. At UW Medicine, all three of our hospitals are run by women.
“Our hospital CEOs are incredible women and leaders who are devoted to the mission and who have stepped up to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Lisa Brandenburg, president, UW Medicine Hospitals & Clinics. “I am honored to work with each of them.”
Jeannine Grinnell, Cindy Hecker and Sommer Kleweno Walley, the chief executive officers (CEOs) of Valley Medical Center, UW Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center, respectively, have all spent the majority of their careers at UW Medicine ranging from 21-41 years of service in our community. They share their stories on starting in healthcare, thoughts on leadership during challenging times and what keeps them at UW Medicine.
Jeannine Grinnell, CEO, Valley Medical Center
Why did you go into healthcare and how did you get to the role of CEO?
I started off on the finance and accounting side — that’s what my degree from Pacific Lutheran University is in — and I eventually became responsible for auditing all the healthcare entities and hospitals in the region. That’s where I fell in love with the hospitals; I was actually auditing UW Medical Center, Valley and Harborview at the time. One day, about 20 years ago, Valley’s CEO Rich Roodman came up to me and said, “Hey, you seem to like healthcare a lot, how about you come to this side and work here,” and that’s how I ended up at Valley.
I took the job and started as the director of finance and then treasurer, and then about eight or nine years later I was promoted to vice president of finance, and then almost six years ago I was promoted to chief financial officer after our national search. Most recently I’ve become the chief executive officer.
How do you motivate teams during challenging times?
I think the way you motivate people is you recognize that people are people and that everybody is living through an extraordinary time — it’s truly unprecedented what we are all living through. We are all individually struggling through it in very different ways, so I think understanding that is important and how in healthcare we are unique in what we have seen and experienced during the pandemic.
Health is sentinel to every person, whether you are giving care or receiving care. So, when you have the ability to understand that and the ability to listen and connect to people and connect to what their purpose is, why they are showing up and why they are here, whether as a caregiver, a supporter or patient, that is how you motivate folks. Listening to and understanding people’s “why” is how I motivate.
What’s something people might not know about you?
I am a candle maker; my passion is candle making and glass fusing. I’m very passionate about art.
I also grew up on a cranberry farm; my parents are farmers for Ocean Spray. We are fourth generation Finns growing the same cranberry farms that my great-great-grandfather did when he immigrated to this country.
My family believes in the Finnish concept of sisu, and I talk about sisu a lot organizationally. It’s this concept that doesn’t really have an English translation but can be thought of as amazing bravery and courage through extraordinarily challenging times. Farming is a very harsh business, and my family has been dedicated to growing those farms and what I’ve learned from them is sisu and dedication — something that has been particularly helpful these past two years as we have weathered the pandemic.
What keeps you here at UW Medicine?
It’s the same thing that drew me here in the first place 21 years ago, which is our culture. Valley has a unique culture and the UW and UW Medicine also have cultures that are very special. Culture, mission and purpose are what keep people here.
I’m the first female CEO at Valley and the first new CEO we’ve had in 37 years following Rich’s retirement in December 2020. He was the one who hired me 21 years ago, and when you are given a gift and an opportunity, like becoming CEO, after someone with such a long tenure who built such a strong culture, you have a responsibility to honor it and that’s one of the reasons I stay. As part of UW Medicine, our commitment is taking care of patients and the health of our community and that’s fundamental to the culture and why I stay.
What inspires you?
From a work perspective, what inspires me every day is the “why,” and why we are here is taking care of people. I think when we can have any kind of impact on patients and families in a positive way, because health is so sentinel to everyone and different for everyone, I think that’s inspiring. I think it’s inspiring when I walk through the halls and someone tells me about some amazing thing that just happened; it doesn’t have to be a procedure, it may have simply been, “Hey, I walked this person to their appointment because they didn’t know how to get there and they were so grateful.”
From a non-work perspective, my kids inspire me every day because through their eyes I can see so much more than through my own lens.
What do you love most about your job?
The ability to impact in a positive way the health of our community and every patient. It’s an honor and joy, even during a pandemic, to have the opportunity to work in healthcare and work with all the amazing people here.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Listen. Really listen when people are offering you advice on a path that you want to go on. Listen to them because they probably understand that path. Recognize there is a lot you don’t know and be humble about that.
Cindy Hecker, CEO, UW Medical Center
Why did you go into healthcare and how did you get to the role of CEO?
I have always been interested in healthcare. At a very early age I decided I wanted to become a nurse. The science of medicine really interested me and I wanted to help people.
I graduated from the UW School of Nursing and started my career at Harborview Medical Center. During my 30 years at Harborview, I worked at the bedside in both acute and critical care and then began progressing into numerous management positions. For my last 12 years at Harborview, I was thrilled to be the Chief Nursing Officer. Harborview is a very special place that I was honored to be a part of. When UW Medicine affiliated with Northwest Hospital, I was offered the opportunity to move into the CEO position at Northwest and when Northwest Hospital integrated fully with UW Medical Center, I became the CEO of UW Medical Center over both Montlake and Northwest campuses. I feel so fortunate that UW Medicine has offered me opportunities to grow in my professional career without having to leave this amazing system.
