Hire Female Healthcare Executives | Hospital & Medical Leadership

Healthcare Is the Sector Where Women Are the Workforce and the Rules Are National

Women make up the large majority of Europe's health workforce, yet the people who run hospitals, clinic groups and health insurers are still mostly men. Unlike banking, energy or aviation, there is no single European rulebook for healthcare leadership. The EU treaties leave the organisation and delivery of health services to the member states, so the rules on who leads a healthcare organisation, and on gender balance at the top, are written country by country.

Several countries have used that freedom to write some of the strongest leadership rules in Europe. France sets binding targets, with financial penalties, for first appointments to hospital management and medical leadership posts. Germany requires the boards of statutory health insurers to include both women and men. The Netherlands requires most care providers to have an independent supervisory board, and the sector's governance code asks those boards to be diverse, including by gender. Which rules apply depends on the country, and often on whether the provider is public, private or a foundation.

Healthcare leadership in 2026: the facts that shape a search

Women are 79% of health workers in the EU (Eurostat Labour Force Survey data, 2023, published in Health at a Glance: Europe 2024) — but across the WHO European Region they hold only 55% of the sector's top-earning jobs (WHO, September 2026).
The gap opens at the top of medicine. At 36 German university hospitals, women hold 41% of senior physician posts but only 14% of clinic director posts (Deutscher Ärztinnenbund, Medical Women on Top, 2024 update, published March 2025).
France has binding hospital targets. Since 1 January 2026, Law no. 2023-623 sets a 50% target for each sex in first appointments to hospital management posts, and the same 50% rule applies to newly appointed heads of medical departments and poles, with a financial contribution per missing appointment, set by decree at up to EUR 90,000 depending on the category of post and employer (EHESP).
German health insurers must have mixed boards. A multi-member board of a statutory health insurance fund must include at least one woman and one man (section 35a(4) SGB IV, introduced by FüPoG II). In June 2024, women held 23% of seats on the multi-member full-time boards of federal social insurance bodies.

Female Executive Search searches for women in board, executive and medical leadership roles across healthcare, from hospital and clinic group CEOs, CFOs and COOs to medical directors, supervisory board members and health insurer board members. We deliver a shortlist within 7 to 10 days of engagement, on a fee of 25% of gross annual salary paid in three milestone-based instalments, and back every placement with a six-month replacement guarantee.

Tell us what the role requires and we will come back with a shortlist.

What the Rules Actually Require: Three National Regimes

Why there is no European rulebook

Article 168(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union requires EU action to respect the responsibilities of the member states for the definition of their health policy and for the organisation and delivery of health services. EU law still reaches healthcare employers in general ways: a listed hospital or clinic group is covered by Directive (EU) 2022/2381 on women on boards, and every employer by the pay transparency directive. But the rules that decide how a hospital is governed, and who may lead it, are national. A search in healthcare therefore starts with a different question from most sectors: not which European rule applies, but which country's, and which kind of provider.

France: binding targets for public hospitals

France applies its public service parity rules to the hospital public service. Law no. 2023-623 of 19 July 2023 raised the target for first appointments to senior management posts from 40% to 50% of each sex, applying from 1 January 2026, and adds a minimum of 40% of each sex among the people holding those posts. For hospitals, the law reaches beyond administration into medicine: according to the EHESP, the French school of public health, the same 50% target applies from 2026 to newly appointed heads of medical departments and poles, at least 40% of each sex among all current medical heads by 1 January 2027, and a shortfall in first appointments triggers a financial contribution per missing appointment, set by decree at up to EUR 90,000 depending on the category of post and employer. Hospitals far from parity follow a stepped path towards 50%.

Private clinic groups sit under company law instead. France's Rixain law requires every company with at least 1,000 employees for three consecutive years to have at least 30% of each sex among its senior executives and among the members of its executive committee since March 2026, rising to 40% in 2029. For a large private hospital group, that is the binding rule.

Germany: mixed boards for statutory health insurers

The second law on women in leadership positions, FüPoG II, in force since August 2021, extended board requirements into social insurance. Under section 35a(4) of the Fourth Book of the Social Code, a multi-member board of a statutory health insurance fund must include at least one woman and at least one man. According to the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, the rule applies initially to boards with three or more members. In June 2024, women held 23% of seats on the multi-member full-time boards of federal social insurance bodies, and some federal health insurers still had no woman on their board, which the ministry attributes partly to the transition period for new appointments.

