By building camaraderie and strong relationships with their employees, healthcare leaders can reduce the effects of burnout, boost morale, and reduce turnover.
In her monthly leadership series, Dr. Barbara Schmidtman—vice president of cancer health operations at Corewell Health West—offers her perspective on addressing workforce-related issues through effective leadership practices. Find all her posts in this blog series on the ACCC website. In this post, Dr. Schmidtman responds to the ACCCBuzz post: “Combatting Healthcare Workforce Issues with Proven Leadership Skills.”
To kick off 2023, I first would like to reiterate how wonderful this year is going to be. It will be filled with new beginnings and opportunities to grow and further engage the oncology community with content that will inspire you to be the best you can be. I’m thrilled to continue writing this blog series and be a part of your leadership growth!
In December 2022, ACCC published a blog that provided helpful information relating to ways in which healthcare leaders can combat the complex workforce issues that we are facing by leveraging the skills that have been proven time and time again.
The blog articulated that employers are facing a continued impact of stress and burnout among their staff, with nearly 75 percent of those surveyed identifying that they recognize their organizations are currently impacted by such. Team members continue to leave their current organizations for higher pay and a better work-life balance. Although retention and employee engagement have been a focus of many industries throughout the years, now more than ever, building trusting relationships with our peers and teams is imperative.
There are ways in which leaders can build great camaraderie and, perhaps, strong relationships that make our team members want to stay in their current role. For example, engage in fun events outside of work that promote unity across teams and departments. These events may be, if you live in a cold climate like me, going sledding in the winter with your various teams, going to baseball games in the spring, or having a picnic and playing fun outdoor games together. All these types of events help promote a sense of internal belonging within our teams as they bond, as well as a greater belonging to the larger, collective team—the organization. Getting to the heart of our team members and helping them feel like they belong and have strong relationships with one another is important to retaining our workforce.
From my perspective, the healthcare industry’s reimbursement dynamics continue to fluctuate as we move toward value-based care models, shifting our focus to develop thoughtful programs that drive quality, value, safety, survivorship, and clinical research within our communities, which is imperative to sustaining evolving workforce trends. Effective leaders communicate in clear, thoughtful, and engaging ways, while also re-invigorating our defined purpose for our teams and ourselves.
Purpose is defined as “the reason something is done or created.” We all can find our own, internal purpose in many ways: through our families, friends, hobbies, career, and other interests. But, when you think about your professional purpose, take a minute to consider what that truly means to you.
I will take this time to be vulnerable and share with you what I believe my professional purpose is. I strive to be the most empathetic and results-oriented leader. I believe that you can deliver tough messages to your colleagues and teams with love and grace. It is with grit and grace that I believe we can change the world. These characteristics are my true north every, single day.
I have a personal purpose, too, which is to show my family and friends that they can truly do anything they set out to do, despite any odds, and to love them unconditionally, even if we do not always see things the same way.
The point of bringing up our individual and professional purposes in this blog is to help you recognize that if you have found your professional purpose or “call to action,” there is nothing that can pull you away from it. Those of us who are leaders in healthcare are often called upon to help our team members find their purpose, and I believe that if we engage and help our teams find their purpose, we will see fewer people looking for other opportunities where “the grass might seem greener.”
To leave you with a final thought, the other day I read a meme that said, “The grass looks greener on the other side. Perhaps it is because it is fake.” So just remember, when you love what you do, you will never work another day in our life.
Barbara Schmidtman, PhD, has worked in healthcare for more than 20 years in a variety of professional and clinical roles. Currently, she is the vice president of cancer health operations at Corewell Health West in Grand Rapids, Mich. Dr. Schmidtman is the Chair of the ACCC Governmental Affairs Committee and the Workforce Subcommittee Chair, a subgroup of the association's Governmental Affairs Committee. Dr. Schmidtman earned her PhD in business administration from Northcentral University, where she specialized in industrial organizational psychology. Her doctoral studies focused on physician behaviors and how demonstrated physician leadership affects individuals and teams—either positively or negatively. Dr. Schmidtman has a passion for speaking locally and nationally on leadership styles and approaches.
At the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, the Louisiana Oncology Society received the ASCO Jeffrey C Ward Affiliate Advocacy Award for advancing critical advocacy priorities that have translated into meaningful legislative victories. The Iowa Oncology Society and Washington State Medical Oncology Society were also recognized for their advocacy efforts in 2025 at the meeting, receiving second place awards.
