High Five: Meet Sharon Gronotte, Hospital Risk, Helping Teams, and Favorite Picks

Why It Matters

Effective risk and legal leadership safeguards patient safety, ensures regulatory compliance, and strengthens organizational resilience in a high‑stakes healthcare environment.

Key Takeaways

• Sharon Gronotte advises staff on legal compliance and risk mitigation.
• She collaborates hospital teams to anticipate and prevent potential issues.
• When incidents occur, she leads remediation and process improvements.
• Gronotte values helping clinicians solve problems despite not treating patients.
• She embraces games and personal interests to foster workplace culture.

Summary

The video introduces Sharon Gronotte, vice president and deputy general counsel of risk at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, outlining her dual role as an attorney and risk strategist. She explains that her job involves interpreting laws for staff, advising on compliance, and partnering with various departments to anticipate and mitigate potential hazards.

Gronotte emphasizes proactive risk management: she works with clinicians, nurses, and social workers to identify vulnerabilities before they materialize, and when incidents arise, she coordinates investigations and implements corrective actions. Her focus is on keeping the hospital safe for both patients and employees, even though she does not interact directly with patients herself.

Throughout the interview, she shares personal anecdotes that humanize the role—her favorite moments are when she can solve a problem for a doctor or nurse, her love of games that energizes team meetings, and light‑hearted details like her favorite book, "Demon Copperhead," and a humorous Spam story involving her son’s football coach.

The segment underscores how robust risk and legal functions are essential to healthcare operations, fostering a culture of safety, compliance, and employee engagement. By blending rigorous risk oversight with approachable personality, Gronotte helps the institution navigate complex regulatory landscapes while maintaining morale and patient‑centered care.

Original Description

Sharon Gronotte, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Risk at a hospital, explains that as an attorney she advises employees on laws and compliance, helps anticipate what could go wrong to keep everyone safe, and works with teams to fix issues when something does go wrong. She shares that her favorite memories in Cincinnati come from helping doctors, nurses, and social workers solve problems, even though she does not work directly with patients. Sharon says she joined High Five to meet the hosts and play games, calling Wednesday mornings one of the most joyful times of her week. She describes herself as a bit of a risk taker, names "Demon Copperhead" as her favorite book and "The Sound of Music" as her favorite movie, and says she does not think she has ever eaten Spam.

00:00 Meet Sharon Gronotte

00:13 What Risk Counsel Does

00:46 Favorite Cincinnati Moments

01:14 Why High Five

01:32 Are You A Risk Taker

02:01 Books And Movies

02:24 Have You Eaten Spam

03:02 Wrap Up And Thanks