Becker's Hospital Review

16 CFO / FINANCE What 14 hospital CFOs told Becker's in 2020 By Ayla Ellison and Alia Paavola H ospital and health system CFOs navigated many changes and challenges in the healthcare industry in 2020, many of which were related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, dozens of finance leaders from hospitals and health sys- tems across the U.S. shared their perspectives on a variety of topics with Becker's Hospital Review. Below are quotes from 14 of those ex- ecutives, discussing everything from the best piece of advice for their peers to how they overcame challenges in 2020. 1. Jenni Alvey, senior vice president and CFO of India- napolis-based IU Health, on how IU Health is getting through the pandemic without layoffs or pay cuts. "We plan and prepare for disruptions. From a financial perspective, we learned a lot from the 2008 recession. We learned that events typ- ically aren't isolated; you can have problems in the market with your investment portfolio, while also experiencing a recession, which is oen driven by some other factor. In 2008 it was mortgage-backed lending. [Right now] it's a pandemic. At IU Health, we make sure when we are planning that we think about the possibility of financial challenges compounding so that we have enough reserve to weather through. We don't ever want to be in a situation where we can't pro- vide needed healthcare in Indiana or we can't afford doctors or nurses to care for patients." 2. Michael Breslin, CFO of NewYork-Presbyterian, on what makes a strong CEO-CFO partnership. "When I came to NewYork-Presbyterian, I had spent 20 years at a public accounting firm, and NewYork-Presbyterian was a client of mine for the better part of a decade. I le and then I was the CFO at two turnarounds and a CEO of a small turnaround. But I kind of liked the turnaround business because it was like a benevolent dictatorship. You didn't have to ask a whole lot of permission and questions. When I got to NewYork-Presbyterian, it became pretty obvious pretty quick that this was a very, very competent, successful organization with some incredible talent and an incredible opportunity to learn and kind of expand horizons. To me, the characteristics really are about trust, respect and then just that ongoing learning from each other, and that happens every day in our leadership team. I think that really is what kind of keeps us going here at NewYork-Presbyterian." 3. Robert Glenning, president of the financial services division and CFO of Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Me- ridian Health, on making challenging decisions as a CFO. "When you look at the decisions we make, the logic behind them is really compelling. e decisions themselves aren't the hard part. e hard part is executing them. e thing to guard against [when making decisions] is spending so much time analyzing a decision or reanalyzing that decision, as it is not productive or useful to obsess over one once it's made. e decision is the start of the process, but not really where most of the difficulties lie. e known challenges or unknowns can be dealt with aer the decision." 4. Melinda Hancock, chief administrative and financial officer at Richmond, Va.-based VCU Health System, on di- rect contracting relationships with employers "Our market is not that mature yet in this space. We are just starting some of those conversations. e pandemic has sped some of that up, to be honest with you. More employers are wondering, how can you help us? And some of those reach-outs are turning into, well, how should we be working better together? Can you bring your expertise on-site? We've been trying to actively reach out from that perspective." 5. Divya Matai, CFO of Amarillo-based Northwest Texas Healthcare System, on the greatest risk or surprise relat- ed to COVID-19 that she navigated as CFO. "One challenge for us was how quickly we started to lose volume in mid- to late March. We had to quickly flex our staff based on that volume, had to curtail some of the expenses to be able to still have a margin. We had to quickly adapt. en at the same time, we had to quickly innovate." 6. Bashar Naser, CFO of Alamogordo, N.M.-based Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center, on where he goes for inspiration and fresh ideas. "Attend seminars and focus on new ideas, what's working well and what's not. Know what your competition is planning and be proactive and reactive." 7. Matthew Nealon, CFO of Terre Haute, Ind.-based Union Health, on the most underrated traits of the best leaders. "Availability and a consistent message. I think the best leaders are visi- ble, willing to take the time to listen and provide a consistent message to all levels of the organization to gain alignment." 8. Mark Runyon, executive vice president and CFO of Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital, on the piece of advice he would pass on to other hospital CFOs. "Effective financial leadership in healthcare or any industry requires a relentless pursuit of process improvement, serving up performance data that's easily understood and actionable, and always and most importantly keeping the best interest of the patients in mind when making decisions. Doing the right thing for the patient more oen than not is the right thing to do financially." 9. Shelly Schorer, CFO of CommonSpirit Health's North- ern California division, on the greatest risk or surprise re- lated to COVID-19 that she navigated as CFO. "[is spring] we had testing and lab issues. We have had so many tests, especially bringing elective surgeries back, trying to pretest pa- tients. As a result, we are running into lab turnaround time issues and capacity issues. at's been one unique challenge I think that we didn't foresee. e entire nation was dealing with the same thing, but it's trying to figure out how we can navigate testing, who gets tested and how to reserve those resources." 10. Rich Silveria, executive vice president and CFO of the University of Chicago Medical Center, on the piece of ad- vice he would pass on to other hospital CFOs. "e CFO is no longer just someone who completes the audit, does the Medicare cost report, pays checks and collects bills. It's more than that now; you need to help shape strategies and organizational man- agement approaches. I'd recommend actively seeking dialogue with others and really participating in it. You learn a lot from others. As a leader, you need to actively communicate with colleagues, intake information, get the best ideas and leverage the collective wisdom of those around you to help make decisions. Sometimes those decisions

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