Erin E. Sullivan, PhD, and Jessica L. Alpert Center for Primary Care, Harvard Medical School Long-time president and CEO Katherine Gottlieb reflected on a recent meeting of Southcentral Foundation’s...

Erin E. Sullivan, PhD, and Jessica L. Alpert

Center for Primary Care, Harvard Medical School

Long-time president and CEO Katherine Gottlieb reflected on a recent meeting of Southcentral Foundation’s (SCF) board of directors where CEO succession planning was discussed as she contemplated retirement. The case provides background information about Alaska, the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) health care system, and reviews SCF’s mission, vision, and key tenets of the organization’s culture: customer-ownership, core concepts, and continuous improvement. SCF’s approach to hiring and developing its workforce and its governance structure are highlighted as background for Gottlieb’s concerns in choosing the next CEO: maintaining SCF’s culture, choosing an internal or external CEO, and identifying the top three qualities that SCF’s next leader must embody