How do you motivate teams during challenging times?
I work to be as transparent as possible, always trying to keep teams up to date with changes, offering guidance and support whenever possible and trusting in their judgment. I try to stay as educated as possible in all aspects of the organization to be able to empathize with the challenges that the staff, providers and leaders are dealing with. The changes that rapidly occurred during the height of the pandemic required dedication, flexibility, constant communication and understanding. I feel so fortunate that UW Medical Center has such a strong and talented team during this unprecedented crisis.
What’s something people might not know about you?
I have six grandchildren and they are the loves of my life. They are amazing and it’s wonderful to experience each stage of their lives and watch them grow. I see all of them almost every weekend, so they keep me grounded and always make me laugh. My “littles” range in age from newborn to 7 years old, so life with them is very active.
What keeps you here at UW Medicine?
UW Medicine is and has always been known for high quality, state-of-the-art care which I wanted to be a part of from the very beginning. Fortunately, UW Medicine provided me with the opportunities to expand and fulfill my career goals over the last 41 years. Through the years I have had the great fortune of meeting so many talented, caring, dedicated people who have become an extension of my family. The amazing people working at UW Medicine are passionate about improvement, discovery and service and they are the reason I have stayed at UW Medicine.
What inspires you?
All the UW Medical Center leaders, staff and providers inspire me each day due to their consistent dedication and perseverance. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge my amazing UW Medical Center executive team, including my executive assistant. I am so fortunate to have an incredibly competent, respectful and knowledgeable executive team. This team is dedicated to each other, UW Medical Center, and UW Medicine as a whole and being able to work with these highly competent individuals is a wonderful gift. They inspire me every day and push me to be a better leader.
What do you love most about your job?
The people throughout this amazing organization. I’m very proud to be a part of UW Medical Center and UW Medicine, the incredible care provided and the dedication to each patient is truly remarkable!
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell myself never be afraid to take on a new challenge. To listen carefully when others talk and make sure to always keep learning. Never take yourself too seriously and always realize there is someone smarter than you in the room. Also, focus on building relationships, if people respect you and trust you, they will support you as a leader through the good times and through the challenges.
Sommer Kleweno Walley, CEO, Harborview Medical Center
Why did you go into healthcare and how did you get to the role of CEO?
When I was in college, I knew I wanted to go into a field focused on helping people. I was considering going into special education but then became interested in speech and hearing sciences. During school I found myself drawn to the medical aspect of speech and hearing sciences and decided to follow that path upon the completion of my first master’s degree in Speech Pathology. Growing up in eastern Washington, everyone knew that Harborview was this incredible hospital that you went to for emergency care. Once I decided upon a medical path for my career, I knew that Harborview was the hospital I wanted to work at and designed my career path to help me achieve this goal.
I spent 10 years as a front-line clinician at Harborview loving every minute of working with the region’s most vulnerable individuals before deciding I wanted to go into leadership to make a difference at the system-level. I realized quickly that I needed to better myself in experience and education before I could take on a leadership career path. In order to enhance my skills, I returned to school for a master’s degree in health administration at UW and then took on various leadership roles within Harborview knowing that I had a goal of someday becoming the CEO of Harborview. I never turned down an opportunity to take on more work, and I ensured that I had experience working clinically and in a leadership role in all aspects of the entity. In 2017, I joined Harborview’s executive team as senior associate administrator for Surgical, Emergent, Integrated Clinical Services and was appointed as CEO in September 2021.
How do you motivate teams during challenging times?
I’m a relationship-driven leader and one of the ways I’ve positioned myself and been successful is that I have been a front-line worker at Harborview. I’m incredibly mission focused, and I believe in everything we do. When I’m relating and talking to people at our entity, I’m talking from my own feelings and experiences and love for the work we do at Harborview.
From the pandemic what I learned was to listen more, be more nimble and to adjust to the needs of the changing world and workforce. We as healthcare leaders need to listen and pivot more toward that.
What’s something people might not know about you?
I grew up on a farm in eastern Washington and spent my childhood years riding horses. Growing up on a farm there is an expectation to have a strong work ethic. We were expected to work to help support the family. And when not in school you were working for the livelihood of the farm. I hope I can pass that on to my children because those values set me up for success. You worked hard for a cause that was bigger than your own individual needs, because it was for the good of the family and it instilled an inherent drive to work for the betterment of the greater good.
What keeps you here at UW Medicine?
I’ve been at UW Medicine since 1997. What’s kept me here are the people and the mission, those who I serve, the community in which we serve and the importance of the services we provide and the people who I work with.
What inspires you?
What inspires me is the people I work with and the care they deliver to the most vulnerable.
What do you love most about your job?
I love what I do and I love who I do it for.
Leadership is here to serve those who serve the mission. And that is the primary principle of leadership and that shouldn’t be forgotten when times get rough.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Listen more, spend more time with loved ones and enjoy each moment. It goes very fast. I have two small children so I would tell myself to always put them first!
Editor’s note: Responses were lightly edited for length, clarity and style.
Photo caption: (From left to right) Cindy Hecker, Sommer Kleweno Walley and Jeannine Grinnell.
