Compassion at the core of hospital leadership

The National Rehabilitation Hospital is setting a new benchmark for leadership in Irish healthcare. CEO June Stanley has become the first hospital chief in the country to sign the Compassionate Leadership Pledge—a move backed by her board and rooted in the belief that empathy and attentiveness aren’t soft skills, but strategic ones.

For C-suite leaders, this signals a broader shift: as healthcare systems grapple with complexity, culture is becoming a competitive edge. At NRH, compassionate leadership helped staff and patients adapt to rapid pandemic-era change, including the opening of Ireland’s first purpose-designed rehabilitation facility. The hospital’s culture—person-centred, inclusive, and resilience-driven—is being positioned not just as internal value but external advantage.

This move reflects a growing global trend: embedding emotional intelligence at the highest levels of health system management to improve outcomes, retention, and innovation. The call to action is clear. As leaders, the question is no longer if compassion belongs in the boardroom, but how it will shape the future of care.

Read the full story and discover what compassionate leadership means for your organisation.