Why CIO Leadership Is Essential to Healthcare Resilience

Julie Dearinger-Smith has built a career on bridging frontline healthcare experience with technical strategy. In this episode of Go Beyond the Connection, she explains how CIOs can lead not just systems—but people—through one of healthcare’s biggest challenges: operational resiliency. Whether you’re a healthcare IT leader or an executive navigating digital transformation, this conversation is packed with insight on culture, strategy, and crisis readiness.

In Episode 11, Julie, Founder and CEO of Contingency Health Solutions, shares why CIOs must move beyond infrastructure oversight and into strategic leadership. From her background as a bedside nurse and informatics director, she draws out real-world lessons on how to align IT with long-term business outcomes.

Why Healthcare Resilience Fails Without CIO Involvement

Julie dives straight into the core issue: resiliency planning is often seen as a technical checkbox—but it’s actually a business imperative. When systems go down, so do patient services, revenue, and trust.

Many leaders assume downtime won’t happen. But as Julie notes, cyberattacks are constant, and healthcare systems are prime targets. Without backup systems and clearly defined priorities, recovery becomes reactive instead of strategic.

“Even the best technology is completely useless if it isn’t adopted; it’s just a waste of money.”

What’s needed isn’t just better tech—it’s better planning. CIOs need a seat at the table, not just to react, but to proactively prepare for growth, failure, and recovery.

How Strategic CIOs Build Resilient, Aligned Healthcare Systems

Whether it’s IT, clinical teams, or operations, Julie emphasizes that strategy only works when it’s shared. Technology leaders can’t operate in silos. They must collaborate across departments to ensure systems are secure, scalable, and actually usable in times of crisis.

“You must plan meticulously—perform assessments, conduct drills, and involve people with different perspectives.”

She also stresses that CIOs are uniquely positioned to bridge languages—between technical implementation and executive outcomes. The result is alignment that turns systems into enablers, not bottlenecks.

Transforming IT from Cost Center to Strategic Advantage

Julie challenges outdated views of the CIO as an operational role. She urges healthcare organizations to view IT not as overhead—but as the engine of continuity, access, and care delivery.

This requires changing how we define IT value. It’s not about uptime alone—it’s about enabling revenue, minimizing risk, and supporting the people who rely on technology to do their jobs.

🚀 Learn how Bigleaf’s Cloud Access Network supports seamless connectivity—even when outages strike

Conclusion: What CIOs Need to Lead Healthcare Resilience

Julie ends with a strong message: resiliency is not a one-time project. It’s a mindset, a culture, and a leadership responsibility. If CIOs are left out of the strategy conversation, the entire business risks falling behind—or worse, shutting down.

For leaders navigating digital complexity, this episode offers a clear takeaway: stop treating IT like a support desk. Start recognizing it as the foundation of future-ready care.

Based on a podcast interview with Julie Dearinger-Smith, Founder & CEO at Contingency Health Solutions

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