What is a Hospital Director?

Hospital directors have a number of duties that involve the oversight and smooth operations of a hospital.

Hospital directors are doctors, but the role of hospital director in hospital settings extends beyond patient care. As long-term healthcare leaders, their job description includes recruiting and managing physicians, nurses, caregivers, and various non-medical personnel. Along with senior management, they examine and coordinate various practice activities to guarantee the medical quality of the facility. They are also responsible for the training, continuing education, and promoting of subordinate staff. To qualify for the position, applicants will need a medical degree with board certification in a relevant field, along with several years of medical experience. Essential skills include interpersonal, communication, organizational, and leadership.

The average hourly pay for this position is $31.17, which amounts to $64,831 annually. The career is projected to grow substantially in the near future, resulting in various new job opportunities emerging all over the United States.

What Does a Hospital Director Do

There are certain skills that many hospital directors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, leadership skills and technical skills.

Learn more about what a Hospital Director does

How To Become a Hospital Director

If you're interested in becoming a hospital director, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 59.4% of hospital directors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 18.5% of hospital directors have master's degrees. Even though most hospital directors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Hospital Director

Top Hospital Director Jobs Near You

Hospital Director Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of operations director you might progress to a role such as operations vice president eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title operations vice president.

Hospital Director

Operations Director

Operations Vice President

11 Years

Operations Director

9 Years

Director Of Food And Beverage

Food Service Director

9 Years

Director Of Food And Beverage

Chief Executive Officer

8 Years

Average Salary for a Hospital Director

Hospital Directors in America make an average salary of $127,268 per year or $61 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $239,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $67,000 per year.

Average Hospital Director Salary

$127,268 Yearly

$61.19 hourly

$67,00010%

$127,000Median

$239,00090%

See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

Roles and Types of Hospital Director

The role of a hospital director includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general hospital director responsibilities:

Develops departmental goals, plans and standards consistent with the clinical, administrative, legal
Integrating their department's services with the hospitals primary functions. Coordinating
Directs department activities and ensures compliant services

There are several types of hospital director, including:

Director

Role:

Directors report to board members regarding what's going on with the company as a whole. Then together, they work to develop new marketing and business strategies to help the company grow and expand.

Typically, directors have the ultimate, hands-down decision making capability, which is a lot of responsibility for one person, especially considering the type of decisions you'll be making. Any top-level decisions will come to you. You may also be responsible for approving a final budget and making sure company policies are being followed.

Some directors have long work hours, it depends on your employer and industry. Some directors will work longer than the typical 40-hour work week and many have erratic schedules that are determined by meetings, which are usually held after normal business hours.

Average Salary: $113,489
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Nursing Director

Role:

Nursing is not only a rewarding career but one that can be creative too. Although the nursing profession has been around for quite some time, many do not know the career growth it offers, simply because of preconceived notions of nursing being a stagnant role.

However, recently, caretaking is an area where hospitals and governments are focusing on improving to provide better care, such as for the elderly people, leading to an increase in nursing roles.

The role of a nursing director is in overseeing the operations of a nursing team. Their duties involve tasks such as developing strategic nursing department plans, establishing patient care policies, facilitating the patient admission process, and managing the departmental budget. Besides that, they also help in coordinating the training of nursing staffs.

Employers require nursing directors have a minimum of a bachelor's degree. However, a master's degree is preferred. In addition, at least five years of relevant nursing experience needs to be demonstrated. This role earns, on average, $37 per hour and suits an individual who has excellent managerial and nursing skills.

Average Salary: $87,643
Degree: Associate Degree

Nurse Manager

Role:

Nurse managers function as a link between patient care and hospital administration. With both clinical expertise and leadership skills, they are responsible for supervising nursing staff in healthcare establishments, creating work schedules, and coordinating bedside care. They make decisions regarding the budget as well, promote or hire personnel, and perform other managerial duties.

Nurse managers are energetic and mission-driven professionals who have a huge capacity for empathy not only for patients but for staff members as well, while being able to keep clear emotional boundaries. Balancing on this thin line, they walk at least 5 miles every day, taking their almost two-millennia-old profession to the next level.

Demand for competent nurse managers is on the rise, as around 500,000 registered nurses are predicted to retire over the next ten years. As a nurse manager, you will make $79,725 per year on average, with salaries reaching up to $108,478 in higher paced intensive care units.

Average Salary: $83,684
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Hospital Director Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active hospital director jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where hospital directors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Hospital Director Jobs By State

