CIO Reinvented: Donna Roach On The Key Attributes Of Today’s Leader (Part 1)

When Donna Roach began her term as a member of the CHIME Board of Trustees in January, she had a mission: to continue the dialog that started last year about how to continue to develop CIOs as leaders. It was a discussion that kicked off at the 2015 Fall Forum when Roach, CIO at Via Christi Ascension Information Services, and Tim Zoph presented the results of a survey designed to identify the leadership attributes that will be most critical for CIOs moving forward. In this interview, Roach talks about why the project appealed to her, the importance of alignment among senior leaders, and the results that surprised her most. She also discusses the increasing role of emotional intelligence in CIOs, the “scary” discussion that needs to be held, and what she hopes will happen next.

Chapter 1



* Research goal: “What are the professional development needs of the CIO?”

* “It wasn’t a typical study.”

* Working with Tim Zoph

* Identifying gaps in alignment & key leadership attributes

* Operations “taking a backseat”

* “They want a strong senior leader at the table.”



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Bold Statements

It wasn’t like a Likert survey. It was, let’s take what are some of the forces for change in the healthcare industry, and ask the CIOs, looking out to 2020, is that impact going to be the same, is it going to be greater, or less? It was really more of how would that attribute or that force of change impact you.

They’re being asked to lead the change and to be change agents within the organization. They’re also being asked to play a bigger role within the senior management leadership team and sometimes take on more roles within the organization.

What was interesting was the CIO said, ‘I don’t see myself as involved in the emerging technology and the future components of technology,’ whereas the executive team said, ‘Wait a minute, I need you to be at the table.’

A lot of times the CIO is the person that understands the technology in the industry and knows how to work hand in hand with change management to change the business model, and that’s what the executive team is looking for from the CIO.

Gamble:  Before we get into the [CHIME] survey, can you just provide some information about your current role right now?

Donna:  I’m Donna Roach, I am the Chief Information Officer for Via Christi Health, which is located in Wichita, Kansas. We are part of Ascension Health, which is the largest Catholic health care system in the US. I have responsibility for eight hospitals in the Kansas area and so I oversee all of information technology for the Via Christi Health Ministries.

Gamble:  In terms of governance, how does that work — you report to the CEO at Via Christi?

Roach:  Actually, it’s a highly matrixed organization, so my direct report is to a regional CIO within Ascension Information Services, Mary Paul. She is responsible for what we call the integrated ministries because Via Christi is a fairly new ministry to Ascension, and then my dotted line in the actual health ministry is to the CFO.

Gamble:  In terms of how Ascension is set up, since that is such a large organization, is Mark Barner the CIO, or how does that work?

Roach:  He is the CEO for Ascension Information Services, and so basically the regional CIOs, like my boss, report directly to him.

Gamble:  It is definitely matrixed but I think it’s something that’s becoming more common as we’re seeing more mergers and acquisitions.

Roach:  Definitely.

Gamble:  And how long have you been in your role?

Roach:  I started here at Via Christi in August, but I have been with Ascension from over four years now. I came from Health Ministry in Michigan, so I was responsible for Borgess, which is in Kalamazoo,