German hospitals themselves have no equivalent rule, and the medical leadership gap is wide. The Deutscher Ärztinnenbund's 2024 update of its Medical Women on Top study, covering 14 major clinical subjects at 36 university hospitals, found women in 41% of senior physician posts, up from 37% in 2022, but only 14% of clinic director posts, up from 13%.

The Netherlands: independent supervision and a sector code

Under the Dutch Care Providers Admission Act, the Wtza, in force since 1 January 2022, a care provider with more than ten care professionals delivering residential care, medical specialist care or personal care, support and nursing must have an independent internal supervisory body. The implementing decree requires at least three members, each appointed for a maximum of four years and reappointable once. The Governance Code for Healthcare 2022, adopted by the sector's five branch associations, then asks the supervisory board to ensure diversity in its profile and composition, including diversity of gender, social background, expertise and age.

What the Netherlands does not do is apply its corporate quota law to most providers. The Dutch rules on board quotas and targets apply to listed companies and to large public and private limited companies. Most Dutch hospitals and care organisations are foundations, so for them the sector code is the main gender standard. Some countries go further and vet individual healthcare directors before or after appointment, an approach that runs through every sector where regulators vet individuals.

The pool, and where the bottleneck is

Women are 79% of health and social care workers in the EU, according to Eurostat Labour Force Survey data for 2023. As in every sector we have analysed, the headline hides the useful detail. In German university medicine, the pipeline is already there one level down: four in ten senior physicians are women, while clinic directors are still mostly men. The bottleneck appears to be the step from senior clinician to department and hospital leadership, rather than the number of qualified women. The same study shows how much the outcome depends on the institution rather than the pipeline: clinic director posts held by women range from 29% at Dresden to 5% at Frankfurt, across hospitals drawing on the same national pool of senior physicians.

The hiring consequence is that the candidates are often there, but not where a search usually looks. A search that considers only people who already hold the title will repeat the current balance. The strongest candidates for a medical director or hospital executive post are often deputies, senior physicians with management responsibility and executives in neighbouring parts of the system, such as insurers, regional health authorities and private groups in another country. Because the rules are national, cross-border candidates also need a clear account of the regime they would be joining.

How Female Executive Search helps

Regime-aware scoping. We start from the rules that apply to your organisation, by country and by type of provider, so the search is built around the targets, board requirements and governance code you answer to.
Medical leadership searches. We search for medical directors and heads of department, looking beyond current title holders to deputies and senior physicians with management responsibility.
Executive and board searches. We search for CEOs, CFOs and COOs of hospitals and clinic groups, supervisory board members for care providers and board members for health insurers.
Cross-border sourcing. We draw on the CEO Worldwide network of over 28,000 vetted executives across 183 countries, including more than 5,000 vetted women executives, and source across providers, insurers and health authorities — then brief cross-border candidates on the regime they would be joining.
Shortlist in 7–10 days, transparent fee. A shortlist of qualified, interested candidates within 7 to 10 days of engagement. Our fee is 25% of gross annual salary, paid in three milestone-based instalments, and every placement carries a six-month replacement guarantee.

You may not be able to name your organisation yet. A search for a new hospital CEO or medical director tells staff, unions, referring physicians and funders that leadership is about to change. A clinic group recruiting a new head for a region can signal an acquisition, a closure or a restructuring before it is announced. Our executive job posting service exists for exactly this: the role is published to our pool of vetted female executives without your organisation's name attached, and your identity is disclosed to a candidate only at the point you decide to take her to interview. It is designed for private groups, insurers and roles outside any official public appointment procedure. It is a lighter commitment than a retained mandate and a faster way to test the market, and our note on when to post a role anonymously and when to run a search sets out which of the two fits which situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an EU rule on gender balance in healthcare leadership?

Not a healthcare-specific one. Article 168(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union leaves the organisation and delivery of health services to the member states, so the rules on how hospitals and care providers are governed are national. EU law reaches healthcare employers in general ways: listed hospital and clinic groups are covered by Directive (EU) 2022/2381 on women on boards, and all employers by the pay transparency directive.

What does France require for hospital appointments?

Law no. 2023-623 of 19 July 2023 raised the target for first appointments to senior management posts in the public service, including the hospital public service, from 40% to 50% of each sex from 1 January 2026, and adds a minimum of 40% of each sex among the people holding those posts. According to the EHESP, the same 50% target applies to newly appointed heads of medical departments and poles, at least 40% of each sex among all current medical heads by 1 January 2027, and a shortfall in first appointments triggers a financial contribution per missing appointment, set by decree at up to EUR 90,000 depending on the category of post and employer. Private clinic groups with at least 1,000 employees are covered instead by the Rixain law, which requires 30% of each sex among senior executives and executive committee members, rising to 40% in 2029.

