Hospital and health system CEOs are eyeing multiple initiatives to spur growth in 2026. At the forefront of their efforts is expanding access to care, strengthening services and investing in partnerships.

Here, CEOs at healthcare organizations across the U.S. identify the biggest drivers of their growth in 2026.

Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Wayne Gillis. CEO of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services (Gallup, N.M.): The biggest driver of RMCHCS’ growth in 2026 will be our ability to restore trust and confidence in our community by demonstrating operational excellence, clinical quality and patient-centered care every single day. Growth will not come from a single initiative, but rather from disciplined execution across three areas:

Expanding access and services: Meeting community needs by strengthening core service lines, investing in behavioral health and primary care, and addressing the gaps that force patients to leave the region for care.
Workforce engagement: Our staff are the foundation of growth. By building a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and professional development, we create a place where people want to work — and where patients want to receive care.
Partnerships and innovation: Growth will also come through strategic collaborations — with payers, regional providers, and community organizations — that improve care coordination, reduce duplication, and extend our reach.

At the end of the day, RMCHCS’ growth in 2026 will be driven by the community choosing us as their trusted healthcare partner. If we stay focused on safety, quality and service, growth will be the natural outcome.

Scott Kashman. President and CEO of Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside (Jacksonville, Fla.): In 2026, our growth will come from a seamless care ecosystem — expanding access close to home, strengthening high-acuity services that draw patients regionally and investing in trusted community partnerships. By balancing advanced clinical capabilities with convenient outpatient care, we’ll meet both regional demand and local needs.

Kelly Macken-Marble. CEO of Osceola (Wis.) Medical Center: With the many headwinds right now facing healthcare, we are focused on ensuring we are meeting the care needs in our region. Population-based data provides us with the primary drivers of growth, which includes improving access to primary care, specialty care and mental health services. We are planning to add intensive outpatient, or IOP, services to our substance use program and will be expanding our campus to support the addition of several new primary care and specialty physicians to meet the needs of the community.

Michelle Majerus. President and CEO of Avera Holy Family Hospital (Estherville, Iowa): The aging population in Estherville, Iowa, and the surrounding area is Avera Holy Family’s biggest driver for growth in 2026. In an effort to become the primary choice for age-friendly care, Avera Holy Family offers a multitude of active aging services and is committed to our journey in advancing our reliable practice of evidence-based interventions for older adults through the 4Ms Framework — What Matters, Medications, Mentation and Mobility. Our compassionate team is committed to moving health forward by keeping care local as we assist patients, family members, caretakers and our community with identifying, achieving and sustaining their quality-of-life indicators to facilitate active aging.

Barb Martin, BSN. CEO of St. Joseph Medical Center (Joliet, Ill.): The biggest drivers of growth is continued growth in the emergency departments through efficient timely management of patients both as inpatients and outpatients. Also, growth will be critically dependent on the recruitment of primary care physicians who drive referrals to the specialist.

Andrew Molosky. President and CEO of Chapters Health System (Temple Terrace, Fla.): The biggest driver of growth in our 2026 plan will be the acquisition plan as a well diversified system. As organizations that have put all their efforts into one or just a select number of endeavors face the headwinds being experienced with the current economic and political environment, we are a natural partner for them. While we will be judicious with our selections and pursuits, the time is ripe for us to celebrate our diversified strategies and the value it brings to the growth marketplace.

Tom Scott. CEO of CentraState Healthcare System (Freehold, N.J.): The oncology service line will continue to drive significant growth. The incidence rate of cancer in the state of New Jersey is higher than the national rate, with over 59,000 new cancer diagnoses estimated this year.

By adding services, specialists, treatments and technology typically only found at large metropolitan cancer centers, CentraState has achieved 71% growth in oncology patient volume in recent years and is successfully delivering comprehensive, multidisciplinary and compassionate care.

To expand access to high-quality cancer care in communities that we serve, we have attracted top clinical and surgical talent and integrated CentraState’s cancer program with Atlantic Health. Close coordination with leading cancer experts from across the system means patients have access to cutting-edge treatments, procedures and groundbreaking research trials close to home. A new state-of-the-art patient care unit and a co-located medical oncology office and infusion suite have expanded clinical capacity. For instance, the number of patients receiving chemotherapy has grown 150% from 2024.

In addition to cancer treatment, we have also expanded cancer prevention and early detection, including a robust genetics program to help patients understand their risk for certain cancers, such as a high-risk breast cancer program, as well as expanded our research capacity with a clinical trials program that will double or more this year in the number of patients enrolled.

CentraState is strongly poised to advance cancer care in the state and meet the growing need for cancer services.

Deborah Visconi. President and CEO of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center (Paramus, N.J.): In 2026, our growth will be driven by strategic investments that expand access, strengthen integration and improve the patient experience — led by our new state-of-the-art emergency department, our implementation of Epic and the continued expansion of our behavioral health and specialty medical services. These initiatives, combined with deeper community partnerships, telehealth expansion and a focus on addressing social determinants of health, will create a seamless continuum of care that meets the needs of an increasingly diverse and complex patient population. Together, they position Bergen New Bridge Medical Center as the region’s trusted destination for high-quality, compassionate and comprehensive care.

By aligning care delivery with social determinants, leveraging technology and investing in talent development, we will continue to be the health care destination where people find not only treatment, but also hope, stability, and connection. This integrated model is not just the future of Bergen New Bridge — it’s the future of healthcare.

Kenneth Waller. CEO of Norwalk (Conn.) Community Health Center: Healthcare medical service delivery organizations can employ a myriad of strategies to increase their market share and broaden their organization scope of healthcare services. Norwalk Community Health Center will launch a strategic map illustrating a clear, market growth action plan to expand access and to meet its overarching mission. We will achieve this through the implementation of a systematic process of continuous market assessment of our service area to identify service growth opportunities which will align with our medical consumers’ demands.

This would include an intentional integration into our community safety-net ecosystem where we would design unique service models, expand access and offer innovative medical care: like socioeconomic and other related services to facilitate, enhance and improve the comprehensive care outcomes of our targeted patient community.

This will be the foundation of how NCHC will begin to cultivate its 2026 organizational service growth objectives and goals. Our core healthcare service strategic imperatives will incorporate payor mix diversification. This would include NCHC adding more offerings to its current medical service mix. We will strengthen and increase community engagement service collaboration to expand patient access and growth, and improve economies of scale.

Lastly, infusing technology to drive medical service delivery predictability and to improve overall organizationwide productivity and operational efficiency. These are the elements we are aiming to attain to drive our delivery service growth moving forward in this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous healthcare industry environment.

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