Meet the all-women c-suite team of Rapid City Medical Center Celebrating the rise of women in a corporate legacy RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Women are outnumbered by men five to one in the nation’s 100 top publicly traded companies, according to a USA Today analysis. Research says when you add women to the c-suite level, the workplace changes because female executives bring skills that are different than men. We talked with a group of women in power about changing the face of the corporate-suite right here in Rapid City. Meet four women on the front lines of the [Rapid City Medical Center’s](https://rapidcitymedicalcenter.com/) c-suite. Trained, educated and brave, this all-women, all-moms dream team is transforming healthcare. “I’ve never wanted to earn my position based on my gender, I’ve always wanted to be the best candidate and I truly believe the three ladies sitting at my left were the best candidates. We have a phenomenal team,” explained Jennifer Trucano, chief executive officer, Rapid City Medical Center. Trucano, a former lawyer, says healthcare is an industry that under-serves its customers with few women in leadership roles, “Women make up 80 percent of all healthcare decisions.” And still women represent 10 percent of the corporate suite positions across Fortune 500 and 25 percent of the leadership positions in healthcare. Trucano says, despite the numbers, Rapid City Medical Center’s legacy has always been more inclusive than exclusive. Established in 1948, Rapid City Medical Center is a physician-owned practice with more than 70 doctors who pride themselves on diversity in hiring. “We are really unique and the largest physician-owned group in all of the Great Plains region, including Minnesota and Nebraska. We are really proud that we been in existence to provide healthcare to people from five states for over 75 years and we have actually 60 percent of all of our physicians are women and in the healthcare arena that’s quite rare,” adds Trucano. And just how rare? In corporate healthcare, the stats drop even more for an all-women c-suite duo like RCMC. Heather Bindel, chief operating officer for Rapid City Medical Center and number two in command, says it’s more about respect for the person than gender, “I think it comes down to the amount of respect you have for the person in the role and their abilities and I don’t think of it differently if it were a male.” Complimenting the team, Chief Financial Officer Rebekah Wolkenhauer, who is in charge of the profit and loss, says she knew if hired it would be impactful, “I was very aware and appreciative of the move and the level of respect that comes from these ladies.” Completing the c-suite is newcomer Colleen Bsharah, human resources director. She says she appreciates the corporate sisterhood. “I was excited for who I would get to be working with, it’s not everyday that you get this opportunity to work with women in your field and learn from that and see what that is. You hear a lot about the differences between men and women but I think a lot of it comes down to a lot of women haven’t had these roles and show that they can make these hard decisions and show they can be that leader and come into it and be strong.” Women have long been apart of the legacy at the Rapid City Medical Center and now with the evolution of the c-suite, these four women are living examples of what women can do and accomplish when they work together. Copyright 2023 KOTA. All rights reserved.
