# Expert: Strong hospital leadership critical for Nebraska's healthcare future  
**Published:** 2026-05-16T13:12:12.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/16/opinion-strong-hospitals-start-with-strong-leaders/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/expert-strong-hospital-leadership-critical-for-nebraska-s-healthcare-future

A healthcare educator and administrator with more than 15 years of experience developing hospital leaders across Nebraska is calling for greater investment in leadership development, arguing that strong leaders are essential to keeping hospitals — particularly rural ones — afloat amid mounting financial and staffing pressures.

[In an opinion piece published Friday by the Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/16/opinion-strong-hospitals-start-with-strong-leaders/), Mike Freel, program director of Bellevue University's Master of Healthcare Administration program and lead instructor for the Nebraska Hospital Association's Leadership Institute, said healthcare leadership has become "significantly more complex" in recent years.

Today's hospital leaders spend much of their time navigating conflict, managing performance and guiding teams through constant change, whether from staffing shortages, reimbursement pressures, regulatory shifts or new technology. Each year, approximately 40 health care professionals from across Nebraska come together for a 10-month program designed to instruct, inspire and invigorate, he wrote.

The timing of Freel's message comes as Nebraska's rural healthcare system faces unprecedented challenges. Fourteen of the state's 93 counties do not have a primary care physician, and 85 of Nebraska's rural communities are considered medically underserved areas for primary care services alone. Nebraska is projected to experience a workforce shortage of over 5,000 nurses in 2025.

Freel argues that effective leadership development must focus on practical skills rather than abstract theory. Participants identify their own set of leadership competencies and develop their own 360-degree assessment, which provides a clear perspective on their strengths and areas of improvement related to leading and managing in a hospital setting.

Rural hospital leaders face unique challenges. In many rural communities, hospital leaders wear multiple hats, resources are limited, staffing is tight, financial margins are beyond thin, and in some cases, sending a leader to a day-long development session means an entire department is shorthanded.

Yet investment in leadership training produces tangible benefits for rural hospitals. The NHA Leadership Institute is proud to have more than 450 graduates from across the state of Nebraska, according to the association's website.

Investing in leadership development isn't just about professional advancement — it's about ensuring that Nebraska's healthcare systems are led by people who are prepared to make thoughtful decisions under pressure, lead teams through uncertainty and serve their communities well, Freel wrote. As healthcare grows more complex, the need for capable, well-prepared leaders has never been clearer, and preparing the next generation of hospital leaders is essential to the future health of the state.

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/16/opinion-strong-hospitals-start-with-strong-leaders/)
- [Nebraska Hospital Association Leadership Institute information](https://www.nebraskahospitals.org/education-events/programs/leadership-institute)
- [Nebraska Hospital Association Roadmap to Strong Rural Healthcare](https://www.nebraskahospitals.org/advocacy/roadmap-strong-rural-healthcare)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/16/opinion-strong-hospitals-start-with-strong-leaders/.