For healthcare CIOs and CDIOs, career transitions have become commonplace. Whether it stems from M&A activity – and the resultant corporate restructuring – or a desire for advancement, leaders are increasingly pursuing new roles. Doing so, however, requires “a great amount of energy,” and therefore must be approached thoughtfully and strategically.

“Career transitions need to align with where you are in your personal life,” said Clara Guixa, Chief Digital Information Officer at Baystate Health. “It’s not just about the job itself. Is it the right timing?” And just as important, “How do I leave an impact?”

Clara Guixa

Recently, Guixa opened up about how she sought answers to these critical questions before taking on her current role this past June. She also talked about what drew her to the organization, and provided guidance on how to navigate a major transition.

Being the New Leader

One thing Guixa, a lifelong city resident, didn’t expect was to move to a rural part of Massachusetts. But the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained from her time at Boston Children’s Hospital and UChicago Medicine to improve care access was too good to pass up. At Baystate, “we’re looking at how to drive excellence so that we’re a destination – not only from a quality and clinical outcome perspective, but also from an experience perspective,” she noted. 

A significant part of that, she knew, would involve developing a digital framework for the organization, which includes four hospitals and a large multi-specialty group spread out across a wide geographic area. 

“We’re going through a lot of transition,” Guixa said. “Not just from a digital or IT perspective, but as a multidisciplinary team putting our heads together to build this membrane across Western Massachusetts.”

Not an easy feat, but one she felt prepared for after investing significant time upfront engaging in listening tours, attending town halls, and conducting interviews with clinical and administrative leaders.

The foundation for building a strong business case, however, started during the recruitment process, where Guixa made it a point to show up prepared. “You need to ask the right questions, and be very thoughtful about how you ask those questions,” she said. Guixa’s key concern? Ensuring she would have “latitude to bring recommendations forward, to elevate the position of IT, and to create a cohesive strategy,” she recalled. “To me, that’s really important.”

Timing Is Everything

Also critical for new leaders? Setting the right tone and getting an accurate read of the organizational culture. For Guixa, the timing of her start couldn’t have been better, as Baystate had just conducted an engagement survey that encouraged – and received – honest feedback. “I was really lucky,” she noted. “From a service delivery standpoint, we’re only as good as the value we provide. We need to be very aligned with our teams and with the business to make sure needs are being met. And for that to happen, we need engaged employees.”

As it turned out, Baystate’s IT team garnered high scores, which Guixa hopes to build upon while addressing the challenges that were identified. “I’m learning a lot.”

And not just about what employees need to successfully do their jobs, but also about what makes them tick. “This is a close community. People tend to come here and build families. There’s a lot of history,” she said, adding that the surveys also shed light on “how people are connected, which is so important.”

Finishing Strong

Another key lesson Guixa has learned is that how leaders finish their tenures with an organization is just as important as how they start the next role. As she wrapped up her time with Boston Children’s, “it was very important for me to complete a few initiatives that we were working on, and get the team to a point where I felt they could successfully carry the work we had started,” she said. 

In her case, that meant giving 30 days notice. “I appreciated the opportunity to do that,” she noted. “It also helped me to start strong.”