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	California	2,370	$122,183
2	Texas	1,285	$100,890
3	New York	1,226	$141,061
4	Florida	1,140	$91,512
5	Massachusetts	888	$140,120
6	Pennsylvania	856	$114,340
7	Illinois	755	$100,702
8	New Jersey	651	$145,914
9	Georgia	629	$106,270
10	North Carolina	553	$122,633
11	Iowa	546	$86,191
12	Alabama	537	$99,870
13	Louisiana	535	$99,173
14	Ohio	528	$121,194
15	Virginia	519	$126,717
16	Arkansas	502	$80,068
17	Oklahoma	501	$82,247
18	Washington	491	$113,048
19	Indiana	411	$91,732
20	Michigan	367	$117,106
21	Maryland	364	$133,531
22	Colorado	346	$81,911
23	Wisconsin	323	$101,231
24	Minnesota	321	$122,360
25	Tennessee	321	$108,676
26	Mississippi	319	$88,120
27	Missouri	306	$103,200
28	Arizona	295	$117,403
29	Oregon	273	$114,474
30	Connecticut	262	$148,437
31	South Carolina	243	$115,473
32	South Dakota	197	$94,880
33	Kentucky	180	$95,944
34	Utah	154	$89,783
35	New Mexico	141	$103,523
36	Kansas	133	$77,859
37	Nevada	123	$121,141
38	New Hampshire	110	$149,077
39	Maine	101	$143,267
40	Nebraska	89	$79,050
41	Rhode Island	87	$141,302
42	West Virginia	84	$105,902
43	Montana	65	$86,229
44	Delaware	64	$141,960
45	Idaho	64	$99,894
46	Vermont	45	$129,805
47	Hawaii	42	$64,653
48	North Dakota	41	$95,001
49	Alaska	33	$100,215
50	Wyoming	25	$102,620

Hospital Director Education

Hospital Director Majors

Business

24.1 %

Nursing

11.7 %

Management

7.1 %

Hospital Director Degrees

Admissions

Most Popular Majors

Liberal Arts

Education

Biology

Business

Nursing

Top Skills For a Hospital Director

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 13.5% of hospital directors listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and leadership skills are important as well.

Patients, 13.5%

Patient Care, 10.3%

Oversight, 9.6%

Customer Service, 9.4%

Customer Satisfaction, 9.0%

Other Skills, 48.2%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Hospital Director Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Hospital Director templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Hospital Director resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Hospital Director Demographics

Hospital Director Gender Distribution

Female

53%

Male

47%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among hospital directors, 53.0% of them are women, while 47.0% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among hospital directors is White, which makes up 61.2% of all hospital directors.

The most common foreign language among hospital directors is Spanish at 44.4%.

Online Courses For Hospital Director That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure

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Show More Hospital Director Courses

Job type you want

Full Time

Part Time

Internship

Temporary

Best States For a Hospital Director

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a hospital director. The best states for people in this position are New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maine. Hospital directors make the most in New Hampshire with an average salary of $149,077. Whereas in Connecticut and New Jersey, they would average $148,437 and $145,914, respectively. While hospital directors would only make an average of $143,267 in Maine, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Connecticut

Total Hospital Director Jobs: 262

Highest 10% Earn:

$239,000

Location Quotient:

1.1

$148,437

Avg. Salary

View 262 Hospital Director Jobs In CT

2. Maine

Total Hospital Director Jobs: 101

Highest 10% Earn:

$237,000

Location Quotient:

1.06

$143,267

Avg. Salary

View 101 Hospital Director Jobs In ME

3. New Jersey

Total Hospital Director Jobs: 651

Highest 10% Earn:

$236,000

Location Quotient:

1.14

$145,914

Avg. Salary

View 651 Hospital Director Jobs In NJ

Full List Of Best States For Hospital Directors

How Do Hospital Director Rate Their Jobs?

Top Hospital Director Employers

Most Common Employers For Hospital Director

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Temple Health	$211,695	$101.78	3
2	Texas Medical Center	$210,363	$101.14	2
3	Mayo Clinic	$208,046	$100.02	2
4	MU Health Care	$198,333	$95.35	2
5	Vanderbilt University Medical Center	$155,463	$74.74	4
6	Salesforce	$153,824	$73.95	51
7	Jokake Construction	$140,409	$67.50	2
8	Quest Diagnostics	$136,266	$65.51	5
9	Tenet Healthcare	$127,073	$61.09	3
10	University of Florida	$113,532	$54.58	2

Hospital Director Videos

What Is Operations Management?

What do Healthcare Managers do?

Lakewood Hospital Medical Associates, Beachcliff medical director David Brill, DO

Updated February 6, 2023

What is a Hospital Director?

What Does a Hospital Director Do

How To Become a Hospital Director

Hospital Director Career Paths

Top Careers Before Hospital Director

Top Careers After Hospital Director

Recent Job Searches

Average Salary for a Hospital Director

Roles and Types of Hospital Director

Director

Nursing Director

Nurse Manager

States With The Most Hospital Director Jobs

Number Of Hospital Director Jobs By State

Hospital Director Education

Hospital Director Majors

Hospital Director Degrees

Top Colleges for Hospital Directors

1. University of Pennsylvania

2. University of Southern California

3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

4. Stanford University

5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

6. Duke University

7. SUNY Stony Brook

8. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

9. University of California, Irvine

10. University of Virginia

Top Skills For a Hospital Director

Choose From 10+ Customizable Hospital Director Resume templates

Hospital Director Demographics

Hospital Director Gender Distribution

Online Courses For Hospital Director That You May Like

Best States For a Hospital Director

How Do Hospital Director Rate Their Jobs?

Top Hospital Director Employers

Most Common Employers For Hospital Director

Hospital Director Videos

Hospital Director Related Careers

Hospital Director Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs