CFO Advice for New Financial Leaders
- Hospital and health system CFOs face a complex landscape, balancing financial challenges with the need for sustainable growth.
- Hospital and health system CFOs are navigating a particularly challenging financial environment.
- These strategies range from meticulous expense management and targeted investments in technology to careful evaluation and expansion of key service lines.
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Hospital and health system CFOs face a complex landscape, balancing financial challenges with the need for sustainable growth. This article explores key financial decisions made by leaders at NKC Health, MyMichigan Health, and LMH Health, offering advice for peers in the field. Updated September 13, 2025.
The Current financial landscape for Healthcare Systems
Hospital and health system CFOs are navigating a particularly challenging financial environment. Factors such as rising labor costs, inflation, supply chain disruptions, and shifts in payer mix are all contributing to increased financial pressure. Despite these headwinds, leaders are proactively taking steps to strengthen their organizations’ bottom lines and position them for long-term success.
These strategies range from meticulous expense management and targeted investments in technology to careful evaluation and expansion of key service lines. The following insights, gathered from conversations with CFOs at NKC health, MyMichigan Health, and LMH Health, highlight the most impactful financial decisions made over the past year.
Key Financial Decisions & Insights
Becker’s Hospital review spoke with CFOs from three health systems to understand their most impactful financial decisions and advice for peers.
Austin Jones, Senior Vice President and CFO of NKC Health (North Kansas City, Missouri)
Austin Jones emphasizes the long-term nature of strategic financial decisions in healthcare. “Many of the financial decisions we make frequently enough take more than a year to materialize, as with healthcare, so much of our strategy moves in a 2-3 year time frame from conception to results showing up on the [profit and loss] or balance sheet.”
However, he identifies two key areas that have recently driven financial improvement: strategic service line investments made 2-3 years prior and a focused effort on optimizing labor and purchased services. The profitable growth is a direct result of these earlier investments bearing fruit.
Further Insights (To be expanded with data from MyMichigan Health and LMH Health)
(this section will be populated with insights from the remaining CFO interviews. It will include similar formatting to the NKC Health section, with direct quotes and editorial analysis.)
Example Placeholder:
[CFO Name], [Title] of [Health System]: [Quote about impactful financial decision].This decision impacted our organization by [description of impact].
Common Themes & Best Practices
- Long-Term Vision: Strategic investments require a multi-year perspective.
- Cost Optimization: Focus on labor and purchased services to improve efficiency.
- Service Line Strategy: Invest in profitable and strategically aligned service lines.
- Data-Driven Decision Making