Why the Best Post-Acute COO Candidates Aren't Looking — And How to Reach Them

The strongest Chief Operating Officer candidates in post-acute care right now are employed, performing, and not browsing job boards. They're running operations for a competitor, managing a portfolio for a PE firm, or doing exactly the work you need done — for someone else.

This creates a specific kind of search challenge. A passive candidate has to be approached in the right way, at the right moment, with the right information about the opportunity. A poorly executed outreach to the wrong candidate — or the right candidate at the wrong moment — doesn't just fail. It makes the next outreach harder.

What works: specificity, directness, and a genuine understanding of what the candidate's current situation looks like. Dana's network inside post-acute care means she often knows who's ready before they know they're ready.

What this means for hiring organizations: If you're conducting a COO search in post-acute care and relying on candidates who apply, you are not accessing the best of the available market. The right profile for this role is almost certainly not looking. Build your search accordingly — or partner with someone whose network reaches the people who aren't.

What this means for leaders in this sector: If you are a VP of Operations or a COO in post-acute care and someone with genuine knowledge of your market reaches out, that conversation is worth having — even if your timing isn't perfect. The right opportunity doesn't wait for perfect timing.