Every four years, Minnesota Physician – an independent monthly medical journal written by physicians for physicians–names healthcare leaders across Minnesota to its list of our state's 100 Most Influential Healthcare Leaders.
Five University of Minnesota Physicians (M Physicians) doctors and leaders are honored on the 2024 list:
- Holly Boyer, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, Otolaryngologist and University of Minnesota Medical School
Associate Professor - Jon Hallberg, MD, Crescent Clinics Medical Director and Family Medicine Physician, and Professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School
- David Hamlar, MD, DDS, Craniofacial Surgeon and Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School
- Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD, Chair of the M Physicians Board of Directors, Dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School, and Vice President for Clinical Affairs at the University of Minnesota
- Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer, Head and Neck Surgeon and University of Minnesota Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs
To help determine those who lead in making Minnesota a global model of healthcare excellence, Minnesota Physician invites its readers to nominate interdisciplinary colleagues who demonstrate outstanding work in their areas.
Here’s what these M Physicians leaders had to say about their own influences and how they like to lead:
Dr. Holly Boyer:
Walking the talk is one of the most important ways a leader should lead. Whatever we ask our teams to do, we need to be willing to do ourselves. Elevating and crediting the people on our teams for their work and accomplishments are priorities. Provide honest feedback in the spirit of continuous improvement. Leaders have the responsibility to help their people become leaders.
Dr. Jon Hallberg:
It requires respect, empathy and humility. I want my leaders to be people I respect. Leaders should be empathetic and truly understand what team members and patients are going through. Leaders should be humble, as humility can be an antidote to hubris. We are lucky (and often privileged) that we’ve risen to certain positions of leadership, and I never want to forget that.
Dr. David Hamlar:
There are many elements. Teamwork builds success. Take ownership of your work and responsibility for your own actions. Respect your chain of command. Hire for character. Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Recruit, train, mentor, delegate and retain for success. Be flexible, as all things change. Above all else, be yourself. You can only fake it so long!
Dr. Jakub Tolar:
Really, it has been my patients. I am a bone marrow transplant pediatrician, and I have learned from the children I treat and their families how to listen and communicate, to always think about how we can do things better and to ensure that empathy and excellence are always paired. If the standard of care or standard way of doing anything is largely unsuccessful, your ambition has to be to make it better.
A leader must be ambitious on behalf of the organization or community they serve, listen and be inclusive, change course when circumstances change, make sound decisions and communicate well. You cannot be a leader if no one is following.
Dr. Bevan Yueh:
I work with others in the same way that I care for my patients. It is imperative to listen authentically, consider all the possibilities, and then make timely decisions based on an artful balance of data and intuition, with integrity and kindness every step of the way.
You can read full the list of Minnesota’s 100 most influential health care leaders from Minnesota Physician.