ETHealthWorld Summit Calls for More Women in Healthcare Leadership

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Saturday, 12 September 2026

ETHealthWorld’s Healthcare Leaders Summit, sixth edition, brought together healthcare experts discussing importance of increased women’s representation in leadership positions. The session’s theme 'Women in Leadership in Healthcare’ pointed toward greater involvement of women in healthcare leadership as a diversity goal and a necessity in the healthcare industry.

According to the experts, flexibility at workplace, career paths, and bias-free systems are some of the ways through which women can be encouraged in healthcare. Chaired by Vikas Dandekar, Editor-Pharma & Healthcare, The Economic Times Group, the panel discussion highlighted issues affecting progress of women towards hierarchy and the need for developing inclusive leadership opportunities.

Key Highlights:

• ETHealthWorld summit highlights women’s leadership in healthcare
• Local talent and flexible career paths can strengthen women’s healthcare leadership
• Gender-neutral policies can improve hiring, promotions and women’s career growth

According to Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, Founder and Director, Ujala Cygnus Hospitals, women leadership is quite crucial in helping deliver good healthcare services, especially in small towns and other underserved areas. Inclusion of women in leadership could help such healthcare facilities better appreciate the diverse needs of patients. He added, “For me, it is not at all a diversity conversation. It is a healthcare delivery conversation,”

“It is not enough to have women in the room. We need them to be driving the room,” Dr. Shuchin emphasized adding that policies succeed only when local managers actively implement them.

He also stressed that attempts made to increase awareness about providing better access to women’s healthcare will be incomplete if there is no representation of women at an important level in decision-making processes. Dr. Shuchin suggested that the hospitals should concentrate on employing local talents, creating career growth paths for them, and making their work flexible enough to cope with important life stages.

Dr. Evita Fernandez, Chairperson, Fernandez Foundation stated that health care organizations should tackle the reasons behind the phenomenon of nurse turnover, especially those related to marriage, transfer, foreign employment and allure of jobs in government sector. She emphasized the need to invest in education and career development to enable healthcare professionals to pursue a successful career in the same field. According to her, hospitals should be able to spot future leaders and offer them appropriate mentorship.

 “You identify your future leaders, nurture them, and they become managers,” she said.

Dr. Evita also pointed to the benefit of clinical team models allowing doctors to be able to handle their work responsibilities without any unpredictability. Work flexibility, extended maternity support and support through crucial life events may help women stay within the workforce.

She also emphasized the importance of workplace safety, respect and recognition for retention, asking if women felt “respected, valued” and safe enough to stay within their organization. “Do women feel respected, valued, and do they feel safe?” she asked.

Shefali Tomar, Vice President, People and Culture, C.K. Birla Hospital, emphasized that the effect of unconscious bias in the workforce is still very much prevalent in hiring and career growth. Gender-neutral policies have to be implemented regarding recruiting, performance evaluation, compensation, promotions, as well as management training to make sure career choices are made based on merit.