Do German health insurers have a board gender requirement?

Yes. Under section 35a(4) of the Fourth Book of the Social Code, introduced by the FüPoG II law in 2021, a multi-member board of a statutory health insurance fund must include at least one woman and at least one man. According to the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, the rule applies initially to boards with three or more members. In June 2024, women held 23% of seats on the multi-member full-time boards of federal social insurance bodies.

What governance rules apply to Dutch healthcare providers?

Under the Care Providers Admission Act (Wtza), in force since 1 January 2022, a provider with more than ten care professionals delivering residential care, medical specialist care or personal care, support and nursing must have an independent internal supervisory body of at least three members. The Governance Code for Healthcare 2022 asks that supervisory board to ensure diversity in its profile and composition, including gender. The Dutch corporate quota and target rules apply to listed companies and large limited companies, so most providers, which are foundations, are not covered by them.

How many women hold leadership roles in European healthcare?

Women are 79% of health and social care workers in the EU, according to Eurostat Labour Force Survey data for 2023, but far fewer hold leadership roles — across the WHO European Region they make up nearly 77% of the health and care workforce and only 55% of its top earners. At 36 German university hospitals, women hold 41% of senior physician posts but only 14% of clinic director posts, according to the Deutscher Ärztinnenbund's Medical Women on Top 2024 update, published in March 2025. In June 2024, women held 23% of seats on the multi-member full-time boards of German federal social insurance bodies.

Do private hospital groups fall under these rules?

Partly. A listed hospital or clinic group is covered by the women on boards directive and by the national quota law of its member state. In France, private groups with at least 1,000 employees are covered by the Rixain law for executive committees and senior executives. Public hospital rules, such as the French hospital public service targets, apply to public institutions, and the German board rule applies to statutory health insurers, not to private hospital operators.

When do pay transparency rules start to affect healthcare employers?

Directive (EU) 2023/970 requires the first employer gender pay gap reports in June 2027, starting with employers of 150 or more workers. Where the gap in any category of workers reaches 5% and cannot be justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, the employer must carry out a joint pay assessment with worker representatives. Transposition into national law is still incomplete across the EU, so the exact national rules are worth confirming for each country you employ in; this guide to publishing the pay range covers the recruitment side.

Can we search for a healthcare executive without naming our organisation?

Yes. Every role published through our executive job posting service is anonymous by default: candidates see the role, the sector, the scope and the location, but not your organisation's name. Your identity is disclosed only when you decide to advance a candidate to interview. This matters where the search itself would signal a change, such as replacing a hospital CEO or medical director, or recruiting a regional head ahead of an acquisition or restructuring. The service is designed for private groups, insurers and roles outside any official public appointment procedure.

How does Female Executive Search work with healthcare organisations?

We start from the rules that apply to your organisation, by country and by type of provider, and search for CEOs, CFOs and COOs of hospitals and clinic groups, medical directors and heads of department, supervisory board members for care providers and board members for health insurers. We look beyond current title holders to deputies and senior physicians with management responsibility, and source across countries and across providers, insurers and health authorities. We deliver a shortlist within 7 to 10 days of engagement, on a fee of 25% of gross annual salary paid in three milestone-based instalments, and back every placement with a six-month replacement guarantee.

Sources: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Article 168(7); Eurostat Labour Force Survey data on health and social care employment, 2023, in OECD/European Commission, Health at a Glance: Europe 2024; WHO Regional Office for Europe, gender pay gap in the health and care sector (September 2026); Deutscher Ärztinnenbund, Medical Women on Top, 2024 update (March 2025); French Law no. 2023-623 of 19 July 2023 and Decree no. 2023-1381 of 28 December 2023; EHESP, guidance on balanced appointments in hospitals; French Law no. 2021-1774 (Rixain law); German Fourth Book of the Social Code (SGB IV), section 35a(4), as amended by FüPoG II; Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, data on women in leadership at social insurance bodies (30 June 2024); Dutch Care Providers Admission Act (Wtza) and its implementing decree; Governance Code for Healthcare 2022, provision 6.2.3; Directive (EU) 2022/2381 on improving the gender balance among directors of listed companies; Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency. Last verified October 2026.

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