Choose Optimism: Methodist CEO on Culture, Faith

^{Photo Courtesy: Debra S. Kaplan for Midlands Business Journal}

Josie Abboud did not flinch when a colleague told her that her promotion to vice president came because she “wears a skirt.” By then, she’d already spent 12 years at Methodist Health System, beginning as a nurse on the night shift in the ICU and moving through leadership roles. She knew what she’d built.

“It’s really unfortunate that those are the words you choose to use,” she told the colleague. “I would invite you to just take a look back at what I’ve accomplished here at Methodist, because I’ve earned this role.”

Today, Abboud is president and CEO of Methodist Health System, the first woman to lead the organization in its 135-year history. She oversees more than 800 licensed beds, 1,000 physicians, and a regional footprint spanning four hospitals, more than 30 clinics, and a nursing college across Nebraska and Iowa. The path from bedside nurse to system CEO took three decades, all at one institution.

Midland's Business Journal: Choose Optimism: Methodist CEO on Culture, Faith