A formal recruitment, orientation, and education process provides for effective governance, and Mountain States Health Alliance has followed these practices for several years. There governance structure is comprised of a system board—the true governing board of the organization—and five community boards that serve nine hospitals in Tennessee and Virginia. In addition, Mountain States Health Alliance has the majority ownership of three joint-ventured hospitals in southwest Virginia, with the system board designating the system members of these boards.

In this article, Dennis L. Vonderfecht, FACHE, president and CEO of Mountain States Health Alliance, shares his organization’s recruitment strategies, as well as their tightly intertwined orientation and education process that gets new recruits up to speed and keeps all board members on the same page.